If there’s one industry in particular that blockchain technology is likely to revolutionize, it’s the digital advertising space. For some time now, this multi-billion dollar arena has been in dire need of change.
To name a few, this includes the resulting issues that occur when marketing companies spend vast resources on ads that reach the wrong people, publishers unwittingly hosting ads that have no relevance to the website in question, and everyday internet users being exposed to irrelevant products and services.
As such, the team at AdEx is utilizing the many benefits of blockchain technology to create an open-source, transparent and fraud-proof digital advertising ecosystem. If you’re keen to find out what AdEx offers and how the platform works, be sure to read our in-depth review.
What is AdEx?
First launched in 2016 and based in Sofia, Bulgaria – AdEx is a blockchain startup that aims to revolutionize the global advertising arena. The overarching concept of the project is to bridge the gap between advertisers, publishers, and everyday web users – with the view of creating an “open-source, transparent and fraud-proof display advertising” ecosystem.
In order to achieve these goals, the team at AdEx has created a decentralized hub that is backed by the many benefits of blockchain technology. Built on top of the Ethereum protocol, every time a website impression is executed via the AdEx platform, it subsequently creates a new blockchain-based transaction.
With that being said, the team at AdEx recently noted that in just two months of activity, more than 9 million website impressions were made via the AdEx Network. As such, this makes the platform the largest payments network on the Ethereum blockchain.
Nevertheless, in terms of what AdEx plans to achieve, this centers on removing the middleman from the end-to-end advertising campaign journey. This means that advertising companies and publishers can connect on a peer-to-peer basis – subsequently ensuring that both parties get a fair deal, while at the same time guaranteeing quality.
Let’s explore how the AdEx platform benefits stakeholders in more detail.
How Does AdEx Benefit Advertisers and Publishers Alike?
For any blockchain ecosystem to meet its long-term goal of mass adoption, it must cater to the needs and benefits of all stakeholders involved in the respective target market. First and foremost, both advertisers and publishers are connected directly without the need for a third-party platform to control the relationship.
This begins with the advertising company in question setting up a bespoke profile on the AdEx platform and outlining what they are looking to achieve. This covers key tasks such as choosing an ad display format and assessing the specific audience the advertiser wishes to market their products and/or services to.
At the other end of the spectrum, online publishers – which includes platforms such as blogs and forums, will proceed to integrate the AdEx protocol into their website or app.
If and when the underlying AdEx blockchain identifies a relevant relationship, online publishers will then be able to display the ads previously created by advertisers. Not only does this ensure that advertisers are getting their material in front of the right people, but everyday website users will be accustomed to advertisements that are relevant to the platform they are using.
Benefits of the AdEx Platform
The specific benefits of using the AdEx platform will vary depending on the stakeholder. As such, we’ve broken this down into two key sections.
Advertisers
- 24/7 Visibility: Advertisers that execute their campaigns via the AdEx platform will have unprecedented visibility of their respective campaigns. In fact, advertisers can access the platform around the clock, subsequently allowing them to evaluate key metrics such as the volume and quality of campaign traffic.
- Budget Optimization: The AdEx platform is significantly more cost-effective for digital advertisers in comparison to using third-party intermediaries. As such, advertisers can streamline their resources in a more efficient way. According to AdEx themselves, the only fees that advertisers will be accustomed to is the fee associated with paying validators (who are responsible for ensuring impressions are authentic and not executed by spambots).
- Campaign Customization: AdEx affords advertisers with substantially more control over their bespoke ad campaigns in comparison to traditional platforms such as Google AdSense and Facebook. This includes custom conversions, direct targeting, and pay-by-impressions.
- Header Bidding: AdEx also comes with a really cool feature known as ‘Header Bidding’. In a nutshell, this allows advertisers to bid for space on a publisher’s platform, without the platform revealing the identity of the website in question. Instead, AdEx will detail key metrics about the platform, such as its domain authority and target niche.
- No More Low-Quality Traffic: One of the biggest pain points for digital advertisers is wasting valuable marketing resources on low-quality traffic. By using the AdEx platform, advertisers will benefit from both whitelisting and blacklisting, subsequently ensuring that budgets are spent effectively.
Publishers
- No Fees: As a self-proclaimed self-serving platform, online publishers are not required to pay to use the AdEx Network. This means that publishers get to keep more of the advertising revenues that they generate.
- Fraud Elimination: Publishers are able to view the exact same information as the advertisers they are running ads for, subsequently ensuring that the end-to-end process is 100% transparent. This effectively removes the threat of ad fraud, especially when you factor in the role of AdEx validators.
- Ability to Receive Micropayments: A further benefit that publishers are accustomed to is that AdEx is able to facilitate micropayments. This means that publishers can receive payment as soon as an impression is made. Ordinarily, publishers would need to wait until a minimum withdrawal threshold is reached.
- Full Control: Publishers that engage with the AdEx platform have full control over which ads they choose to run, and which they don’t. Not only can this be broken down by the advertiser themselves, but also the specific ad.
ADX Token
The AdEx Platform uses the DAI stable token (pegged to 1 USD) for all transactions between publishers and advertisers.
AdEx has its own native token, ADX, which will be used for staking with the network’s validators
Conclusion
In conclusion, AdEx is targeting a global advertising arena that is in dire need of being revolutionized. In its current form, third-party intermediaries such as Google Ads and Facebook dominate the industry, subsequently resulting in hindrances for both the advertiser and the publisher.
In fact, it is end-user themselves that also feel the impact of an ineffective and somewhat broken digital ad space, not least because website visitors are accustomed to ads that are completely irrelevant to their individual needs and interests.
On the contrary, AdEx is able to alleviate these concerns through its blockchain-based solution. Now, both advertisers and online publishers can connect with one another on a peer-to-peer basis, subsequently removing the need to involve inefficient, expensive, and opaque third-party platforms.
As a result, this will allow the project to attract a significant following, especially when you consider the more favorable profit-generating system at both ends of the transaction. Moreover, as the AdEx platform offers a 100% transparent hub – 24/7, both advertisers and publishers have access the very same statistics and metrics.
