Fairfax, MediaWorks, NZME and TVNZ launch joint ad exchange

See also: Agencies welcome Fairfax, MediaWorks, NZME and TVNZ ad exchange

New Zealand’s four largest news media outlets have launched a joint programmatic advertising exchange service.

Fairfax Media, MediaWorks, NZME and TVNZ have created the Kiwi Premium Advertising Exchange (KPEX), which will launch in November.

Simply put, programmatic buying is the automatic buying of online advertising using algorithms.

KPEX consulting chief executive Duncan Arthur says the service is “transformative” for the New Zealand programmatic advertising market.

"It's an exciting initiative and the first time New Zealand media companies have pooled their inventory to provide the necessary scale for a private marketplace,” he says.

"Advertisers want the efficiency of real-time bidding and the certainty that their ads will appear in brand-safe environments next to quality New Zealand content,” says Arthur.

An article on stuff.co.nz (owned by Fairfax) says no jobs will be lost from any of the four companies and the Commerce Commission “has been informed.”

The report says establishment costs have not been disclosed and the four companies are equals.

KPEX is powered by Rubicon Project, a global technology company that automates the buying and selling advertising inventory.

The exchange says it will give advertisers access to Kiwi audiences at scale and across a range of publisher platforms via a single transaction.

KPEX will be a viable, local, programmatic ad exchange alternative to large international players, Mr Arthur says.

Other local publishers will invited to contribute inventory to the exchange over time, a media release says.

The statement says the participating publishers in KPEX will maintain their unique, direct sales operations with a portion of their inventory flowing into the exchange for bidding by advertisers. 

Fairfax Media, MediaWorks, NZME and TVNZ all face the challenge of monetising digital, where advertising yields have been smaller than print, TV and radio. Online advertising also faces the challenge of fake traffic and ad blockers.

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