Heard: RTB pop exchanges vs a direct publisher buy

Heard: RTB pop exchanges vs a direct publisher buy
RTB gets you reach in an hour and granular targeting. Direct gets you a relationship and cleaner inventory.
— On RTB you're bidding against everyone, so the seller's worst inventory clears at your price — quality drifts down the second you scale spend.
— Direct buys lock a fixed CPM and a named source; if quality drops you have someone to email, not an auction to blame.
Our read: prospect on RTB to find which publisher IDs convert, then go direct on those exact placements. Pop buyers who skip the direct step keep re-buying the same garbage at auction.
— confidence: medium