OpenX expands ConteX Marketplace with advanced targeting and new partners

OpenX this week announced significant expansions to its ConteX Marketplace, four days ago from today's date. The enhancements include advanced keyword targeting capabilities and the addition of new data partners to its premium, direct inventory platform. This development aims to provide advertisers with more sophisticated tools for contextual targeting in an increasingly privacy-focused digital advertising landscape.

ConteX, initially launched in September 2023, is a marketplace within OpenX's supply-side platform (SSP) that allows advertisers to deliver ads across contextually relevant content. According to OpenX, the platform has demonstrated improved outcomes in cookieless environments, with Cost Per Mille (CPM) rates in Safari matching those in Chrome.

The newly introduced advanced keyword targeting goes beyond traditional methods by analyzing a page's content to understand its true context. This feature provides advertisers with a more granular view of content, enabling them to target users based on specific interests and behaviors in real-time. OpenX states that this enhanced targeting builds upon the depth of tactics available in their advanced curation platform.

In addition to the new targeting capabilities, OpenX has expanded its roster of data partners within the ConteX Marketplace. The company announced the inclusion of 4D, Neuwo, Reticle, and ShareThis a Predactiv Company to its offering. These new partnerships join existing collaborations with Audigent, Captify, CrossPixel, Dstillery, Permutive, Silverpush, and Sqreem.

Michael Guzewicz, VP of strategic partnerships at OpenX, explained the significance of these additions. According to Guzewicz, ConteX allows buyers to activate premium data partners directly within the SSP without additional contracts or negotiations. This streamlined process reportedly reduces the time to activation and enhances the accuracy and quality of advertising campaigns.

The ConteX Marketplace now offers a variety of advanced contextual solutions, including:

1. Machine-learning and AI behavioral models
2. Intent-based solutions
3. Publisher first-party data solutions

These tools are designed to help advertisers navigate the changing digital advertising landscape, particularly as the industry moves away from third-party cookies and towards more privacy-compliant targeting methods.

OpenX, founded in 2007, positions itself as an independent omni-channel supply-side platform. The company operates a 100% cloud-based technology stack, which it claims enables publishers to deliver improved performance and dynamic solutions to marketers across various digital channels, including Connected TV (CTV), mobile applications, mobile web, and desktop platforms.

The company's client base includes over 130,000 premium publisher domains and more than 100,000 advertisers. OpenX has also made strides in environmental sustainability, claiming to be the first adtech company to achieve CarbonNeutral™ certification and receive third-party verification for achieving its Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) Net-Zero targets.

The expansion of ConteX Marketplace comes at a time when the digital advertising industry is grappling with significant changes. The phasing out of third-party cookies by major browsers and increased privacy regulations have pushed advertisers and adtech companies to develop alternative targeting methods that respect user privacy while maintaining advertising effectiveness.

Contextual advertising, which targets ads based on the content of the webpage rather than user data, has gained renewed interest as a privacy-compliant alternative to behavioral targeting. OpenX's enhancements to ConteX appear to be positioned to capitalize on this trend.

The advanced keyword targeting feature introduced by OpenX aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of page content. Traditional keyword targeting often relies on simple matching of keywords, which can sometimes lead to misplaced ads due to lack of context. By analyzing the true context of a page, OpenX's solution potentially offers more accurate and relevant ad placements.

The addition of new data partners to the ConteX Marketplace expands the range of targeting options available to advertisers. Each partner brings its own specialties and data sets, potentially allowing for more diverse and sophisticated targeting strategies. The ability to activate these partnerships directly within the SSP could streamline workflows for advertisers and potentially reduce the complexity of managing multiple data contracts.

OpenX's announcement highlights the ongoing evolution of the adtech industry as it adapts to a changing privacy landscape. As advertisers seek alternatives to cookie-based targeting, solutions like ConteX that offer privacy-compliant targeting options may become increasingly important.

Key facts

• OpenX announced expansions to ConteX Marketplace on August 21, 2024
• ConteX was initially launched in September 2023
• The platform has shown CPMs in Safari matching those in Chrome
• New advanced keyword targeting feature introduced
• Four new data partners added: 4D, Neuwo, Reticle, and ShareThis a Predactiv Company
• ConteX now includes 11 premium data partners in total
• OpenX works with over 130,000 premium publisher domains and 100,000+ advertisers
• OpenX claims to be the first adtech company certified as CarbonNeutral™
• The company has received third-party verification for achieving SBTi Net-Zero targets