After a decade of "mobile-first" mantras, advertising's pendulum has swung to supersized proportions: the hottest digital real estate isn't in your pocket, but in the connected TV (CTV) on your living room wall and the digital out-of-home (DOOH) billboards dotting streets, train stops, airports, and beyond.
In this evolving video landscape, media owners face a complex challenge: how to effectively monetize inventory in an environment with limited data signals, while combating industry-wide inefficiencies and fraud.
EX.CO co-founder and CEO, Tom Pachys, recently sat down with AdExchanger’s senior editor Anthony Vargas to discuss the challenges we set out to solve with our newly expanded ad server for CTV and DOOH, and how machine-learning-driven solutions can help every media owner maximize their ad revenue growth just like the biggest tech platforms.
Beyond automation: A new generation of ad server
Traditional ad servers have been around for over a decade, primarily using rule-based systems to automate ad delivery across screens, whether on the web, apps, CTV, or DOOH. While automation has been the focus of recent advancements, EX.CO’s ad server introduces a paradigm shift by leveraging machine learning (ML) at its core.
Rather than rely on pre-set rules, EX.CO’s ML-based system processes billions of events daily. This approach dynamically optimizes pricing, supply path decisions, and campaign activation in real-time. According to Pachys, "Every 15 minutes, the model trains itself on new data, enabling dynamic pricing and optimal ad paths."
This constant self-improvement sets the solution apart, addressing inefficiencies that result in low ad fill rates or weak bid density, and unlocking new revenue streams for media owners.
Machine learning maximizes yield and performance
The heart of EX.CO’s innovation lies in how its ML algorithms handle vast data inputs. By analyzing variables such as campaign prices, user locations, screen types, and device contexts, the system maps the entire ad tech ecosystem. It identifies the best demand sources and dynamically adjusts strategies to maximize revenue.
Pachys noted the surprising challenge of incorporating manual controls in such an automated environment. “In traditional ad servers, the focus is on automating tasks,” he said. “With our system, everything is already automated, so the challenge becomes enabling manual interventions when needed, such as guaranteeing specific price points.”
Bringing lessons from the open web to CTV
EX.CO’s extensive experience in online video platforms, working with major publishers like Advance Local, Hearst Newspapers, Gannett, and News Corp, played a key role in developing the ad server’s expanded capabilities. Pachys explained that the transition to CTV presented a unique hurdle: data scarcity.
Unlike web environments with abundant user and site-level data, CTV lacks granular insights. To overcome this, EX.CO spent 12 months refining and adapting its ML models to perform effectively with less data. The results have been remarkable, enabling the ad server to tackle inefficiencies in broken programmatic pipes, reduce fraudulent bids, and deliver significant revenue gains in early testing.
Early results show 30-70% revenue gains
EX.CO’s ad server has already been put through its paces with several major media groups in both the CTV and DOOH spaces. Over six months of testing and refinement, the system has demonstrated impressive results, with revenue increases ranging from 30% to 70%. Pachys remains optimistic that the ad server can replicate the success seen in web environments, where revenue lifts often exceed 100%.
This leap forward builds on the concept of a unified auction, taking it “five to ten steps further” by offering media owners a truly data-driven approach to maximizing yield. It’s not just about using automation to reduce manual work, but harnessing world-class ML to optimize every step in your ad supply chain, from dynamic floor prices and demand priorities to page ad placements
The future of CTV and DOOH innovation
As more media owners leverage EX.CO’s ad server, the technology is poised to transform the potential for personalized engagement and monetization across CTV and DOOH. By combining advanced ML with insights gained from years of experience in web video, our team has created a solution that helps capture the full value of your video inventory and maximize revenue growth.
Interested in learning how EX.CO can help your CTV or DOOH business earn more revenue? Submit your information below.