A direct-sales publisher let us challenge everything. Programmatic revenue rose 370%.
+370% programmatic revenue · in four months
APHArchon Programmatic House·2 min read
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The 60-second version
A corporate, established news publisher built around direct sales. Programmatic was an afterthought: generic ad tags, one-size-fits-all placements, floors set once and forgotten, and a page cluttered with partners that added latency but little revenue.
370%Programmatic revenue growthIn four months
4MonthsStart to result
80%Video revenue growthAfter the player swap
1Fixed pointTheir inventory strategy
Outcome: Programmatic revenue rose 370% in four months — not from one silver bullet, but from a dozen unglamorous decisions, each measured.
The client is anonymised at their request. Everything else on this page — the work and the result — is reported as it happened.
What we walked into01The starting point
Programmatic was an afterthought. Generic ad tags, one-size-fits-all placements, floors set once and forgotten, and a page cluttered with partners that added latency but little revenue.
What we agreed02The deal
They kept their overall inventory strategy — that was the one fixed point. Everything else, we challenged.
One fixed point, and permission to test everything around it.
What we did03The work
01
Category-specific ad units
Homepage, sports and daily news each got their own units instead of one generic tag, so demand could price what it was actually buying.
02
Floor science
Significant price-floor optimization across the restructured units.
03
Programmatic deals
Worked directly with management to bring deals into a house that had never prioritized them.
04
A video player swap
The replacement outperformed the old player by more than 80% on video revenue.
05
Partner pruning
Programmatic partners that cluttered the page without paying their way were cut.
06
Placement and design
Ad slots repositioned as part of a broader website redesign collaboration.
What happened04The result
Programmatic revenue rose 370% in four months. Not from one silver bullet — from a dozen unglamorous decisions, each measured.
Exhibit 1 · reportedProgrammatic revenue, before and after four months of work.Indexed to the starting month.Reported by APH from the engagement. Client anonymised at their request.
Every publisher relationship we have started with an audit.
We look at your floors, your supply paths and your identity setup, and come back with what we would change and what it is worth. No obligation, and a person reads it.
