Ad Exchange platforms (AdX) integrate advertising resources and networks, facilitating the sale of advertising space through various transaction methods, including programmatic direct buying, preferred deals, and real-time bidding. DSPs can interface with AdX to purchase media ad impressions transparently through different transaction methods, accurately targeting audiences to improve advertising ROI. Theoretically, the role of a Supply-Side Platform (SSP) is to connect with media and then to AdX. However, since the functionality of SSPs is now essentially the same as AdX, we can discuss Ad Exchange and SSP together under the term AdX.
PDB (Programmatic Direct Buying): PDB is the preferred model for the highest quality advertising resources in media. These resources are often in high demand and sought after by advertisers. To secure these premium resources, advertisers typically negotiate a fixed price with the media in advance, reserving these spots exclusively. Unlike traditional advertising, PDB allows for audience targeting, but this targeting is limited to a few broad demographic dimensions.
PD (Preferred Deals): After the highest-quality resources are secured by major brands, there remains a pool of relatively high-quality resources with uncertain impressions. If an advertiser purchases these uncertain volumes at a negotiated price, this model is known as PD. The downside of PD is the uncertainty of resource allocation, but the advantage is that the advertiser does not have to commit to a certain volume of impressions and can target the specific audience they need, preventing waste of advertising resources.
RTB (Real Time Bidding): After the high-quality resources are purchased, there will always be some less desirable resources left that are not favored by advertisers. Media does not want to waste these long-tail and lower-quality resources, so they are put on the open market for smaller advertisers to bid on through RTB. The placement and pricing of these resources are uncertain and determined in real time.
Comparison of AdX Transaction Models
Model
Buying Method
Requires Advance Order
Display Priority
Guarantee Volume
Resource Quality
Resource Placement Reservation
Pricing and Volume Guarantee
PDB
Fixed CPM/CPD
Yes
Highest
Yes
Premium
Yes
Fixed price, fixed volume
PD
Fixed CPM
Yes
After premium
No
Relatively good
No
Fixed price, no volume guarantee
RTB
Bid CPM
No
Remaining traffic
No
Non-premium
No
No price or volume guarantee
Classification and Examples of Domestic AdX
AdX platforms are generally classified into public and private AdX based on their ownership of the main media resources.
Public AdX: Public AdX does not own media resources and acts as a typical intermediary matching buyers and sellers. The characteristics of these AdX include large traffic volume and low prices, but the quality of traffic is inconsistent, mainly consisting of long-tail traffic and a small amount of surplus traffic from top vertical media (media that have not established their own AdX).
Private AdX: These AdX platforms belong to major media owners and are centered around the resources of these media. Examples include the AdX of major portal media (Tencent, Sina, Sohu, etc.), video media (YouTube, IQIYI, LeTV, etc.), and emerging mobile media (Xiaomi, Momo, etc.). The traffic quality of these AdXs is relatively better since it is the media’s traffic, and the prices are slightly higher. Sometimes, to reduce the overall buying cost, these AdX may also introduce cheaper external media traffic in addition to their own.
In the advertising placement process, the review of advertising materials and the qualifications of advertisers is a key step that directly affects the efficiency of advertising placement, the quality of advertising, and the reliability of advertising information. The media that ultimately publishes the information is the responsible entity as stipulated by advertising law.
As the most centralized hub of advertising transactions, AdX has become the main gatekeeper for the review process. The review mainly involves the qualifications of advertisers, the upload and review of advertising materials, the review of advertiser qualifications and materials from the DSP side, and the review of advertiser qualifications and materials from the AdX side. Understanding the review entities should provide a basic understanding of whom to consult and appeal to in daily work practice.
KPIs Around AdX
These data indicators are seen from the perspective of AdX and may not be the same as what DSPs see due to network losses:
Total available bid requests: Based on the total traffic of AdX, the total number of bid requests can be sent to various DSPs, which is considered as the available inventory of AdX.
Filtered request volume: After setting filtering conditions on the AdX self-service platform, the number of bid requests filtered by each DSP, such as filtering certain sizes or websites.
Actual request sent: AdX will send the actual number of bid requests to each DSP based on the QPS limits set by the DSP on the AdX self-service platform. This indicator shows how much inventory the DSP can see, and AdX can also evaluate the consumption capacity of each DSP.
Actual request rate: The ratio of the actual number of requests sent by AdX to each DSP to the total number of available bid requests. AdX can use this indicator to assess the consumption capacity of each DSP.
Number of bids: The number of bids a DSP participates in.
Bid participation rate: The proportion of the number of bids a DSP participates in into the actual number of requests sent. AdX can use this indicator to assess the purchasing willingness of each DSP.
Number of abandoned bids: The number of bids a DSP has abandoned as seen by AdX (actual request number – number of bids).
Abandoned bid rate: The ratio of the number of abandoned bids a DSP has to the actual number of requests sent.
Number of valid bids: The number of bids successfully responded to that meet the placement constraints (can be placed) for materials and advertisers.
Number of invalid bids: The number of invalid bids due to reasons such as unreviewed advertiser qualifications, banned industries and categories, response timeout, parsing errors, etc. AdX can use this indicator to assess the technical and execution management capabilities of each DSP and assist in reducing this number.
Response timeout count: The number of network failures or response timeouts (generally required <100ms) received from a DSP.
Response timeout rate: The ratio of the response timeout count of a DSP to the actual number of requests sent. AdX can use this indicator to assess the technical capabilities of the DSP’s Bidder and network conditions.
Parsing error count: The number of parsing failures caused by incorrect data packet formats returned by a DSP in the bidding process.
Parsing error rate: The ratio of the parsing error count of a DSP’s returned package to the actual number of requests sent.
Number of successful bids: The number of advertising exposure opportunities successfully won by a DSP.
Bid success rate: The ratio of the number of successful bids a DSP has to the number of bids participated in.
Number of failed bids: The number of bids a DSP did not win in the bidding process because the bid was not the highest (valid bid number – number of successful wins).
Bid failure rate: The ratio of the number of failed bids a DSP has to the number of bids participated in.
Traffic utilization rate: The ratio of the number of successful bids a DSP has to the actual number of requests sent.
Driven by the digital wave, China’s advertising market has shown a diversified development trend. From traditional television and radio to modern internet platforms, various media provide publicity and promotional services for different industries. At the same time, various advertising agencies play an important role in the market, providing customized marketing solutions for brands.
Television Advertising and Its Primary Industries
Television advertising has always been an important choice for advertisers due to its extensive coverage and strong visual experience. It combines visual images, colors, and movements to create a deep impression, effectively displaying product features and establishing an emotional connection with the audience. Especially for seasonal products and urgent promotions, the immediate dissemination capability of television advertising is crucial.
The main industries of television advertisers include the food industry (such as health care products, snacks, and cooking oil), the beverage industry (such as infant formula, UHT milk, tea, and yogurt), the commercial and service industry (such as healthcare institutions and retailers), and the personal goods industry (such as glasses/contact lenses, men’s razors, watches, and cleaning products). These industries not only enhance brand awareness and memorability through television advertising but also increase the brand’s authority and trustworthiness.
Outdoor advertising, with its 24-hour long-term exposure and wide visibility, covers densely populated areas, ensuring that brand messages are seen by a large number of people. Outdoor advertising has strong geographical targeting, precisely attracting the target audience in business districts or communities. Compared with television and online advertising, outdoor advertising has a strong visual impact, high cost-effectiveness, and helps in long-term brand reinforcement.
The main industries of outdoor advertisers include the beverage industry (such as mineral water, fruit and vegetable juice, and yogurt), the food industry (such as snacks, series of food products, and health care products), the cosmetics/bathroom products industry (such as skincare products, baby hygiene and bathroom products, and oral care products), the home appliance industry (such as home appliances and smart appliances), and the alcoholic beverage industry (such as Chinese meals wine, medicinal wine/tonic wine, and fruit wine). Outdoor advertising, integrated with technology, can provide interactive experiences, establish emotional connections, and enhance market coverage.
Radio Advertising and Its Primary Industries
Radio advertising attracts a mobile audience, such as drivers and commuters, with its extensive coverage and immediacy. It is cost-effective, especially suitable for small businesses, and has the flexibility to respond quickly to market changes. Localized radio can penetrate specific communities, and the emotional connection between program hosts and listeners enhances the trust in advertisements.
The main industries of radio advertisers include the food industry (such as health care products, corporate image of food, and condiments), the entertainment and leisure industry (such as scenic spots, national and city image, restaurants, tourism product service organizations, and hotels), the commercial and service industry (such as education/training categories), and other industries (such as home decoration, e-commerce brands, drugs, post and telecommunications, and alcoholic beverages). The high frequency of contact and multitasking advantages of radio make brand messages frequently and naturally blend into daily life.
Internet Advertising and Its Primary Industries
Internet advertising stands out for its target accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and measurability. It allows brands to finely target based on user characteristics, covering the vast user base of the internet. The flexibility and customization of Internet advertising allow brands to quickly respond to market changes, and interactive elements such as links and social media increase user participation.
The main industries of internet advertisers include IT products and office automation services (such as WeChat Work, DingTalk, etc.), major e-commerce/internet/video platforms (such as Taobao, TikTok, iQiyi, and other brands), the transportation industry (such as online car-hailing, carpooling, etc.), the financial industry (such as major banks, funds, and stock agency organizations), post and telecommunications (such as mobile phones, broadband packages, etc.), entertainment and leisure activities (such as exhibitions, performances, etc.), as well as the real estate/construction industry, industrial goods, and the alcoholic beverage industry. The multi-platform placement ability and creative freedom of Internet advertising provide brands with a variety of promotional methods.
Introduction to Advertising Agencies in the Chinese Market
Advertising agencies act as a bridge connecting advertisers and media channels, providing professional advertising placement and marketing services. Based on the content and characteristics of the services, advertising agencies can be divided into the following categories.
4A Creative Agencies
Focus on creating innovative and impactful advertising content, such as visual design, advertising copy, and brand stories. For example, Ogilvy, Accuen, and Angis, etc.
Media Agencies
Responsible for media planning and purchasing, helping brands effectively place advertisements on various media channels. Services include media strategy development, market analysis, media negotiation and purchasing, ad placement, and effectiveness evaluation.
PR Agencies
Focus on shaping and maintaining brand images, and communicating with the public through media relations, event marketing, and crisis management. Services include press release writing, media interview arrangements, brand spokesperson management, and crisis PR strategies.
Digital Agencies
Focus on digital marketing and online advertising, including search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and social media marketing. Services include website design, content marketing, email marketing, data analysis, and digital ad placement.
Entertainment Marketing Agencies
Combine entertainment industry resources, such as movies, TV, music, and sports, to create joint marketing opportunities for brands. Provide entertainment marketing solutions such as brand implantation, event sponsorship, celebrity endorsements, and content cooperation.
Media Communication Agencies
Focus on disseminating brand information through various media channels, which may include online and offline communication strategies. Services may involve ad placement, content distribution, media relationship establishment, and brand communication activities.
Multi-Channel Networks provide content management, business cooperation, and audience growth support for video and social media content creators. Services include content creative guidance, copyright management, brand cooperation opportunities, audience analysis, and revenue optimization services.
Social Media Marketing Agencies
Focus on helping brands establish and maintain a social image on social media platforms. Services include social media account management, content creation, audience interaction, ad placement, and social media strategy development.
Demand-side platforms provide services for brand advertisers or ad agencies, acting as an automated online advertising purchasing system known as DSP (Demand-Side Platform). DSPs enable advertisers or ad agencies to programmatically select targeted traffic and purchase ad spaces, control budgets, and optimize advertising strategies in real-time. As an integral part of digital marketing and programmatic advertising, DSP platforms offer advertisers an efficient and intelligent way to deploy ads.
Classification of Chinese DSP Platforms and Corresponding Suppliers
Analysis of Entrants
Ad agencies or ad networks transitioning into DSPs: With a wealth of advertiser resources, these companies can directly integrate into the DSP landscape. Their entry can involve building a technical team to develop a DSP, purchasing a DSP technology solution for private deployment, or acquiring a DSP company outright, with representatives such as HaoYe and others.
Ad Exchange or SSP companies expanding into DSPs
These companies, with significant traffic resources, aim to connect directly with advertiser resources. Leveraging existing technical capabilities, they typically develop a DSP in-house, with representatives including Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, Youku, and more.
Pure-tech companies entering DSPs
Originating from a technical background, these companies have entered the programmatic advertising field rapidly, using their technological edge. Representatives include YOYI Technology and others.
Large-budget advertisers building their DSPs
With ample advertising budgets, these advertisers seek to efficiently utilize their proprietary data to enhance campaign performance and gain transparency over traffic. Their approach can range from developing a technical team for DSP creation to purchasing technology solutions for private DSP deployment. The YOYI Plus team offers a DMP+DSP model, providing large-budget advertisers with a solution for the efficient use of first-party data and transparent execution of programmatic advertising.
Based on the resources connected and the target of service, DSPs can be further classified into Pure Web DSPs, Mobile DSPs, Cross-screen DSPs, and DSP+.
Pure Web DSPs
Focus on web traffic and services for web-oriented clients, evolving towards cross-screen DSP capabilities.
Mobile DSPs
Concentrate on mobile traffic and advertisers targeting mobile users.
Cross-screen DSPs
A hybrid of PC and mobile DSPs, offering inventory across multiple screens, including computers, smartphones, tablets, etc. YOYI Plus is a leading cross-screen DSP in China with Mobile, PC, OTT, and CTV inventories in hand.
DSP+
Encompasses various specializations such as DSP+advertiser types (e.g., performance DSPs, brand DSPs), DSP+vertical industries (e.g., financial DSPs, e-commerce DSPs), DSP+resource types (e.g., video DSPs). However, performance DSPs now generally serve brand clients as well, making pure performance DSPs rare.
Depending on the background of the DSP owner, such as owning proprietary media or being an advertiser themselves, DSPs can be categorized as follows.
Third-Party Independent DSPs
DSP platforms that bid on traffic from various Ad Exchanges/SSPs. Notable examples include YOYI TECH, FancyDigital, WiseMedia, Domob, etc..
Large Media Proprietary DSPs
Private DSPs are built by large media companies with their traffic. Examples include Tencent DSP, Sina DSP, Youku DSP, Toutiao DSP, etc. These DSPs have competitive advantages due to their unique traffic resources but may face challenges when advertisers seek cross-media frequency control for multi-media campaigns.
Advertiser Proprietary DSPs
Large advertisers, due to the privacy of their business data, cannot apply it to third-party DSP platforms. To activate this data, some advertisers opt to build their DSPs, using their technology and business data for ad deployment, achieving self-operation. Examples include Ctrip DSP, NetEase DSP, etc.
DSPs with Unique DMP Data
Companies like UnionPay with POS transaction data, and Opsmart Technology, with data from large offline traffic scenarios, use DSPs for monetization. These companies are relatively neutral in ad traffic and create value for advertisers through unique data, which is their core driving force.
Trading Desk (TD)
A Trading Desk, similar to a DSP, provides an integrated technical solution for managing multiple DSP platforms. Advertisers can manage campaigns across various DSPs through a TD, including budget allocation, strategy adjustment, and performance reporting. TDs typically serve brand advertisers who often advertise across multiple DSP suppliers, involving overall budgeting, frequency control, and unified campaign management.
TDs can be categorized into Agency Trading Desks (ATDs), Independent Trading Desks (ITDs), and Brand Trading Desks (BTDs).
Agency Trading Desks (ATDs)
Trading desks within 4A agencies serving multiple brand advertisers, such as Xaxis, Accuen, AOD, and Changrong.
Independent Trading Desks (ITDs)
Similar to ATDs they serve multiple ad agencies or direct clients, like YOYI OneDesk, Chinapex, and Fuge.
Brand Trading Desks (BTDs)
Trading desks are built in-house by advertisers or with technology providers for internal use, such as the Yili Trading Desk.
Selection and Evaluation Criteria for Chinese DSP Suppliers
Before advertising deployment, it’s crucial to select and evaluate DSP suppliers effectively. A good supplier can make advertising efforts much more effective, while a poor choice can lead to inefficiencies and potential fraud.
Key considerations when choosing a DSP include traffic, performance, product, service, and pricing. Traffic refers to media resources, performance is tied to technical capabilities, data strength, and algorithmic prowess. The product backend focuses on the ad deployment and management interface. Service is related to the company’s background and service capabilities, while pricing models determine the cost-effectiveness of the DSP. Advertisers can assign different weights to these factors, score them, and ultimately select a DSP with strong comprehensive capabilities as a partner.
Media Resources: The advantages of DSP media resources, including featured media, ad types, and volume.
Technical Capabilities: Including DSP functional modules and hardware equipment. Functional modules assess precise targeting capabilities and technical highlights; hardware equipment refers to data center and server resources, verifying the DSP’s authenticity.
Data Strength: Measures whether the DSP has sufficient data to support precise ad deployment, either from its data or third-party DMP data.
Algorithmic Capabilities: Examines whether the DSP has an algorithmic optimization model to automatically adjust and optimize ads, reducing manual workload while ensuring campaign effectiveness.
Product Backend: Evaluates the completeness, maturity, stability, and usability of the DSP’s ad deployment backend.
Company Background: Provides an overview of the DSP company to assess reliability, including company introduction, team members, awards, patents, and the ability to serve major clients.
Service Capabilities: Assesses the professionalism (including data analysis, reporting, and emergency service capabilities) and stability of the DSP execution team.
Pricing Models: Media pricing, service fees, and pricing transparency are also critical for advertiser evaluation.
YOYI Plus, as a leading DSP in China, has cross-screen delivery capabilities for various traffic terminals including PC, mobile, OTT, and CTV, covering over 80% of media traffic in China. With robust audience data and tagging capabilities, it helps brands acquire precise public domain advertising traffic more efficiently, enhancing brand exposure and ad interaction effects.
Advertising effectiveness monitoring indicators are crucial for advertisers to determine the effectiveness of advertisements and how to optimize them. The commonly used advertising monitoring indicators by Chinese advertisers mainly include four major categories: traffic indicators, interaction indicators, conversion indicators, and cost indicators.
Traffic Indicators
Ad Impressions
The total number of times an advertisement is displayed on a specific website within a designated time period. High exposure means the advertisement has a wide reach, but it is also important to avoid ineffective exposures. This indicator cannot measure whether users have actually seen the advertisement, as it can be affected by factors such as page scroll speed, which affects the visibility of the advertisement.
Unique impressions refer to the number of exposures after excluding multiple exposures by the same user, which is mainly achieved by excluding duplicate cookies.
Calculating the ratio of ad impressions to unique impressions (Impression/Unique Impression) is one of the simple ways to identify ad fraud. A high ratio indicates that some users are repeatedly visiting in large numbers, suggesting that the website may have abnormal traffic and is suspected of having machine-generated traffic.
Viewable Impressions
Viewable impressions are based on the visibility of the advertisement. The IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) stipulates: For PC-side image advertisements, 50% of the pixels are displayed for more than 1 second, and for PC-side video advertisements, 50% of the pixels are displayed for more than 2 seconds, which can be considered viewable impressions. Additionally, for larger ad formats, 30% of the pixels displayed for more than 1 second can be considered 1 viewable impression.
The internet advertising pricing model related to this indicator is CPMv (cost per mille viewable impression), which is the cost for a thousand viewable impressions. The new CPM selling method used by Tencent mentioned earlier is CPMv. This selling method excludes data for advertisements that have not been actually watched, which can ensure the fairness, authenticity, and effectiveness of advertising transactions to a certain extent, help advertisers improve advertising effectiveness, save advertising budgets wasted on poor media resources or content, and improve ROI, thus being welcomed by advertisers.
Clicks
Clicks are the metrics used to measure user behavior after ad exposure. Clicks are the key actions that link front-end advertisements with back-end landing pages, reflecting the audience’s interest in the advertisement. Factors affecting clicks include two aspects: first, the accuracy of ad placement, and second, the quality of ad creativity.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The ratio of clicks to impressions (Click/Impression), the click-through rate allows for a horizontal comparison of the effectiveness of different advertisements and is the most direct and persuasive quantitative indicator reflecting the effectiveness of online advertising. Factors affecting the click-through rate include: the number of impressions, which only becomes relatively stable after reaching a certain quantity, objectively reflecting the effectiveness of the advertisement; the accuracy of ad placement, the higher the proportion of the target consumer group reached, the higher the click-through rate; the attractiveness of ad creativity, the stronger the visual impact and the more attractive the content, the higher the click-through rate.
Page Views (PV)
Page views are a commonly used indicator for website traffic statistics. A request from the user’s end to open a page is considered one page view. Page views are one of the commonly used traffic indicators for monitoring ad landing pages. To a certain extent, they can reflect the degree to which the interests and desires of the ad audience are stimulated and can reflect a certain advertising effect.
Visits
Visits are commonly used in website traffic analysis to describe a series of user behaviors within a certain period of time or in the process of achieving a certain goal. The mainstream view is that visits refer to the number of times users visit a website.
Visits can be used for the calculation of CPV (Cost Per Visit), which is the cost per visit. In practical applications, it is rarely used as a billing method in settlements between media and advertisers, but rather as an indicator for advertisers to measure the ROI of marketing activities.
Unique Visitors (UV)
Unique visitors are used to measure the number of website visitors. According to the “China Mobile Internet Advertising Standards,” a device visiting a website within a specified time period is counted as one visitor, and the same device will only be counted once within the specified time period.
Compared with other traffic indicators, unique visitors are centered on a user as a measure, which can help advertisers more accurately identify the audience affected by advertising activities, and can also be used to identify simple traffic fraud. Unique visitors can be used for CPUV (Cost Per Unique Visitor), which is the cost per unique visitor. However, like CPV, it is often not used as a billing method in advertising transactions between advertisers and media, but rather as an ROI indicator set by advertisers according to the goals of the advertising campaign.
Traffic indicators describe the arrival of users for advertisements and landing pages, while interaction indicators describe the depth of user participation. Compared with traffic indicators, the standardization of interaction indicators is relatively low.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate refers to the ratio of users who, after clicking on an advertisement and entering the advertiser’s promoted page, do not generate further clicks and choose to leave directly. In internet marketing, the bounce rate can be used to measure the quality of external traffic and the attractiveness of website content to the audience. The higher the quality of external traffic and the more accurate the front-end advertising, the more target users can be attracted, and the lower the bounce rate of users after entering the website.
2nd-Click Rate
When a first-level website page is clicked and opened, any additional clicks generated by the user on the page are called “2nd-clicks,” and the number of 2nd-clicks is referred to as “2nd-click volume.” The ratio of “2nd-click volume” to page views is called the page’s “2nd-click rate.”
Visit Depth (PV/V)
Visit depth (PV/V) is an average number, referring to the number of times a specific web page is exposed to a visitor during a single visit, calculated as page views divided by visits. The higher the visit depth, the more pages a visitor browses in one visit, the more information they get, and the greater the value of these visits to advertisers.
Visit Duration
Visit duration (Time on Site) is also an average number, a measure of the length of visits, specifically the average time spent per visit, calculated as total visit time divided by visits. Theoretically, the longer the visit duration, the better the interactive effect of the advertisement.
Conversion Indicators
Conversion indicators are the most valuable category of indicators for businesses as they directly reflect the benefits that advertising activities bring to the enterprise, and thus are increasingly valued by advertisers.
Conversion rate refers to the ratio of the number of times users complete specific actions (such as purchases, registrations, etc.) to the number of clicks, and is a key indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of advertisements. Specific actions for conversion include:
Sales-related conversion indicators
Offline: The number of store visits
Online: The number of orders placed and purchases completed
App-related conversion indicators
Downloads
Active users
Registrations Users
Retention
In-app purchases
Cost Indicators
Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM)
Refers to the cost per thousand impressions when advertising is placed, reflecting the cost of advertising placement.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
Refers to the cost per click when advertising is placed, reflecting the cost of advertising placement.
Cost Per Conversion (CPA)
Refers to the cost per conversion action when advertising is placed, reflecting the cost of advertising placement.
Advertising Monitoring Fields
The following are fields involved in the advertising monitoring process in China, covering data from multiple aspects such as users, devices, advertising activities, geographic locations, and network environments. Through the analysis of these data, advertisers can comprehensively understand the display, click-through, and conversion effects of advertisements, optimize advertising placement strategies, and improve the ROI (Return on Investment) of advertisements.
Field Name
Data Format
Meaning
Value
user_id
string
Unique identifier for the user
Used to distinguish different users
user_id_type
string
Type of user identifier, such as device ID, email
Helps to understand the source of user_id
req_time
bigint
Request time, records the timestamp of the user’s ad request
Used to analyze user behavior and ad display timeliness
ip
string
User’s IP address
Used for geographical analysis and user identity verification
cookie
string
Cookie data from the user’s browser
Used to track user’s online activities and ad effectiveness
source
string
Traffic source
Identifies the channel or platform the ad traffic comes from
campaign_id
string
Unique identifier for the ad campaign
Used to distinguish and analyze different ad campaigns
order_id
string
Order ID
Used to track transactions and conversions related to the ad
url
string
Target URL of the ad display or click
Used to analyze ad effectiveness and user behavior
os
string
Operating system information of the user’s device
Used for device and platform compatibility analysis
ad_ip
string
IP address of the ad server
Used to track the source of ad requests
idfa
string
Advertising identifier for iOS devices
Used for mobile ad tracking
idfa_md5
string
MD5 encrypted form of IDFA
Used for privacy protection and data matching
idfa_sha1
string
SHA1 encrypted form of IDFA
Used for privacy protection and data matching
imei
string
International Mobile Equipment Identity for Android devices
Used for device identification
imei_md5
string
MD5 encrypted form of IMEI
Used for privacy protection and data matching
imei_sha1
string
SHA1 encrypted form of IMEI
Used for privacy protection and data matching
android_id
string
Unique identifier for Android devices
Used for device identification
android_id_md5
string
MD5 encrypted form of Android ID
Used for privacy protection and data matching
android_id_sha1
string
SHA1 encrypted form of Android ID
Used for privacy protection and data matching
mac_md5
string
MD5 encrypted form of device MAC address
Used for device identification and privacy protection
android_advertising_id
string
Advertising identifier for Android devices
Used for ad tracking
ad_timestamp
bigint
Timestamp of the ad event
Used to accurately record the time of ad display and click
oaid
string
Open Advertising Identifier
Used to replace traditional device identifiers and enhance privacy protection
callback_url
string
Callback URL
Used for server-to-server notifications and data transmission after ad click
user_agent
string
User agent string of the user’s browser
Used to identify device and browser information
brand
string
Device brand information
Used for market analysis and device performance evaluation
network_type
string
Network type, such as WiFi, 4G
Used to analyze the network environment of the ad display
csite
string
Content site
Identifies the specific site or app location where the ad is displayed
stype
string
Ad type, such as display ad, video ad, etc.
Used for categorization and effectiveness analysis
extend
string
Extension field
Used for storing other custom data
open_udid
string
Open Unique Device Identifier
Used for device identification and ad tracking
plan_id
string
Ad plan ID
Used to distinguish and manage different ad plans
platform
string
Ad serving platform, such as mobile, PC, etc.
Used to distinguish the platform where the ad is served
publisher_id
string
Publisher ID
Used to distinguish different ad publishers
adzone_type
string
Type of ad placement, e.g., banner ads, interstitial ads
Used for classification and performance analysis
adzone_id
string
Ad placement ID to distinguish different ad display positions
Used to distinguish different ad display positions
province_id
string
Province ID for geographical analysis
Used for geographical analysis
city_id
string
City ID for geographical analysis
Used for geographical analysis
county_id
string
County ID for more detailed geographical analysis
Used for more detailed geographical analysis
traffic_type
string
Type of traffic, e.g., organic traffic, paid traffic
Used for traffic quality analysis
adx_id
string
Ad Exchange Platform ID
Used to distinguish and manage different ad exchange platforms.
app_package
string
App Package Name
Used for identifying and analyzing different mobile applications
main_domain
string
Main Domain
Used for analyzing the domain source of ad display
num
int
Number of Ad Requests
Used for statistics and analysis of ad request volume
log_type
string
Log Type, such as display log, click log, etc.
Used for classification and analysis
sub_customer_id
string
Sub-Customer ID
Used for multi-level customer management and analysis
session_id
string
Session ID
Used for tracking a user’s single visit behavior
order_type
string
Order Type, such as purchase, registration, etc.
Used for conversion analysis.
creative_id
string
Creative ID
Used to distinguish and manage different ad creatives
app_id
string
App ID
Used for identifying and analyzing different mobile applications
app_name
string
App Name
Used for identifying and analyzing different mobile applications
ref_url
string
Reference URL
Used for analyzing traffic sources
creative_type
string
Creative Type, such as images, videos, etc.
Used for classification and performance analysis
id
string
General ID
Used to identify the uniqueness of the record
ad_id
string
Ad ID
Used to distinguish and manage different ads
customer_id
string
Customer ID
Used to distinguish and manage different ad customers
device_name
string
Device Name
Used for device identification and analysis
browser_name
string
Browser Name
Used for identifying the browser used by the user
bizdate
string
Business Date
Used for statistics and analysis by date
bizhour
string
Business Hour
Used for statistics and analysis by hour
data_source
string
Data Source
Used to distinguish and analyze different data collection channels
In the area of advertising monitoring, some fields may be more commonly seen in the Chinese internet environment, mainly due to China’s unique advertising technology standards, device identifiers, and certain characteristics of some application markets:
oaid: Open Advertising Identifier, a device identifier introduced by Chinese device manufacturers to replace traditional identifiers and enhance privacy protection.
android_id: In China, many devices and advertising networks rely on this identifier.
open_udid: Open Unique Device Identifier, which is quite common on some Chinese advertising platforms and applications.
mac_md5: Although used globally, in the Chinese market, this field is often used for device identification.
imei, imei_md5, imei_sha1: IMEI is globally universal, but in China, especially in early advertising monitoring, it is common to see the use of IMEI and its encrypted forms.
idfa, idfa_md5, idfa_sha1: Although IDFA is a global standard for Apple devices, it is also frequently used in iOS advertising tracking in China.
ad_timestamp: The timestamp of the advertising event, universally used globally, but the format and specific implementation may vary by region.
app_package: The application package name, used to identify applications in China’s unique app markets.
app_name: The application name, which often appears in Chinese advertising monitoring to identify specific applications.
province_id, city_id, county_id: These geographical location identifiers are especially common in Chinese advertising monitoring, used for fine-grained regional analysis.
bizdate, bizhour: Fields used for statistics by date and hour, frequently used in Chinese advertising reports and analysis.
adzone_id, adzone_type: The type and ID of the advertising space, these fields are very common on Chinese advertising platforms for ad space management and analysis.
How to Read Advertising Monitoring Reports
Compare Data
Compare data from different time periods, platforms, and ad formats to identify areas of excellent performance and areas that need improvement.
Pay Attention to Trends
Observe the trends in data changes to predict future development trends, providing a basis for adjusting advertising strategies.
Deep Dive
For data that performs poorly, delve deeper into the underlying reasons, such as whether the advertising content, target audience, and placement platform are appropriate.
How to Use Advertising Monitoring Data to Optimize Advertising Strategies
Adjust Advertising Content
Based on user feedback and data analysis, optimize advertising copy, images, videos, and other elements to improve the attractiveness and conversion rate of advertisements.
Precisely Target the Audience
Understand the interests, needs, and behavioral habits of the target audience through data analysis to formulate more precise advertising placement strategies.
Optimize Placement Platforms and Timing
Choose more suitable advertisingplatforms and time slots based on data performance to increase the exposure and click-through rate of advertisements.
Control Advertising Budget
Allocate the advertising budget reasonably according to ROI and advertising effects to ensure the maximization of the input-output ratio.
Advertising monitoring reports are not only a set of data reports but also a valuable marketing guide. By deeply analyzing advertising monitoring data, we can better understand the performance of advertising activities, identify optimization space, and enhance advertising effectiveness.
In the dynamic landscape of digital advertising, China’s advertising ecosystem has developed unique characteristics that set it apart from the global market. This article delves into specific advertising formats that are not commonly seen abroad but have gained significant attention in China. Furthermore, we analyze popular advertising strategies that have made a splash internationally but remain largely unknown in the Chinese market. By examining these differences, this article will help brands to better understand which advertising formats in the Chinese advertising market will be more conducive to business growth.
Elevator Advertising
China is one of the most populous countries in the world, with a high urban population density, especially in residential communities and commercial office buildings. Elevators, as a necessary facility in high-rise buildings, provide a high-frequency exposure opportunity for advertising as a large number of people pass through them every day.
The widespread application of digital advertising screens makes elevator advertising more dynamic and colorful, and even achieves precise push and interactivity, enhancing the attractiveness of advertising. Compared with traditional television, radio, or large outdoor advertising, elevator advertising has a relatively low cost and is more flexible in placement, which can be selectively placed based on specific attributes of the target audience. In addition, the space inside the elevator is relatively closed, and there are fewer interference factors in the display of advertisements. Passengers often have nothing to do when waiting for or riding in the elevator, which increases the attention and memory of the advertisement.
Advertisers can achieve precise placement after understanding the characteristics of the residents or office workers of the target building, including age, gender, occupation, and other information, and combine creative content with memorable points, using multimedia forms such as video and sound to improve the expressiveness and interactivity of elevator advertising. By using QR codes, NFC, and other technologies, online and offline connections are realized to guide the audience to further interact.
Splash Screen Advertising
Splash screen advertising is mainly used to display a previously cached advertising content (pictures, animations, videos) or re-requested advertising when an APP is opened. While displaying the advertising content, some preparatory operations of the application can also be done. The implementation process is not complicated and is more commonly used in mobile advertising in China.
Most foreign APPs are simple and direct. Users do not like to see an advertisement that is unrelated to the software after opening the APP, such as YouTube, Facebook, etc., which are all directly a logo screen. However, some domestic APPs are in a monopolistic position, and users have no choice. But too frequent advertisements will directly affect the user experience. If there is a splash screen advertisement that makes users wait for 3 to 5 seconds every time the application is launched, it will make people feel annoyed and may even uninstall the APP, so publishers need to reasonably set the number and interval of advertisements to balance revenue and user experience.
Some mobile apps in China with splash screen advertising include: CTV apps such as Mango and iQiyi; UGC social apps such as Zhihu; Knowledge apps such as Youdao and Youdao Cloud Notes; Photo editing apps such as Meitu Xiuxiu; Travel apps such as Gaode Map, Ctrip, and Tongcheng, etc.
The implementation of lock screen advertising is relatively more complex, requiring a background service to listen to the system’s boot, unlock, lock screen, and other broadcasts to replace the system’s lock screen interface with advertising content. It also uses the notification bar, desktop widgets as advertising spaces, but all require the user to apply for authorization to disturb the user. With the update of the Android system, the management of background resident tasks will only be more stringent. Compared with other forms of advertising, such as TV and outdoor advertising, lock screen advertising has a lower cost and is easy to measure the effect, so it is favored by advertisers.
Chinese users spend a long time on the mobile Internet every day on average, and frequent lock and unlock operations increase the exposure opportunities of lock screen advertising. Chinese users have a relatively high acceptance of lock screen advertising, especially when it can provide some instant information or small rewards.
Foreign Google Play has strict policy constraints, in addition to applications specifically developed for the lock screen function, other applications are not allowed to provide advertising or features that profit through the device’s lock screen. Therefore, lock screen advertising is not common abroad.
When advertisers place lock screen advertising, they need to pay attention to designing simple and attractive advertising content to ensure that users can quickly grab attention before unlocking. At the same time, avoid designing advertisements that are too cumbersome or interfere with normal use, and control the frequency of advertising display to avoid causing user dissatisfaction.
This article will also examine some advertising phenomena that have caused a sensation on the international stage but have not yet had a significant impact in China. Among them, email advertising, which is a favorite of foreign advertisers, finds it difficult to win the market in China for the following reasons:
The popularity of social media
In China, social media platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, QQ, Xiaohongshu, and others are very popular. People are more inclined to use these platforms for communication and to receive information, rather than email.
E-commerce Ecology
China’s e-commerce ecosystem has developed rapidly, and consumers are more accustomed to receiving promotional information directly through online shopping platforms, which usually appear in the form of app push notifications or text messages.
Advertising Regulations
China’s internet advertising regulations have strict stipulations for email advertising, requiring senders to comply with relevant laws and regulations, which increases the operational cost and compliance requirements of email advertising.
User Habits
Chinese users generally rely less on email, and many may not check their mailboxes frequently, resulting in relatively lower open and conversion rates for email advertising.
Mobile First
Most of China’s internet users spend their time on mobile devices, and the email client experience on mobile devices is usually not as good as on PC, which also reduces the frequency of users receiving advertising through email.
Therefore, for advertisers, from the perspective of interactive effects, SMS advertising and mobile advertising in China can perfectly replace email advertising.
In China, the rapid development of the internet industry has become a thing of the past. Faced with increasingly precious traffic, brands and advertisers need to put in more effort to “explore” and manage. Advertising monitoring naturally becomes an indispensable part of the advertising placement industry chain. Through advertising monitoring, advertisers can understand the effectiveness of their placements and further optimize strategies to gradually improve the return on investment. This article will explore how advertising monitoring is implemented in the Chinese market and what the current state of advertising monitoring is like.
What to monitor?
In China, advertisers also focus on the exposure, clicks, and in-app interaction effects of advertisements.
Exposure Monitoring: Also known as “impression monitoring,” it is usually the channel vendors who pass the data back to the advertisers.
Click Monitoring: Monitoring the number of clicks, which can be collected by the advertisers themselves or passed back by the channel vendors through data transmission.
In-App Monitoring: Refers to the monitoring of behaviors/events within the APP, such as basic PV, UV, APP activation/registration/login, etc., and user retention on the next day, 7 days, 30 days, pay rate, ARPU value, etc. These data are generally collected through the integration of third-party monitoring companies’ SDKs within the app, and the interfaces provided by different apps will vary.
To monitor the effectiveness of advertisements, advertisers fill in the corresponding monitoring address when creating the smallest unit of an advertisement, which is the creative. The monitoring URL generally includes the following macros: creative ID or advertisement ID identifier, user device identifier, IP, UA, operating system, etc., and special ones may include CLICKID, CALLBACK.
The entire monitoring process can be roughly divided into three steps:
Advertisers/ad agencies place advertisements with media outlets. When users browse and click on the advertisements, the media will report the data to the advertiser or a third-party advertising monitoring platform. Common third-party platforms include: Umeng, adMaster, and Miaozhen.
After users click on the advertisement, they enter the landing page and participate in the advertising activities, such as downloading and launching the APP. After completing a series of operations, the APP uploads the user data to the advertising monitoring platform through the corresponding interface. Of course, other interactive media such as websites and H5 can also monitor the interaction data from the source of the advertisement through tracking codes and embedded points.
After attribution through certain methods, the user’s relevant data will be associated with the channel merchant and ultimately fed back to the advertiser/ad agency.
Data Reporting Methods for Advertising Monitoring: SDK & API
Advertising data monitoring in China is mainly implemented through SDK and API methods. The technical principles of the two are the same, both collecting user information and transmitting it back to the monitoring platform’s server for comparison. For example, when a user clicks on an advertisement link with tracking parameters, the monitoring platform collects the user’s IP, operating system version, device model, and other information through the link and stores it.
If a user clicks on an advertisement and is redirected to the App Store to download and activate the APP online, the APP will also collect all the user information stored by the monitoring platform.
Then, by matching the information collected when clicking on the link with the information collected after downloading and activating, subsequent conversion and other indicators can be monitored.
The SDK method is simple, easy to use, and powerful. Media outlets integrate SDKs into their Apps, and after completing certain development work, they can meet the vast majority of the needs of third parties and advertisers, with high accuracy and real-time performance.
The API method is flexible, versatile, and applicable to both Apps and mobile web pages. However, it requires media outlets to undertake some development work in accordance with API monitoring standards. API monitoring is divided into two types: C2S (Client to Server) API and S2S (Server to Server) API.
C2S, or Client to Server, refers to the terminal issuing a request instruction to the order placement proxy server. After the terminal receives and completes the instruction, it sends the completed instruction to the third-party monitoring proxy server, which conducts accurate traffic monitoring through mutual counting. Under the C2S model, user actions are directly reported to the third-party monitoring platform’s server, ensuring the timeliness and accuracy of the data. Renowned brand advertisers such as AdMaster and Nielsen often prefer this method to ensure seamless traffic authenticity verification.
S2S, or Server to Server, refers to the terminal issuing a request instruction to the order placement proxy server and then sending the completed instruction back to the order placement proxy server, which in turn sends the data to the third-party monitoring proxy server. This design may affect the timeliness of monitoring data while protecting user privacy, as it requires additional steps. Media outlets sometimes opt for S2S as an alternative strategy due to concerns over data security and may not support C2S monitoring.
C2S is more accurate and can reduce media cheating, commonly used by brand advertisers, but C2S requires client releases for each monitoring, making the implementation more complex.
Synchronous monitoring integrates the monitoring code with the landing page link. When a user clicks on an advertisement, they first visit the monitoring link, jump to the monitoring company’s server, and then jump to the landing page. Synchronous monitoring ensures the immediacy of the monitoring but may affect the user experience. In addition, synchronous monitoring does not support the transmission of parameters such as IDFA.
Asynchronous monitoring, on the other hand, directly redirects users to the landing page after clicking on the advertisement, with the media server sending a monitoring request to the monitoring company’s server. The asynchronous mode ensures a good user experience, but data transmission may be delayed. Moreover, since the request is sent by the server, the visits collected by the monitoring company all come from the same IP segment. If the client is targeting a specific city, determining the region solely based on the IP can lead to significant geographical discrepancies.
Current State of Advertising Monitoring
The mainstream third-party advertising media monitoring tools in China are TrackMaster introduced by AdMaster and AdMonitor introduced by Miaozhen. However, some dominant media outlets refuse third-party monitoring:
The first kind is top-tier vertical media, mainly out of concern for protecting their own data, fearing that clients obtaining the data will affect the media’s valuation and traffic value.
The second kind is dominant internet platforms, which often provide their own developed monitoring tools to clients.
Brands and advertisers must monitor advertising to better understand the effects, prevent data fraud, and continuously optimize the media mix, timing, geography, and creativity using the data obtained. The choice of monitoring mode depends on factors such as the brand’s demand for traffic authenticity, user privacy protection, and system compatibility between both parties. As the market evolves, China’s advertising monitoring methods may continue to evolve to adapt to the ever-changing advertising environment.
Due to the distinct software usage habits of Chinese consumers, email advertising, which garners significant attention in overseas markets, simply doesn’t work in China. The reason is straightforward: unless for work or travel bookings like flights, trains, or hotels, Chinese consumers rarely check their emails. Therefore, to advertise in China, it’s wise to observe how local and international advertisers, who have been in the Chinese market for years, place their ads. This article will introduce the most favored advertising formats among advertisers in the Chinese market, along with the corresponding media resource.
According to CNNIC statistics, as of June 2023, the scale of mobile phone netizens in China reached 1.076 billion people, with 99.8% of netizens using mobile phones to access the internet. The extremely high coverage rate of mobile terminals among netizens determines that mobile advertising is an inescapable topic in the battle for online attention. Currently, 96.7% of enterprises place ads on mobile platforms, 46.7% on PC platforms, and 13.3% on OTT platforms. It can be said that mobile advertising has become a battleground for advertisers to attract traffic and capture user attention.
Drilling down to ad types, according to the “2023 China Online Advertising Market Research” released by the research consulting institution iResearch platform, 90% of enterprises consider information stream ads as one of the main types of advertising, making it the most mainstream form of advertising. Search ads come in second with an 83.3% share, followed by banner ads (56.7%) and splash ads (50%).
Believing that the above-mentioned large-scale advertising types in the Chinese market are not unfamiliar to foreign advertisers, YOYI will introduce to you the characteristics of these popular advertising types and which media have these resources.
Feed Ads
Introduced by Facebook, feed ads are also very popular in Chinese social media. Feed ads are widely present in the user friend dynamics of social media, information media, or audio-visual media, in the form of pictures, graphics and text, videos, etc., and can be targeted through tags, according to one’s own needs, choose to increase exposure, UV, or app downloads, etc. The following are common feed advertising platforms in China:
Information platforms include: Toutiao, Qutoutiao, Sohu, Phoenix, Yidianzixun, Zhihu, etc.
Short video platforms include: Douyin, Kuaishou, Momo, etc.
Social media platforms: Tencent QQ, WeChat Moments, etc.
Search Engine Advertising
Search engine advertising refers to advertisers determining relevant keywords based on the content and features of their products or services, writing advertising content, and independently pricing and placing ads. When users search for keywords placed by advertisers in search engines, the corresponding ads will be displayed (when there are multiple users purchasing the same keywords, they will be displayed according to the bidding ranking principle), and the advertiser will be charged according to the bid for that keyword when the user clicks, with no charge for no clicks.
Search engines commonly used by Chinese users include: Baidu, Sogou, 360, Google.
The famous Chinese social media platform WeChat has also launched a built-in search feature called “Search” and its corresponding ads can also be considered a form of search advertising.
Banner Ads
Banner ads are rectangular advertising spaces that span across web pages, apps, H5, and mini-programs at a fixed position, usually at the top or bottom, and are often in the form of pure images, pure text, or a combination of images and text. When users click on these banners, they are typically linked to the web pages, apps, or form pages that the advertiser wants them to visit.
In China, banner ad spaces are commonly found on popular media and information websites such as Toutiao and NetEase News. In addition, some commonly used video apps such as Youku, iQiyi, LeTV, and Mango TV also set up banner ad resources. During major promotional periods in China, such as the 618 promotion, some apps will also set up special banner ad spaces, such as Zhihu.
Splash Ads
Splash ads refer to static images, animated pictures, or video-style advertising materials displayed on the startup page of an app, with a fixed display time, generally 5-15 seconds. After the display is completed, it automatically closes and enters the main page of the app. Splash ads can incorporate interactive elements, such as touching the screen for interaction, rotating the phone to adjust the display form, and strategically guiding to further enhance the user’s advertising browsing experience and increase the desire to interact. The characteristics of splash ads include the quality of the position, full-screen display, strong targeting, mandatory exposure, and huge traffic.
Video apps such as Youku, iQiyi, LeTV, and Mango TV will set up splash ads. In addition, UGC social apps like Zhihu; learning apps such as Youdao and Youdao Cloud Notes; photo editing apps like Meitu Xiuxiu; travel-related apps such as Gaode Map, Ctrip, and Tongcheng, all have splash ads.
Video Ad Spots
Video ad spots, also known as video interstitial ads, are a popular form of advertising among fast-moving consumer goods advertisers and advertisers accustomed to traditional media. They often appear before, after, or at fixed time points during online video playback.
Video apps such as Youku, Tencent, iQiyi, Wasu, Sohu, LeTV, Fengxing, and Baidu Video all have video ad spot positions.
Incentive Ads
Incentive video ads refer to a form of advertising that integrates video ads into the APP application, combining video ads with the content of the APP application. Users can receive rewards for watching video ads.
Incentive ads are commonly seen in gaming apps, where players can earn rewards such as coins or points after clicking on and watching video ads.
Interstitial Ads
Interstitial ads refer to ads that pop up in specific interfaces and at specific times within an app, available in both full-screen and pop-up formats. They can be closed directly or after a certain period of display, and the ad revenue is considerable. This form of advertising has a strong visual impact and supports both image and video materials.
For example, in video apps, when users pause video playback, interstitial ads will pop up in full-screen or half-screen formats to convey advertising information to users. Some gaming apps may choose to pop up when users briefly stop gaming operations, cleverly avoiding affecting the normal user experience.
If you wish to efficiently and swiftly captivate Chinese consumers, you need to cautiously experiment with different advertising formats and find an effective and cost-moderate advertising combination. YOYI suggests that you could start with the most popular advertising formats, of course, based on the premise of selecting suitable creatives and content for your brand.
China’s programmatic advertising market has seen unprecedented prosperity since 2012, a year that is also dubbed as the “Year One” of programmatic advertising in China. With the flourishing development of the internet traffic market, China’s programmatic advertising ecosystem has become increasingly mature, gradually meeting advertisers’ needs for fine-group screening of quality customers, comprehensive control and constant adjustment of the advertising process, following customer trends to lock media platforms, and recalling high-potential customers for repeated exposure. This article will provide a complete practical guide based on China’s programmatic advertising market.
01 Planning Phase
Step 1: Define Objectives
Before clarifying the objectives, brands often complete the analysis of the consumer portrait for the promoted product, competitive advertising analysis, and summary of product selling points. With the support of the above information, the brand needs to define the goals of programmatic advertising, whether it is to enhance brand exposure, improve customer awareness, or enhance purchase conversion.
Domestic traffic vendors and media types are diverse and numerous, with a vast array of conversion models and indicators. Advertisers and their agencies need to set targets that are specifically tailored to their advertising needs and platform indicators. Taking the AIPL model indicators of Alibaba, a top-tier e-commerce platform in China, as an example:
Aware: Within the last 15 days, passively interacted with the brand, including behaviors such as exposure & clicks, browsing (limited to one day), watching, etc.
Interest: Within the last 15 days, actively engaged with the brand, including behaviors like membership, followership, interactions, browsing, favorites/add to cart, claiming trial products/samples, etc.
Purchase: All consumers who have purchased brand products in the last two and a half years (2*365 days + 180 days), including those who made pre-sale deposits, scanned codes for Taobao eggs after purchase, used offline cloud POS payment consumers, made purchases via iStore mini-program, scanned codes for Taobao eggs after purchase, included consumers who purchased on Taoxian, including those who bought Tmall u-first samples) minus “Loyalty” consumers.
Loyalty: Consumers who have had positive comments/positive follow-up reviews or have purchased the brand’s products at least twice within the past 365 days.
Audience strategies are often rooted in product features, brand tone, and combined with past advertising experiences. It is even possible to seek recommendations from local media, third-party advertising agencies, and traffic platforms. The premise of programmatic advertising effectiveness is the brand’s reasonable segmentation of user groups, so that in the process of traffic purchase and expansion, it can better hit the brand’s target audience. Specific classification methods can refer to the “4W1H” model.
Who: Refers to user attributes, judging what type of user it is based on attributes (gender, age, region, income, interests, etc.), such as student groups who love affordable makeup, white-collar workers who like to watch fashion bloggers’ videos, users with a high-level VIP status, etc.
When: Refers to the time corresponding to user behavior, from which the user’s visit duration, frequency, interval, etc., can be calculated. For example, first-time visits to the official website, not logged in for 30 days, purchased within 15 days, etc.
Where: Refers to the user’s source, such as entering through an ad click, through a friend’s share, or through a search engine, etc. Users from different sources represent different groups. For example, those who enter through search keywords belong to an active group of users, which is more in line with the advertiser’s needs; while those who enter by clicking on ads may be interested because of the attraction of the ad content, etc.
What: Refers to the user’s behavior, such as what type of ads they have clicked on, what content they have visited, what products they have purchased, etc.
How: Refers to the user’s quality, which can be measured by visit depth, number of behaviors, order amount, etc. For example, a user who has browsed 50 different product pages, a user who has made a total of 20 orders within a year, a user with an order amount of more than 100,000 yuan in 30 days, etc.
Step 3: Develop Media Strategy
In the face of numerous media resources, it is particularly important to formulate an appropriate media strategy before advertising, which depends on the objectives. The principle of formulating a media strategy is “positive, high coverage, and strong exposure,” and to design the media around advertising forms, page environments, media quality, advertising area, screen position, to meet the KPI requirements.
Advertising Forms: The form of advertising to some extent determines the user experience and interaction form. Common forms in programmatic advertising include banner image ads, video ads, native ads, etc.
Page Environment: Refers to the state of the page where the advertisement is placed, including page content, the number of page advertisements, etc. Especially when placing brand advertisements, advertisers usually require that the page content must be positive, in line with the brand image, and must not contain pornographic and vulgar, politically sensitive information, etc.. Moreover, the number of page advertisements should not be too many. An environment full of advertisements on the entire page will cause trouble for users and seriously affect the user experience, causing users to have a negative impression of the page and the advertisements within the page.
Media Quality: When formulating a media strategy, attention should be paid to the quality and quantity of the media. Quality refers to whether the media’s traffic scale and user groups are of high quality and in line with the advertiser’s needs. In addition, it is necessary to consider the category of these media (such as entertainment), channels (such as TV series), historical data of advertising positions (such as click-through rate), etc. Quantity refers to the media traffic being large enough to ensure sufficient user coverage and meet the advertiser’s budget.
Advertising Area: The ratio of advertising size and the proportion of advertising area on the page are also very important. If the advertising size is too small or the proportion of the entire page is too low, it is difficult to be discovered by users; non-standard size ratios will increase the cost of material production.
Screen Position: The screen position where the advertising position is located determines the probability of the advertisement being seen. The first screen is generally better than the non-first screen, and the effect of the last screen advertisement may be the worst. However, for some pages with high-quality content, the exposure probability of the second screen or even the third screen will also be high.
Step 4: Develop Creative Solutions
The first step in creating creativity is to grasp the form of creativity and the way users interact. The form of creativity refers to what file form the material is presented in, such as images, text, graphics and text, Flash, video, forms, or others. At present, video creativity and post creativity (such as information streams) have the best effects, which are related to the characteristics of the advertising space. The price of such advertising spaces is also a bit higher than that of ordinary advertising spaces.
User interaction refers to the specific operations of users on the material, such as clicking to switch dynamic creativity, filling in registration information on the creativity, expanding the material after clicking on the advertisement, and even submitting information by voice.
In the process of advertising, both the created creativity and the landing page need to undergo A/B testing or multi-version testing, using data to determine which version to adopt in the end. The premise of the test is to keep the test environment and the test volume of multiple versions as consistent as possible.
02 Execution Phase
Step 1: Advertising Preparation
The preparatory work before advertising mainly includes uploading qualifications for review, creating creativity for review, and deploying advertising monitoring, etc.
Qualifications are the necessary proof documents for advertisers to carry out advertising activities (such as business licenses, ICP filing screenshots, organization codes, etc.).
In terms of creativity, traffic parties will also have certain requirements for the effectiveness and legality of the content, so the media needs to review the creativity. Common review scopes include size, sound, etc.
In addition, advertisers generally use third-party monitoring during the advertising process, so there is also the deployment work of monitoring codes, etc. Optimization strategies need to add code in the advertiser’s game promotion page or SDK (or S2S docking), so that the DSP platform can adjust strategies according to different user behavior trajectories.
A good job in the early preparation work does not mean that the ads can be directly placed without manual intervention. Advertising activities should also be gradually increased in multiple stages to ensure the final effect. Programmatic advertising in China can be generally divided into four stages: technical docking test, strategy test, strategy optimization, and stable extension, each with a corresponding time period, and should be flexibly adjusted according to the actual situation of the project.
Technical Docking Test Phase: This phase usually lasts for 1 to 3 days, mainly to check whether the work in the preparation phase runs well, such as whether the statistical monitoring code is deployed correctly, whether S2S docking can correctly return data, etc.
Strategy Test Phase: This phase usually takes 3-7 days to verify whether the media strategy formulated in the advertising strategy is reasonable and whether the media effect has reached the expected level. Based on the test data, corresponding grade divisions are made for different AdX/SSP, different media, different advertising spaces, etc., so as to better allocate the budget in the later stage.
Strategy Optimization Phase: This phase usually lasts for about 1 week to 1 month. On the basis of optimization and adjustment in the early test phase, further optimization of the media is carried out, and the crowd strategy and creative strategy formulated in the advertising strategy are continuously optimized. During the strategy optimization phase, the fluctuation of advertising effects is generally large, which is a normal phenomenon. During this phase, various strategy combinations are usually tried, and the effects of different combinations may vary greatly. The goal of this phase is to quickly screen out the optimal combination of “media + audience group + creativity”, so that the advertising effect reaches a stable change and regular fluctuation trend, such as the effect of the weekend is better than working days, the effect of the evening peak period is better than the daytime, etc.
Stable Extension Phase: This phase is usually more than 1 month according to the brand’s needs. After the stable effect is achieved in the strategy optimization phase, the volume of traffic can be increased according to the budget. Especially in the RTB bidding model, the volume and price of traffic will fluctuate due to the different degrees of market competition, hence the operator needs to be able to find problems in time and take actions.
Step 2: Official Launch
After the qualification and material review are passed, the executor needs to add various advertising campaigns according to the planning plan of the advertising proposal and set up corresponding campaign.
Basic Settings
Bid Setting: Set the upper limit of the price that can be borne, generally in the form of CPM, to control the cost within an acceptable range. Some DSP can support bidding according to CPC or CPA (the algorithm replaces manual dynamic control of CPM bidding).
Budget Control: Set the budget according to the media budget plan provided by the advertiser/advertising agent to avoid excessive consumption. The budget is divided into daily budget, weekly budget, monthly budget, and total budget. Some DSP can also control the level of exposure and the number of clicks, corresponding to daily exposure, total exposure, or daily clicks, total clicks, etc. In addition, there are also settings for budget allocation, such as setting differentiated budgets for different regions, different creatives, etc.
Date and Time: Set the date or time period according to the advertising schedule, or there is no limit. Date and time can be set according to the online habits of the target audience. The date or the daily advertising time period will have an impact on the effect, such as weekends, evening peak periods.
Advertising Speed: The Advertising speed is divided into uniform speed and rapid speed. Some advertisers hope that the advertising budget can be as distributed as possible in each time period or every day, and the activity can be set to “uniform speed”.
Frequency Control: Set the total number of times a specific advertisement is seen by the same user within a set time, or the total number of times a certain advertising material is seen within a set time.
Media Settings
Transaction Model: Select the transaction model, including RTB open bidding, PDB direct purchase, etc.
Ad Exchange: Choose the channel for advertising, such as Baidu Bes, Alibaba Tanx, Tencent AdX, etc.
Media Category/Channel: Select the category of media or a specific channel under a single medium, such as financial, entertainment, sports, and other media categories, or TV drama, movie, technology, sports, and other channels under Youku media.
Media URL: Set specific media root domain names (e.g., qq.com), second-level domains (e.g., news.qq.com), or specific URL addresses.
Placement Size: Choose the placement size and arrange corresponding size materials. Generally, popular ad spaces or commonly used high-quality ad spaces are selected.
Ad Position: Choose the specific ad position, such as WeChat Search Super Brand Zone.
Ad Position Type: Choose the type of ad placement, such as banner, information game, OTV, etc.
Ad Viewability: According to the advertiser’s requirements for viewability, the operators can only target media resources with a viewability higher than a certain value, or conversely, they can exclude media resources with a viewability lower than a certain value and not place ads on this part of the media resources.
Page Ad Slot Quantity: Since the number of ad slots on the page will affect the user experience, it may indirectly cause the user to have a negative impression of the page’s ads. Therefore, when placing ads, you can control the number of ad slots on the page, such as only targeting pages with up to 3 ad slots.
Screen Order: Choose the screen order where the ad space is located, such as the first screen, the second screen, etc. Generally, it is necessary to exclude the bottom of the page such as the tail screen and other positions where users generally cannot see this ad space.
Page Content: Choose to place ads based on designated page keywords, video content direction, such as only placing pages containing baby-related keywords, or only placing workplace drama video ads, and brand can also directly specify TV drama names for directional advertising.
Target Audience Settings
Advertisers can collect people who have seen, clicked on, and visited the official website during the advertising process, and retarget them or use them as the seed segment for look-alike extensions. The target audience may include people with needs, potential needs, and even those who have made purchases, as well as those who are using the product/service or the lost audience.
Creative Settings
Creative and landing page settings: Set up the creative and corresponding landing pages for different advertising campaigns. It should be noted that some AdX will require the landing page to support HTTPS.
Display rules: Set the rules for the order in which the creative is displayed to the same person multiple times. The general rules for the order in which users see the creative are loop rotation, sequential display, etc. For example, if you need to display creative A, B, C to the same user, with a frequency limit of 6 times a week, the order in which a user sees the creative can be AABBCC, ABCABC, etc.
Other Settings
Third-party monitoring: Set the exposure monitoring code and click monitoring code of the third-party monitoring platform.
Brand protection: Select the brand safety supplier that the DSP platform has connected and fill in the corresponding information.
Anti-fraud: Set up to filter fraudulent traffic. Some DSP platforms have anti-fraud mechanisms themselves, but some advertisers will also find third-party anti-fraud suppliers for traffic filtering in order to ensure the effectiveness and reduce waste.
03 Review Phase
Based on the actual feedback data during the advertising period, the brand can summarize the experience and guide subsequent campaigns through comparison, attribution, segmentation, and intersection.
Media optimization: Make the optimal media combination according to the media crowd matching degree, media overlap degree, and media saturation degree. Media matching degree refers to the ratio of the advertiser’s target audience that can be covered in the media; Media overlap degree refers to the ratio of the target audience that overlaps between multiple media; Media saturation degree refers to the ratio of the target audience that has been covered in the media to the total target audience of the media.
Creative Optimization: The match between the ad’s creative and its intended message plays a significant role in determining the effectiveness of an ad campaign. Ad matching refers to how well the creative aligns with the ad’s appeal.
Frequency Adjustment: Identify the optimal frequency by analyzing data from groups exposed to different levels of ad impressions, and establish reasonable frequency capping.
Audience Adjustment: Depending on the scale of the target audience and their conversion outcomes, you can correspondingly increase or decrease the targeting of audience segments.
Viewable Exposure Optimization: Optimize based on data from ad viewability, analyzing visibility metrics across various ad placements, regions, times, and browsers (for instance, visibility might be lower in certain areas or browsers due to differences in audience characteristics or internet connectivity issues). Filter out those with low viewability and fine-tune the advertksk g with various campaign settings to form the best combination.
Each country has its own social environment and standards for different industries vary accordingly. In China, there are clear restrictions on the industries involved in advertising and promotion. Especially for the following 55 industries listed, Chinese laws and regulations have explicit prohibitions against promoting these industries through advertising.
01 Drug-Related Items
This category encompasses all types of illicit drugs, chemicals that can be synthesized into drugs, raw materials for drug production, and literature on drug manufacturing.
02 Gambling Prohibitions
We’re putting all bets off on gambling. It’s forbidden to use money or property as stakes in gambling, as well as providing venues, funds, tools, or facilitating gambling activities through products and services.Gambling Tools: Think slot machines and dice games—no luck here.
Gambling Information and Software: This includes illegal gambling information, communities, software, and betting apps.
Gambling Products: Unlawful gambling products such as Mark Six lotteries and other lottery types not approved for sale in Mainland China.
Gambling Techniques: Ads that teach gambling tactics like card sharking and cheating methods are off the table.
Cheating Devices: Devices like see-through glasses, card changers, and other cheating tools are strictly prohibited.
Gambling Products: Products suspected of being gambling-related, such as “one-yuan purchase” schemes.
Gambling on Raw Stones: The act of gambling by selling rough stones is banned.
Others: Hotels or scenic spots that offer casino gambling services are not allowed.
03 Religious Matters
Spreading the word about religious activities and content is a no-go zone.
Selling religious items under the guise of religion is also prohibited.
04 Pyramid Schemes
The allure of quick riches through recruitment or by charging fees for membership is an illegal path we advise against.
05 Superstition and Fortune-Telling
Products or services for fortune-telling, divination, Feng Shui, and other superstitious practices, along with claims of improving luck or human capabilities, are banned.
06 Fraudulent Websites
Imitating financial institutions like banks, funds, securities, and trusts is a scam that won’t stand.
Posting job ads for fake reputation farming on online stores is also prohibited.
Illegal sales of items like Sinopec fuel cards, Q coins, and other virtual cards, along with providing illegal phone top-up services, are forbidden.
07 Special Diseases
No advertising is allowed for diseases that the state has paused medical advertising for: genital warts, syphilis, gonorrhea, chancroid, psoriasis, AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, hepatitis B, vitiligo, lupus.
Professional jargon related to these diseases, such as HBV, “big three yang,” “small three yang turning negative,” and “two pairs and a half,” is also banned in advertisements.
08 Special Medications and Medical Devices
A strict ban on narcotics, psychotropic substances, toxic medical drugs, radioactive drugs, drug-like precursor chemicals, prescription drugs, specific total nutrition formula foods for special medical purposes, infant formulas for special medical use, and drugs and medical devices for drug addiction treatment.
Military-specific drugs and preparations made by military medical institutions.
Medicinal preparations made by medical institutions.
Any drugs, medical devices, health foods, and special medical formula foods that are legally stopped or banned from production, sale, or use.
Offering domestic registration services or overseas medical intermediary services for a fee is prohibited.
10 Cultural Relics and Literary Works
Counterfeit commemorative coins and replicas of famous artworks are not to be advertised.
Exempted are antique stores and auction companies with the appropriate legal qualifications.
11 Illegal Stamp Trading
Legal stamps (including common and commemorative stamps) can be exchanged and traded.The following activities are banned as per Article 25 of the “Philatelic Market Management Measures”: Trading in counterfeit or altered postage vouchers.
Trading in stamps prohibited from circulation by the state.
Trading in stamps issued by the Taiwan region after October 1, 1949.
Trading in stamps without indicated issuing entity information.
Trading in stamps with counterfeit or imitation stamp patterns not in accordance with national regulations.
Trading in stamps with obviously false information.
Trading in stamps imported without authorization.
Producing or selling stamps under someone else’s name without permission.
Any other business activities that violate relevant national regulations.
12 Circulating RMB
Without the approval of the People’s Bank of China, no unit or individual may bind or operate bound circulating RMB, including RMB of special years and misprinted RMB.
13 Bills
Including various types of invoices, financial bills, etc.
Including issuing and selling real and fake invoices on behalf of others.
Except for the case of transfer for the purpose of collection without validity and circulation.
14 Fake certificate and seal services
Providing illegal services such as processing false certificates and privately engraved official seals.
15 Illegal network public relations
Illegal network water army, network promoters, flooding companies, post deletion companies, soft article marketing, e-commerce order brushing, etc.
16 Illegal network technology and equipment
Using illegal network technology to break through network restrictions, infringe on the privacy and property of others, or disrupt the normal operation order of Internet platforms, including: “over the wall” service, “over the wall” software, game plug-ins, dual-opening software, jailbreak software, etc.
Equipment for inserting phone cards in batches.
Equipment and software with functions such as changing the caller number, virtual dialing, and illegal access of Internet phones to the public telecommunications network.
Automatic switching systems for batch accounts and network addresses, platforms for batch receiving SMS verification and voice verification.
Other equipment and software used to commit crimes such as telecommunications network fraud.
17 Illegal debt collection
Illegal provision of services or consulting content related to debt repayment, debt arrears, and debt collection.
18 Vehicle formalities agency
Violation of traffic rules and points, agency service or content for car purchase quotas.
Providing transaction services or information such as leasing, selling, and transferring of vehicle license plates and lottery quotas.
Providing illegal vehicle-related services or information such as scrapping without a car, transferring ownership without a car, annual inspection without a car, and collecting points for driver’s licenses.
19 Personal business agency
Agency for personal certificates, agency for social security payment, agency for housing provident fund payment, agency/consultation for points-based settlement, etc.
Scalper proxy photography and proxy photography business.
20 Certificate affiliation/leasing
“Certificate affiliation”, “certificate affiliation” and any qualification certificate, administrative license, identity document leasing, lending, and transfer services, etc.
21 Foreign Recruitment
Provide jobs for foreign personnel, recruit foreign personnel, recruit foreign volunteers, etc.
22 Firearms, Ammunition and Other Weapons
Includes various types of firearms, ammunition and related equipment, such as firearms, firearm imitations (such as imitation guns), bullets (cannons), silencers, gunpowder, instructions, packaging boxes, etc.
Other weapons: crossbows, slingshots, steel balls, lead balls, real machines, real bullets, etc.
23 Security, police and military equipment
Security equipment refers to security and defense equipment including but not limited to electric shocks, strong lights, tear gas, etc.
Police and military equipment refers to police and military equipment including but not limited to police uniforms, police badges, handcuffs, police lights, sirens, stun guns, etc.
Illegal organizations that endanger society, such as Falun Gong, the Church of Almighty God, Voodoo, etc.
25 Government Documents
Various certificates and documents issued by the government, such as identity cards, files, various licenses, etc.
26 Illegal Publications and Film and Television Works
Illegal books, film and television works include, but are not limited to:
Obscene and Pornographic Materials : This includes any publications or films that are vulgar or sexually explicit, such as adult magazines, videos, and adult videos (AV).
Materials Harmful to Social Stability : Publications or films that undermine social stability, damage national unity, or disrupt ethnic solidarity.
Publications with Discriminatory Content : Any materials containing racial or religious discrimination or other content that violates laws and regulations.
27 Protection of Wild Flora and Fauna
Wildlife : Under national regulations, no trade or publication is allowed for wild animals, world/national protected species, endangered animals, their organs, any body parts, fur, specimens, or any products made from them, such as ivory and tortoiseshell products.
Wild Plants : Any plants listed in the world/national protected species list and prohibited from sale by law, or plant products.
28 Illegal Sexual Products
Such as illegal aphrodisiacs and similar products.
29 Dangerous Goods
Flammable and Explosive Materials : Including raw materials for their production.
Toxic and Corrosive Chemicals : Along with their raw materials.
Fireworks and Firecrackers : And devices for setting off fireworks and firecrackers.
Publications and Videos on Explosives : Materials that instruct on making explosives.
30 Regulated Knives
Knives that violate national controlled knife standards, such as daggers, three-edged knives (including those used for mechanical processing), switchblades with self-locking mechanisms, and other similar single-edged, double-edged, or three-edged sharp knives.
31 Illegally Obtained Goods
Goods obtained through smuggling, theft, or robbery.
Illegally absorbing public deposits or disguised forms of public deposits, and illegal fundraising activities with the purpose of illegal possession using fraudulent methods.
39 Non-compliant Bank Card and Account Services
Copying/cracking or recycling of bank cards, handling of bank cards through non-bank official websites, handling of bank statements, buying and selling of bank accounts (bank cards), etc.
40 Products Infringing on Intellectual Property Rights
Trademark and Patent Infringements : Counterfeit and copycat products.
Copyright Infringements : Unauthorized films, television shows, software programs, websites, etc.
Private Servers and Cheats : Private servers refer to the unauthorized establishment of network servers after illegally obtaining server installation programs. Cheats refer to programs that use computer technology to alter parts of one or several online games to create cheating software.
Other Violations: Unlawful sales of gaming equipment from other manufacturers, impersonation of official game websites, and establishment of phishing websites.
41 Tax Evasion Products
Goods that have not gone through proper import procedures, such as “grey market” products, “European water”, “Hong Kong water”, and similar items.
42 Illegal Signal Interception Products
Devices like TV sticks and signal receivers that illegally intercept television signals.
43 Products Infringing on Property Rights
Products for electricity theft or illegal electricity saving, such as power-saving devices.
Wi-Fi moochers, dialers, and similar devices.
Products with unclear charges, malicious billing, hidden billing programs, or any situation that harms consumer rights, or containing malicious programs for account theft or password theft.
44 Privacy Invasion Equipment:
Eaves dropping devices, hidden cameras, pinhole cameras, information interception (fax, SMS, phone interception), and other equipment that may violate privacy.
Products that infringe on personal information, including but not limited to directly providing personal phone numbers, email addresses, and software or products used for collecting or stealing personal information (such as phishing websites).
Products with tracking capabilities, such as GPS trackers.
“Assembled motor vehicles”, “built motor vehicles”, or related service information.
46 Products Disrupting Traffic Safety
Products like radar detectors, electronic dogs, car concealment sprays, roll-up license plate frames, radar jammers, license plate covering devices, traffic signal changers, and similar items.
47 Prohibited Education and Training
Online advertisements for off-campus training for primary and secondary schools, kindergartens.
Franchise services for off-campus training for primary and secondary schools, kindergartens.
48 Exam and Thesis Fraud
Impersonating test takers, ghostwriting theses, etc.
49 Non-compliant Software Tools
Software advertised as making free calls (Note: Not instant communication tools, products that can directly make free calls without phone charges using certain means).
Military software.
Overseas marriage service software.
50 Political News
Political: Domestic and foreign military and political news, reactionary remarks, etc.
51 Illegal Game Agents
Merchants and regional privileged agents for special permissions in games (such as selling room cards).
52 Military Aircraft
Aircraft that directly participate in combat, support combat operations, and military training, such as fighter jets, bombers, special operations aircraft, etc.
53 Non-compliant Real Estate Business
Types of real estate transactions: Real estate and land not normally sold or not qualified for listing, such as small property rights, account-settlement houses, land transactions, property exchange for old, mortgaged houses, etc.
Real estate peripheral business: Beyond the normal living and use functions of real estate, emphasizing financing, investment, medical services, including real estate investment or investment lectures, financing or disguised financing content, medical services, housing for the elderly, real estate investment immigration, etc.
54 Illegal Fishing Products
Electric fishing devices, sail nets, ground cages, beach seines, net cages, dense mesh screens, towed pump suction rakes, and other fishing gear.
55 Other Illegal and Non-compliant Products and Services
Surrogacy, drug testing, fetal gender determination services.
Human organs, remains, animal carcasses, etc.
Advertisements for car decoders, master keys, and other technologies that can be used for criminal activities.
Private detectives.
Medicated cosmetics.
Medical waste.
Products for reducing or limiting the speed of bicycles.
Online part-time fraud (such as typists, data entry clerks), personal manual processing fraud (such as wormwood processing, manual beading), etc.
As a significant market, China is a resourceful market for international brands to enter. At the initial stage of market entry, outbound marketing, such as advertising, could be a good choice. For those who have already established brand awareness in China, advertising remains essential for market penetration. This article will explain how Chinese ad ecosystem works.
01 Ad Category: Programmatic Ad is the mainstream with more complexity
According to Emarketer, 4 years ago, programmatic ads account for a significant 44% share of China’s digital ad market. Additionally, with more stakeholders engaged in the context of programmatic advertising, we believe that the introduction of programmatic ad ecosystem in China will help you better understand Chinese ad environment.
02 Composition of Programmatic Ad Ecosystem in China
An outline of the stakeholders in Chinese programmatic ad ecosystem could make it easier to get the whole picture. Brands, companies, or even individuals who wish to pay for advertisements aimed at attracting target audience are advertisers. In that course, DSP/ADN and Trading Desk are tools in the demand side; while ADX/SSP are platforms on the supply side, which serve media or publishers who have the final say over traffic and ad inventory. Data platforms such as DMP will collect and provide data for the publish of ads as well as connect the audience and advertiser someway.
The programmatic ad ecosystem in China works like a tree. Advertisors are the root because of their products and services hidding behind the ads are the fundamental factor of purchasing. And advertisors will make the final decision of what messages shall be communicated in their ads, by what means, in what places. Other stakeholders or tools such as ad agencies, DSP/TD, AdX/SSP, ADN, are functioning as the trunk that brings the “nutrition” ads all the way up to the branches “media owner” or “publisher”, so that the audience as the leaves will be reached and feel the commitment and value of the advertisors’ brands.
03 Key Players of Programmatic Ad Ecosystem
In China, the basic logic of advertisement is the same. Within the ecosystem, we got three key players as advertiser, publisher and the audience. The advertiser would like to convey message to their target audience via the impressions on publisher. And that’s what advertisement will achieve.
As the bridge to connect advertiser and the audience, media/publisher controls the ending ad inventory, which could be the most important resource in advertisement. In China, the leading comprehensive publisher includes: ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Kuaishou, Meituan, Jingdong, Pinduoduo (Temu), Xiaomi, Weibo, etc.
With the booming of publisher’s quantity and categories, Ad Network (ADN) came up to the ad ecosystem, which purchases ad inventories from different publisher and sell to advertisers or ad agencies.
Some advertisers, especially those leading enterprises would like to invite another role in during advertising: advertising agencies. Some of the most popular and influential advertising agencies in China include: Ogilvy, WPP, Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe, BBDO, BlueFocus, etc. You might be quite familiar with some of them.
04 Platforms to Collect and Communicate Ad Demands
Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
For both the advertiser and ad agency, DSP (Demand-Side Platform) is a must in conducting programmatic ad. DSP provides real-time bidding services and algorithm & AI capabilities to enable automated buying and selling of ad inventory, so that advertisers and agencies could efficiently manage their advertising campaigns, such as audience targeting, budget management, bidding management, creative management, etc. The AI and algorithm embedding in DSPs will make all those actions above more agile, precise and accurate.
The more inventories a DSP covers, the more powerful and efficient it is. YOYI Tech, which has focused on AdTech in China for over 10 years, has developed a DSP that integrates 80% publisher inventories across Chinese internet, with full coverage of mainstream CTV inventories as well as rich Ad formats within different media touchpoints, will accelerate market penetration in China and precisely reach your target audience at a lower cost, as well as enhance your advertising strategy with data-driven insights.
Trading Desk (TD)
A trading desk integrates different DSPs and can manage advertising in a comprehensive manner, .which often handle more complex budget management and bidding frequency control, etc.
Here is a list of the different types of trading desks operating in China:
Agency Trading Desk (ATD): A trading desk within a 4A advertising agency serving multiple brand advertisers. Examples include Xaxis, Accuen, AOD, and Charm (昌荣）, etc.;
Independent Trading Desk (ITD): Similar to ATD, but ITDs can serve multiple advertising agencies or brands. Examples include YOYI Onedesk, Marketin, Chinapex, and Fugetech, etc.;
Brand Trading Desk (BTD): Typically, this is an in-house trading desk built by the advertiser themselves or with the help of a technology provider, such as Yili Trading Desk, etc.
05 Platforms to recieve demands and release ad inventory
Both supply-side platform (SSP) and Ad exchange (AdX) are essential to process ad demands from DSP and trigger ad impression.
A supply-side platform allows ad publishers to sell their inventory within an appropriate price range after the evaluation of advertisers, bidding prices, TA requirements, etc., so as to meet both publishers’ and advertisers’ needs.
Therotically, an AdX will connect DSP and SSP. However, nowadays the differences between SSP and AdX are so slight to take into account. Hence we would like to introduce you some representative platforms of SSP/ADX running in China:
The third-party SSP/AdX collects and reallocates traffic of all kinds (premium traffic, medium traffic, long-tail traffic, etc.) from media owners or publishers. Some examples can be: BES from Baidu, Tanx from Alibaba, Tencent AdX, 360 MAX, etc.
The examples of private AdX/SSP owned by media giant who has their own natural traffic are YOUKU AdX, AIQIYI AdX, Netease AdX, Sina AdX, etc.
06 Supportive Platform towards Agility of Advertising
Data Management Platform (DMP) generates tags for different audience segements and build user profiles and portraits based on user data, which would enhance the precision and efficiency of advertisement.
YOYI Tech creates a DMP that collects first-party user data from advisor-owned channels such as websites, apps, social medias, as well as second-party data from our own DSP and third-party data from our partners such as ecommerce giants, media, and agencies, etc. Moreover, YOYI DMP is open and ready to accept any other data sources and with our powerful ID mapping capability, our DMP will match household IDs with individual IDs and calculate user tags for various scenarios.
For advertisers, after navigating through the initial strategy formulation, plan refinement, and qualification review, only to be thwarted by media platforms repeatedly returning advertising materials and even facing penalties and restrictions from the platforms due to non-compliant materials, it’s a loss that no one wants. The following guidelines from China’s top traffic platforms can help brands avoid pitfalls in advance, thus smoothly advancing their deployment plans.
01 Advertising Must Not Have the Following Circumstances
Use or indirectly use the national flag, national anthem, national emblem, military flag, military anthem, or military emblem of the People’s Republic of China.
Use or indirectly use the name or image of state organs or their staff.
Must not exploit the images of party and state leaders (including various cartoon virtual images), including current, former, or deceased party and state leaders for commercial promotion.
Impair the dignity or interests of the state, or disclose state secrets.
Disrupt social stability or harm the public interest of society.
Endanger personal or property safety, or disclose personal privacy.
Disrupt public order or violate social ethics.
Contain obscene, pornographic, gambling, superstitious, terrorist, or violent content.
Contain content discriminating against ethnicity, race, religion, or gender.
Impede environmental, natural resource, or cultural heritage protection.
Other circumstances prohibited by laws or administrative regulations.
02 Advertising Must Not Contain False or Misleading Content, Must Not Deceive or Mislead Consumers
Advertising should be recognizable, allowing consumers to identify it as such.
Must not disguise advertising in the form of news reports. Advertisements published through mass media should prominently display “Advertisement” to distinguish from other non-advertising information, preventing consumer misunderstanding.
Must not deceive or mislead consumers with non-existent goods or services.
Must not present information about the product’s performance, function, origin, purpose, quality, specifications, ingredients, price, manufacturer, shelf life, sales status, honors received, or promises related to goods or services that do not match the actual situation.
Must not use fabricated, forged, or unverifiable scientific research results, statistical data, survey results, excerpts, quotes, or other information as proof.
Must not fabricate the effects of using products or receiving services.
Apart from the above, must not deceive or mislead consumers with false or misleading content.
03 Prohibition of Using Absolute Phrases Such as “National Level,” “Highest Grade,” “Best,” etc.
Advertising is prohibited from using absolute phrases such as “national level,” “highest grade,” “best,” “top level,” “number one brand,” “elite,” “supreme,” “most popular,” etc. Expressions in the form of “one of the most…” are considered to represent the highest degree of an adjective and are also prohibited in advertising. However, objective statements that meet the following specific conditions can be used:
Objective factual statements, but legal evidence should be provided.
“XX Competition First Place” falls into this category. For example, if an advertiser participates in an authoritative competition or an analysis report issued by an authoritative institution shows their winning rank, such as a design company winning first place in an international competition. If the “national level” title is obtained through legal or administrative authorization (non-authoritative awards without legal or regulatory authorization do not qualify), the standardized name should be allowed for use. Advertisers should provide award certificates, selection results, and other relevant proof documents.
Temporal or spatial order statements, but legal evidence should be provided.
Expressions such as “first model, debut, first release, earliest, exclusive, only” belong to this category. For example, if game company A launches mobile game B for the first time, it can be described as “A’s first mobile game” or “A’s first mobile game.” If advertiser A obtains exclusive authorization for a game, they may use “A’s exclusive release” or “A platform’s first launch” in advertising. Advertisers should provide authorization letters, copyright registration certificates, and other relevant proof documents.
Explicit self-comparison of degree grading.
This refers to the objective existence of different grading quality products in one’s own products, and the use of words to distinguish these grades.
For example: The largest housing model of Company X, the smallest size of Product X, the top configuration model of the X series of cars, the mobile game with the most users of Company X, etc.
Grading recognized by relevant standards in a certain industry field, or grading widely accepted by the public.
For example: In the national standard of Anji white tea, the product is divided into four quality grades: “boutique, special grade, first grade, second grade”. For specific “boutique grade” Anji white tea advertisements called “the highest grade” or “the highest level” usually do not belong to the absolute words prohibited from use. Advertisers need to provide relevant grading basis and grade inspection certificates, and must not promote multiple grades as the highest level at the same time.
Explicitly indicate the business philosophy and pursuit goals of the merchant, and objectively there is no possibility of misleading.
“Customer first, strive for perfect quality” and so on belong to this category. Such expressions must not lead consumers to think that the advertiser’s products and services are “first” or “perfect”, that is, they must not lead consumers to link the advertiser’s business philosophy or pursuit goals with the quality of products and services.
04 Standards for Data and Material Citation
Any content cited in advertising is considered part of the advertising content itself. Therefore, the expression of cited content must also comply with the relevant regulations of the Advertising Law, and the review standards for the expression of cited content are consistent with the general advertising content review standards. When using data, statistical materials, survey results, excerpts, quotes, and other cited content in advertising, it must be true, accurate, and indicate the source. If the cited content has an applicable scope and a validity period, it should be clearly stated. The following are prohibited for cited materials:
Cited materials must not involve the highest level of expression, national level expression, and other content that violates the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law.
Cited materials must not involve obviously false propaganda content.
Cited materials should be consistent with the original content and must not be fabricated, switched, or exaggerated. They must not engage in taking things out of context, concealing facts, distorting the original meaning, or causing misunderstandings among the audience.
It is forbidden to use consumer evaluations, beneficiary images, and other related comments from individual natural persons or users as cited materials.
05 Standards for Patent Expression in Advertising
When using patented products or patent methods in advertising, the patent number and type should be indicated.
Those who have not obtained patent rights must not falsely claim to have obtained patent rights in advertising.
It is forbidden to use patent applications that have not been granted and patents that have been terminated, revoked, or invalidated for advertising.
06 Regarding the Use of Names, Images, Copyright, and Trademarks
Utilizing the name or image of another party (including individuals, enterprises, and other organizations) in advertising requires prior written consent; for those without or limited civil conduct capacity, consent must be obtained from their guardians. Proof of authorization must be provided for such use.
Unauthorized use of others’ works and trademarks is prohibited; consent and proof of authorization are mandatory when needed.
According to the “Trademark Law of the People’s Republic of China,” producers and operators are prohibited from using the term “well-known trademark” on products, packaging, containers, or in advertising, exhibitions, and other commercial activities; the term must not appear in advertisements.
An advertising endorser is a natural person, legal entity, or other organization that recommends or certifies goods or services in their own name or image, apart from the advertiser. The following rules must be observed when using an endorser in advertising:
Endorsements must be based on facts, comply with relevant laws and regulations, and must not endorse goods or services that the endorser has not used or received.
Minors under ten years of age may not be used as advertising endorsers. When using minors, verify their age (under ten is prohibited) and obtain authorization from the minor and their legal guardians.
The names or images of medical institutions or doctors must not be used in food advertising. Expert or consumer names or images must not be used to certify specific effects in food advertising.
Investment-expected goods or services, education, and training advertisements must not use the names or images of research institutions, academic bodies, educational institutions, industry associations, professionals, or beneficiaries for recommendations or certifications.
Medical, pharmaceutical, medical device, and health food advertisements must not utilize endorsers for recommendations or certifications.
Advertisements for pesticides, veterinary drugs, feed, feed additives, crop seeds, forest seeds, grass seeds, breeding livestock, and aquaculture must not use the names or images of research institutions, academic bodies, technology promotion organizations, industry associations, or professionals, or users for recommendations or certifications.
Natural persons, legal entities, or other organizations that have received administrative penalties for endorsements in false advertisements within the past three years must not be used as endorsers.
08 Protection Regulations for Minors
Advertisements for goods or services targeting minors under fourteen years of age must not contain the following: 1.1. Encouraging them to demand that their parents purchase the advertised goods or services. 1.2. Content that may prompt imitation of unsafe behaviors.
Mass media targeting minors must not publish advertisements for medical treatment, drugs, health foods, medical devices, cosmetics, alcohol, beauty products, or online games detrimental to the physical and mental health of minors.
09 Prohibition of Disparaging Other Producers’ Goods or Services
Advertisements must not fabricate or invent facts to defame or belittle others’ products or services.
Advertisements must not indirectly belittle others’ products or services by claiming superiority in quality, price, etc.
10 Standardization and Regulation of Advertising Language
Pinyin must not be used in isolation in advertisements; when used, it should be correct, standardized, and appear alongside standardized Chinese characters.
The use of numbers, punctuation, measurement units, etc., in advertisements must comply with national standards and regulations.
Foreign languages must not be used in isolation in advertisements; when necessary, they should complement Mandarin and standardized Chinese characters.
The use of idioms in advertisements must adhere to national regulations and must not mislead or negatively impact society.
Handwritten fonts, artistic fonts, variant characters, and ancient scripts used in advertisements for creative purposes must be recognizable and must not mislead.
The following are prohibited in advertising language and script:
The use of incorrect characters.
The use of traditional characters in violation of national laws and regulations.
The use of obsolete variant and simplified characters.
The use of obsolete print character forms.
Other non-standard uses of language and script.
11 Respect for Heroes and Martyrs
Commercial advertisements must not use or indirectly use the names or portraits of heroes and martyrs.
Commercial advertisements must not feature the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, or any related names, inscriptions, texts, reliefs, graphics, or logos.
Images or videos depicting activities that harm the environment or atmosphere of memorial facilities for heroes and martyrs are prohibited.
No promotion or glorification of aggressive wars or acts of aggression is allowed.
12 Miscellaneous
The maximum value of the top prize in lottery-style promotional sales must not exceed 50,000 yuan.
The depiction of the RMB is prohibited in advertisements.
Content implying “national inspection-exempt products” or similar regarding quality exemption is prohibited.
Advertisements are banned from featuring tobacco, smoking images, including real and cartoon characters, and the promotion of cigarettes and e-cigarettes is forbidden.
Advertisements must not be disguised as news reports.
Advertisements must not contain content such as “special supply” or “exclusive supply” to state organs, with specific requirements as follows:
Content containing “special supply” or “exclusive supply” to state organs or similar.
Using names of specific locations or landmark buildings closely associated with state organs, and using state banquets, state guests, etc., to promote “special supply” or “exclusive supply.”
Falsely using “special supply,” “exclusive supply,” or similar names to sell goods or services, engaging in misleading false propaganda.
Other content containing “special supply,” “exclusive supply” to state organs, and similar, which may cause adverse social impact.
Except for the above, if a product is specially made by the manufacturer for a specific region or event (such as special packaging, models), it can be used, such as “exclusively supplied to Hangzhou area.”
