-By Mike Shields

PubMatic a company which helps Web publishers manages their relationships with multiple ad networks, has introduced a new product which promises to increase sites’ ad revenue by predicting which network will provide the best price at a given moment.

The new Ad Price Prediction service has been designed for Web publishers which set aside remnant ad inventory to be sold through several different ad networks at once. PubMatic claims it can now instantly compare prices among those ad networks—using real time pricing data—and then serve an ad via the network that will deliver the best price. According to co-founder and CEO Rajeev Goel most publishers typically rely on historical pricing data—not current prices—when making such decisions.

The company has been testing Ad Price Prediction over the past several months with a handful of publishers, which have enjoyed significant lifts in revenue, said Goel. Among the companies which have tested the service are Mansueto Ventures, the publisher of Inc.com and Fast Company.
 
“PubMatic’s real-time optimization means that more ad networks are competing for every impression,” said Joe Luna, director of digital advertising operations at Mansueto. “In this climate, with a limited ad operations staff, getting the most money for every ad impression vs. daily optimization makes a big difference.”