Facebook Audience Network opens inventory to in-app header bidding

Facebook’s Audience Network is joining the world of in-app header bidding. The company announced Wednesday that publishers will be able to include Facebook Audience Network inventory in their in-app header bidding auctions.

The move follows Audience Network’s support for mobile web header bidding. As of Wednesday, publishers that manage programmatic in-house or through a select set of partners can include Audience Network inventory in their auctions. Facebook has partnered with Fyber, MAX and Twitter’s MoPub initially. In-app bidding accepts bids from multiple ad networks simultaneously in real time, as opposed to a waterfall system that prioritizes bidders based on historical CPMs.

Several other companies have adopted in-app header bidding. But unlike Oath (AOL) and others, Facebook hasn’t built any tech around this effort. Instead, app publishers can use their own tech or that of a third party to access Audience Network inventory.

Facebook has been testing in-app bidding with several publishers that use homegrown server-side technology, such as Rovio, Talefun and GameInsight. The company says publishers experienced up to a 20 percent lift in ad revenue during the testing phase.

“We have been testing Facebook’s app bidding solution since last year and feel optimistic about the changes this will to bring the industry,” says Rovio Entertainment VP of Advertising Jarkko Rajamäki.

According to the ANA, only $0.30 to $0.40 on the dollar spent on programmatic advertising ever reaches the publisher. A Forrester study found header bidding resulted in as much as 30 percent to 40 percent increases in CPMs for publishers.

“The app ecosystem is plagued by many of the same inefficiencies and lack of transparency, resulting in lost revenue for the app publisher, ad dollars potentially generating suboptimal return for the advertiser, and what can potentially be a less relevant ad experience for people,” says Vijay Balan, Facebook Audience Network’s head of publisher solutions partnerships. “We believe the principles behind mobile web header bidding can improve the efficiency of app monetization.”

As part of its announcement, Facebook included a “Code of Conduct” for its in-app bidding strategies, stating, “Our strategy in app is the same as in web; we want to support and work with any publisher or programmatic platform that can meet bidding best practices outlined in our code of conduct.”

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Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media's General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs.com, SoftwareCEO.com, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.