Yahoo Ad Platforms SSP
Evolving Yahoo’s Supply Side Ad Tech Platforms
Yahoo (Oath, Verizon) SSP
Yahoo
Principal Product Designer
Concept Diagrams, Business Process Flows, User Flows & Wireframes / UI Design
Ad Tech
Creating a Unified Model of Ad Inventory & Placements:
Mapping User Mental Models of Ad Inventory Across Media & Placement Types
Challenge
Understanding how supply side users think about the ad inventory, content and media they manage every day, to power their monetization and optimization goals
Solution
Capturing the key categories and distinctions users employ to describe and differentiate between the various media types and ad formats they work with, as a starting point for building out a new, integrated model for ad placement types in the supply platform UIs
Identifying a Range of User Mental Models for Ad Formats and Media Types
For a significant percentage of our users, both clients and internal, the ‘creative format’ of the ad / media - Display vs. Video ad - is understood as the primary defining attribute; this also reflects broader business silos across the industry, as well as our own platforms (display and mobile SSPs vs. video), and the types of clients (and associated business divisions within the organization) such as Publishers - offering primarily display, versus Broadcasters or Streaming Providers - offering video
For those clients and internal users within the more heavily display-focused businesses (Publishers, App Developers, etc.) the primary distinction is overwhelmingly understood as Desktop vs. Mobile, with Publishers focused on both, and App Developers focused on mobile; in this context Video is a subordinate media type of either, which mostly populates display-type in-banner spaces (or in some cases in-article or out-stream formats), or may appear as an interstitial in a mobile app
For a small but rapidly growing segment of our clients and users, the primary distinction is Native ads versus other (non-native) ad formats; this also reflects the broader expansion of native advertising within the industry, across all media, platform, and client types, as well as our own platforms and business units (native, recommendations, and search SSPs ), for this newly emerging ad type
Taken together, our research findings suggested that the primary defining attributes or core distinctions for ad placements, media, and inventory, in the current landscape, are: Display, Video, or Native, with desktop vs. mobile, and mobile web vs. mobile app, still relevant, but secondary, distinctions, relating mostly to details like ad size, delivery protocols and file formats
Search (while not currently part of the ad platform ecosystem our design and product teams support) is increasingly being conceived of as another type of Native format; desktop vs. mobile, and mobile web vs. mobile app are still relevant, but secondary, distinctions, after Display, Video, Native and Search
Towards Building an ‘Omni-Channel’ Model of Ad Inventory, Media and Formats
Faceted hierarchy of ad placements and inventory - Display vs. Video, Desktop vs. Mobile, and Mobile Web vs. Mobile App, with Native (vs. Standard / Non-Native) as a potential facet at any inventory level in the tree. (Note: this model does not yet incorporate emerging and rapidly ascending formats, such as Audio and Digital Out of Home (DOOH).
Using our findings on users’ mental models of their ad inventory to synthesize a single, integrated system (or faceted hierarchy) for how to best categorize and organize the array of placements within our various different ad platform UIs, according to types.
A range of models were proposed, in this example the primary distinction would be between Display and Video, which also aligns with a primary differentiator between different Seller types and their inventory, i.e. Publishers and App Developers whose inventory is predominantly Display vs. Broadcasters and Streaming Video Providers whose inventory is primarily Video; as well as with fairly major differences in technical parameters and specifications between these two inventory and placement types i.e. relatively simple Display / Banner specifications vs. the significantly lengthier array of parameters available ad required for Video.
A third factor, perhaps most practically relevant to our users in their day to day management and optimization efforts, is the significant difference between how pricing, bid parameters and metrics, and inventory packaging (Deals) are assigned, differently for Display vs. Video - Display banners are typically priced at a fraction of Video, bid pricing models for Display are typically cost per impression or click, whereas video typically also relies on metrics such as percent complete which don’t exist for Display, etc.
In this proposed model, Desktop vs. Mobile would live as secondary distinction under / within each of those two top-level categories, Display vs. Video, as applicable, with an additional tertiary distinction under Mobile of Web vs. App, for parameters unique to either (like banner or player size options, or technical configurations such as app SDKs, or other options available only for apps).
Faceted hierarchy of placements and inventory, alternative model - Standard (Non-Native) vs. Native, Display vs. Video, Desktop vs. Mobile, and Mobile Web vs. Mobile App.
In this alternative proposed model, the primary distinction for placements and inventory would be Native vs. Standard types of inventory. This aligned with some users’ mental models, based on the current state of the industry at this time - where Native was a heavily emerging but largely distinct / silo’d format, in terms of both Sellers who offer native and the ad tech platforms used to manage native inventory (i.e. our Native SSP).
Im this alternative model, the other key differentiators would live in two identical, parallel hierarchies for Display vs. Video, Desktop vs. Mobile, Web vs. App, etc., under the primary division of Native vs. Standard.
One potential downside to this model, however, is that it effectively reinforces present business and operational silos between today’s Sellers (and inventory), rather than encouraging cross-pollination, i.e. for more traditional Publishers, App Develops, ad Broadcasters to expand and grow into the Native space, by creating and offering more Native type placements, for example content recommendations placements, on their properties.
In addition, projections around the longer-term evolution of Native, as well as innovations in programmatic delivery methods in general, suggest that convergence across and among all ad formats is a likely future development, so that for example advancements in programmatic technologies like (AI-driven) targeting, creative variation, and optimization might eventually mean that a ‘traditional’ Display Banner may in future be composed of distinct fields and assets - like headings, calls-to-action, and image assets - that are ‘assembled ‘ programmatically in real time, much like Native assets are assembled to deliver an ad, today.
Concept Illustrations & Taxonomy Diagrams
Creating a Unified Model of Ad Inventory & Placements:
Unpacking & Operationalizing Ad Formats from the Open RTB BidRequest Model
Challenge
Mining the OpenRTB BidRequest Specification for any insights from that perspective on how to best organize and categorize placement and inventory types in the UIs
Solution
Translating ad properties outlined in the OpenRTB ad placements specification into a working model that can be applied throughout platform UIs, databases, and workflows
OpenRTB API Spec Documentation
Source document for the Open RTB spec. Outlines the full object model for real-time bidding, including over 200 attributes pertaining to inventory and placements, used by ad tech platforms such as SSPs, DSPs, and Exchanges, to power programmatic ad transactions and delivery.
Attributes can be used to specify info about the Seller / Publisher, the Web or Mobile Site or App, and the individual Ad Placement / Unit, including Ad Format and Creative Specifications, Content/Context, and Bid Parameters.
Parsing the OpenRTB API Spec
Parsing out relevant ad format and inventory attribute parameters from the bid model, grouping them according to their business (and technical) function and meaning to the user.
The goal of the exercise was to curate and categorize parameters and attributes heuristically based on our understandings from both users’ mental model insights and our deep-dive assessment of platform UIs and functionality (see below).
Categories range from the business-focused to the technical, including examples such as Technical Parameters, Rules/Quality, Context/Content, Audience, Device, Creative Format, and Pricing, among others. (photo of marked-up, cut/pasted printouts)
Mapping OpenRTB Parameters to Generate a Visual Inventory Model
Bubble diagram - illustrating a comprehensive mapping of all inventory and ad placement parameters from the OpenRTB tech spec to develop a visual model for inventory and placements, that could be applied across ad formats ad platform UIs (and databases).
This model maps out all placement and inventory parameters, with attributes centered around business groupings and sub-grouping ‘bubbles’; groupings were derived heuristically from insights on users’ mental models, as well as analysis of inventory categories inherent in the various different inventory models within our current supply platforms.
All aspects of the ad placement definition and specification, including creative formats and bid parameters, are incorporated. This is meant for use as a baseline for re-architecting and refactoring such things as data field labels and groupings, safety and bidding controls, and UI groupings for the ad placement / unit entity within the diverse supply platform interfaces, data records, and workflows.
Concept & Taxonomy Diagrams
Creating a Unified Model of Ad inventory & Placements:
Indexing Ad Inventory & Placements Fields within the Current Platform UIs
Challenge
Formulating a path towards alignment and consistency across a very diverse array of ad tech platforms and UIs, media / inventory types, and ad placement formats; laying a foundation for the longer-term path towards consolidation and integration, into a single, omni-channel supply UI
Solution
Capturing and cataloguing all relevant ad placement and inventory parameters, data fields and values, and configuration controls from throughout relevant areas of all current ad platform UIs in a single index - covering all channels, inventory, media, and placement types, at all levels
Cataloguing Inventory Fields from Sellers, Apps/Sites, Placement Pages, Deals UI, and Others
Capturing and indexing inventory-related data fields from all relevant pages within and across the different Supply platform UIs.
Identifying and documenting common or parallel (or contrasting / conflicting): sections, pages, features, patterns, forms, parameters, fields and values, and configuration settings - at all levels of inventory including Seller, App/Site, and Ad Placement/Unit.
Mapping each set of parallel or similar pages, features, and fields to one another, across platforms / UIs. (Deals page from SSP, with index spreadsheet, shown here)
Teasing Out Relevant Inventory Fields & Values for New Inventory Model (Placements)
Teasing out relevant fields and values from SSP Placements from which to build out the new, omni-channel inventory model for all of Supply.
Together with the fields and learnings from the OpenRTB model, as well as insights from user mental model research, these will form the basis of our new, integrated, omni-channel inventory and ad placement model, for all of Supply. (Placement page from SSP, with spreadsheet index, shown here)
Teasing Out Relevant Inventory Fields & Values for New Inventory Model (Deals)
Teasing out relevant fields and values from SSP Deals, including Assigned Inventory and Targeting Attributes, from which to build out the new, omni-channel inventory model for all of Supply.
Additional objects, pages, and sections reviewed and indexed as part of this effort included Seller profiles, App/Site configuration pages, Bid Rules and Brand Safety Rules, Seller and App/Site performance dashboards, Inventory Attributes settings, and more.
Together with the fields and learnings from the OpenRTB model, as well as insights from user mental model research, these will form the basis of our new, integrated, omni-channel inventory and ad placement model, for all of Supply. (Deals page from SSP, with spreadsheet index, shown here)
Visual UI Diagrams & Index Spreadsheets
A New Model for Ad Placements & Inventory for Supply
Challenge
Developing a new omni-channel model for ad placements and inventory that integrates all inventory and placement types into a single paradigm across Supply
Solution
Synthesizing insights from users’ mental models, the OpenRTB spec, and today’s supply platform UIs to generate a simple, standardized, unified, and extensible model for ad inventory and placements
Integrated, Omni-Channel Model for Inventory & Ad Placements / Formats
Developing a new omni-channel model for ad placements and inventory that integrates all necessary fields and parameters from each of the different inventory and placement types, and platform UIs in today’s supply ecosystem, into a single system.
The model was developed by synthesizing insights from the users’ mental model research, OpenRTB analysis, and platform UI deep-dive assessment and indexing.
The model was built out tactically by mapping the objects and attributes from the OpenRTB Bid Model to the records, data fields, and field values from today’s supply platform UIs, and grouping and ordering these according to the primary business categories based on user mental models, such as the Placement and Inventory Types, as well as categories such as Content, Quality & Safety, Data/Privacy & Children (as shown here).
The index (spreadsheet) captures every data field, across all Supply platforms, that applies to inventory and ad placements, at all levels.
The index presents a new, universal naming and labeling convention for these data fields, that can be applied across platform UIs, and indicates (where applicable) where and how each field maps back to the OpenRTB spec (as shown here). (The index also indicates how each field item on this universal list of data fields and labels maps back to the various similarly (or differently) labeled, parallel / analogous field(s), in each of the different Supply platform UIs.)
The model was designed to apply universally across all sellers, inventory, and placements types.
The objective was to come away with an inventory and placement model that could be applied universally across all of today’s supply platforms, and that would extend to and accommodate all inventory types and ad placement formats.
Illustrating How Inventory & Placements Model Maps to Fields & Values in the UI
Deploying a new omni-channel inventory and ad placements model, for all inventory and placement types, across all Supply platforms.
Creating an ad placement / ad unit specification that applies universally to all channels, media, and inventory, and all ad formats including: Banner and Video, as well as Audio, Native, and DOOH (not shown).
Diagram (shown) illustrates how the index (spreadsheet), capturing the full range of inventory and placement data fields and values (and mapping to OpenRTB fields and parameters), and grouping them according to business categories (based on user mental model models), maps to the current and proposed fields and values in the UIs - also grouped according to the same business categories, and also indicating which OpenRTB field(s) the data field maps to (where applicable).
Spreadsheet & Wireframes
Refactoring the ‘Ad Placement’ Page in SSP According to the New Unified Model of Ad Inventory & Placements
Challenge
Ad Placements in SSP and other Supply platform UIs have evolved over time, but lack consistency, clarity, and cohesion / alignment across platforms, inventory and placement types
Solution
Applying the new, omni-channel ad placements model to refactor the current Placements page in the SSP, as a first step towards cross-platform alignment (and integration)
Current Ad Placement Page in Today’s SSP UI
Current Ad Placement page in the SSP exemplifies how the platform and UI has evolved organically over time, through numerous incremental feature and functional enhancement roll-outs, and following various shifting design directions, layout conventions, and overall UI standards, over the duration of the platform’s history.
As a result of this history, the Placement page - and indeed most of the SSP, as well as our other Supply platform UIs - falls short in terms of expected consistency, clarity, and alignment: a) internally within the page itself, b) laterally in relation to the other sections and pages within the SSP UI, and c) globally within the broader scope of all our other Supply platforms.
While this page was initially designed for defining mobile banner / display ads, its scope and purpose has grown over time to include all banner / display inventory (mobile site, mobile app, and web), as well as both short- and long-form video inventory and ad formats; and now it is currently undergoing additional enhancements for emerging formats such as Native and DOOH.
To accommodate this ongoing evolution of the page (and the platform), in terms of the kinds of inventory it accommodates and the ad placement types available, updates are needed. The goal is to expand the scope of today’s Ad Placement page to more effectively (and universally) accommodate placements and inventory across all sellers, inventory, and placements types.
(Additional opportunities for UI refinement also exist, including standardizing design patterns, layout conventions, and overall UI standards, within the page and in the context of the wider SSP platform UI.)
New, Refactored Ad Placement Page for the SSP UI (Based on Integrated, Omni-Channel Model)
The refactored page re-orders and groups fields according to the categories in the new omni-channel inventory and ad placements model, for all inventory and placement types, with sections broken out and clearly labeled for Placement Info, Banner / Display, Video, and Integrations.
The refactored page also includes updates and revisions to field labeling conventions and terminology, to reflect the new system of labeling, ordering, and grouping aligned across all Supply platforms / UIs, and across all inventory and placement types, based on the new inventory and placements model.
(Additional refinements were also made to some of the existing fields and affordances, such as check boxes, toggles, and similar, to better standardize these, and improve consistency and clarity of function, in the UI.)
This refactoring is the first of several steps toward creating and implementing a single ad placement / ad unit specification page that can be used to create and define placements for any and all channels, media, and inventory, and all ad formats including: Banner and Video, as well as Audio, Native, and DOOH (not shown).
The page refactoring shown here is the Placement page from the main SSP UI, but this approach is envisioned for roll-out (as appropriate, based on product roadmaps and priorities) across all Supply platforms. Future evolution of the page is envisioned to include additional sections broken out for the additional inventory / placement types included in the model, namely Audio, Native, and Digital Out of Home (DOOH).
Wireframes