Programmatic
Programmatic advertising and display services
Programmatic can put your ad on the exact site your buyer reads every morning. It can also put it on a thousand sites nobody reads, built only to sell ad space. The difference is in the setup and the checking.
When programmatic is worth it
Programmatic makes sense when your buyers spend time on sites and apps that Google and Meta do not cover well, when you need a specific context (a medical journal, a property portal, a business news site), or when you run video, audio or connected TV alongside display.
It makes little sense on a small budget, before search and social are working, or without a way to see what happens after the impression. A display campaign with no outcome tracking can look busy for months and prove nothing.
Ways to buy display and programmatic
| Route | What it is | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Google Display Network | Display ads on sites and apps in Google’s network, bought in Google Ads | Smaller budgets, retargeting, first tests |
| Open exchange through a DSP | Auctions across many ad exchanges at once | Wider reach, audience and contextual targeting |
| Private marketplace deals | Pre-agreed access to chosen publishers’ inventory | Premium sites, brand safety, specific contexts |
| Programmatic guaranteed | A fixed volume from one publisher at a fixed price | Launches that need certain delivery |
What we set up and manage
Audiences and context
Customer lists from your CRM, contextual targeting by topic and page content, and retargeting pools kept separate.
Placement control
Allow lists, block lists and app exclusions, with placement reports read every week.
Creative in every size
Banners, native ads, video and audio built from one message, so the campaign looks the same wherever it runs.
Frequency caps
Limits per person per day and per week, so the budget keeps reaching new people.
Outcome tracking
Leads and bookings matched in the CRM, and conversion data shared back with the buying platform where it accepts it.
How a programmatic campaign runs
Define who and where
The audience, the contexts and the sites that matter, plus the ones to keep out.
Choose the buying route
Google’s network, a DSP, or private deals, depending on budget, market and the inventory available in your country.
Set a test with a holdout
Where the budget allows, a region or audience is held back so the campaign’s real effect can be measured.
Clean as it runs
Weekly placement reviews, new exclusions, frequency checks and creative rotation.
Judge on outcomes
Qualified leads and bookings in the CRM, and the lift against the holdout. Impressions and clicks are reported, but they do not decide.
What we report
Incremental results
Lift in visits, searches and leads compared with held-out regions or audiences, when a test is running.
Placement quality
Where impressions ran, how many were viewable, and what we blocked.
Cost per qualified lead
For campaigns built to drive responses, from CRM stages.
Reach and frequency
How many people saw the ads, and how often.
Frequently asked questions
What is a DSP?
A demand-side platform is software advertisers use to bid on ad impressions across many exchanges and publishers at once, with targeting, budgets and reporting in one place.
Is the Google Display Network programmatic?
Yes, in the sense that impressions are bought automatically by auction. It is one network among several. A DSP reaches many exchanges at once, including inventory outside Google’s network.
Do display ads still work?
For reach and retargeting, yes, when placements are controlled and frequency is capped. For direct lead generation, search and social usually do better, which is why we rarely start a plan with display.
What budget does programmatic need?
Buying through a DSP often comes with minimum commitments, which is one reason smaller advertisers start with Google’s network. We size the budget from what a fair test needs, inside your media plan.
How do we know programmatic worked?
Through tests with a holdout group or region, and over longer periods through marketing mix modeling. Platform-reported conversions alone overstate what display does.
Last updated · By the Napexy team
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