Introduction
Publisher bid modifiers allow you to adjust the CPC or CPM bid per publisher. This allows you to increase or decrease the amount of publisher inventory you buy based on publisher performance.
The bid modifiers give you a finer precision tool compared to typical publisher blocklisting and allowlisting.
Working With Bid Modifiers
Here’s how it works. Publisher bid modifiers are available on the ad group publisher tab. Find the ad group where you want to apply the publisher bid modifiers and click on the publisher tab.
Once you have the publisher tab open on the ad group level, make sure you enable the “Bid modifier” column in the column picker. This will ensure that the bid modifier edit field is visible and that you can use it.
The bid modifiers column displays the effective bid modification in % from the bid baseline. You can change the bid modifiers by clicking on the edit icon.
Let’s look at a few examples:
A 0% bid modifier doesn’t change the bid from its baseline. This is the default setting.
A 5% bid modifier increases the bid by 5% from the baseline. Let’s say your baseline bid is $1. A 5% bid modifier would result in a $1.05 effective bid.
A -5% bid modifier decreases the bid by 5% from the baseline. Let’s say your baseline bid is $1. A -5% bid modifier would result in a $0.95 effective bid.
Importing and Exporting
Bid modifiers can be imported and exported using a CSV file. Importing offers a couple of advantages compared to editing bid modifiers in line.
By importing bid modifiers, you can apply them before the ad group starts.
Importing and exporting allows you to easily transfer bid modifiers from one ad group to another.
The import format has the following structure:
The first (header) row is ignored.
All following rows are made of 3 columns separated by a comma.
In the first column, specify the publisher name as reported in the publisher tab.
In the next column, specify the media source slug (you can find the media source slug in the source slug column in the media sources tab).
In the last column, specify the bid modifier.
Please keep in mind the following when importing and exporting bid modifiers:
You must specify the media source name and publisher name as reported in the dashboard. For the media source name, please refer to the source slug column.
The values in the CSV file should range from 0 to 1. The resulting publisher modifier is obtained by multiplying the existing publisher bid with the number from the imported CSV file.
Bid modifiers less than one reduce the bid, and publisher modifiers greater than one increase the bid proportionally. To reset the bid, use 1.
The import only updates the publisher's bid modifiers sent in the uploaded file; other preexisting bid modifiers remain the same.
Final Notes
Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Publisher bid modifiers are effective on a network + publisher basis. If you buy from the same publisher from networks A and B, you must set the bid modifier for each network separately.
If you manage media sources as a group, the baseline bid for your bid modifiers is the RTB group’s bid.
If you manage media sources individually, the baseline bid for your bid modifiers is the bid of the media source through which you are buying the publisher.
In the dashboard, you can manage bid modifiers only once you have bought some traffic from the publisher. If you want to apply bid modifiers ahead of actual buying, you can do that by importing the bid modifiers using a CSV file.
Bid modifiers don’t work on our API partners (Outbrain and Yahoo).