A new ad platform function which allows marketers to use their own algorithms to buy inventory has been tipped to “revolutionise” bidding in real-time. 

The NYC-based AppNexus says its ‘Programmable Bidder’ gives advertisers a chance to apply their own audience data to activity on a real-time bidding platform in order to optimise campaigns based on their specific requirements.

Marketers would usually have to venture down a long and costly route to this luxury by creating their own bidding system. AppNexus says it has finally “broke through the wall” by allowing bidders to deploy their own formulas on third-party tech.

Not only this, the company sees potential in a “new generation” of media companies selling and even renting their algorithms to programmatic media buyers.

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As the concept of ‘bring your own algorithm’ gathers pace, marketers will be growing accustomed to using things like pre-stored ‘decision trees’ to buy their media.

According to AppNexus, being able to leverage proprietary data and models for use with real-time bidding will give marketers better control of their campaigns. helping them maximise value from display.

“Real-time algorithmic bidding will revolutionise marketing,” commented AppNexus CEO Brian O’Kelley.

“Until now, the technical challenges and financial costs of real-time bidding have prevented most buyers from investing in algorithms. By allowing data scientists to upload complex models directly into our scaled real-time bidding platform, we will finally see the industry take full advantage of the power of algorithms to maximize the impact of every ad impression.” 

The new function comes in the middle of what is expected to be a huge year for real-time bidding, in which eMarketer believes it will account for a quarter of all display ad spend.