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OpenX

OpenX

Overview

What is OpenX?

OpenX is an ad serving platform. It is sold option as a hosted solution for can be purchased as an installed application. It allows for easy inventory management , geo-targeting of ads by country, and provides statistics for each…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Users have successfully utilized Open X Ad Server to rotate a range of ads in various areas on their websites, allowing for effective …
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Omnichannel exchange

7 out of 10
October 04, 2019
Incentivized
OpenX is being used by the supply team in our organization. We are connected to them via OpenRTB and use them among many other exchanges …
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OpenX and Me!

8 out of 10
November 06, 2015
Incentivized
We used OpenX in a educational platform, to show ads to engage the user with similar content and to do A/B testing for registration styles.
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OpenX for SMB use

8 out of 10
May 09, 2014
It is a viable ad serving solution for our internal membership based properties. Allows for customized targeting and on the fly changes …
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M Review

4 out of 10
March 03, 2014
Used by certain departments for trafficking or reporting purposes and addresses the needs especially for smaller businesses.
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Open X, Not an Open Book.

3 out of 10
February 21, 2014
Open X is being used in the form of buying the inventory through our DSP partners in a RTB dynamic CPM buy. Anyone managing campaigns …
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Popular Features

View all 13 features
  • Display advertising (5)
    7.3
    73%
  • Ad campaign creation (5)
    6.8
    68%
  • Ad deployment (5)
    6.6
    66%
  • Ad display and retargeting segmentation (5)
    6.5
    65%
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Pricing

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N/A
Unavailable

What is OpenX?

OpenX is an ad serving platform. It is sold option as a hosted solution for can be purchased as an installed application. It allows for easy inventory management , geo-targeting of ads by country, and provides statistics for each ad placement.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Product Demos

Broadstreet XPRESS Webinar (Introductory Demo) - Sept 20, 2016 - OpenX Alternative

YouTube
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Features

Ad Network Integration

Integration with main ad networks, and exchanges to make accurate media buys.

6.6
Avg 7.4

Ad Campaigns

Features related to creating and deploying ad campaigns.

7
Avg 7.8

Ad Reporting & Analytics

Features related to reporting on and analyzing advertisements.

6.6
Avg 7.8
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Product Details

What is OpenX?

OpenX Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

OpenX is an ad serving platform. It is sold option as a hosted solution for can be purchased as an installed application. It allows for easy inventory management , geo-targeting of ads by country, and provides statistics for each ad placement.

Adobe Advertising Cloud, AppNexus, and Google Marketing Platform are common alternatives for OpenX.

Reviewers rate Ad forecasting and optimization highest, with a score of 7.6.

The most common users of OpenX are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(30)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Users have successfully utilized Open X Ad Server to rotate a range of ads in various areas on their websites, allowing for effective monetization and maximizing ad revenue. This flexibility has empowered users to track inventory, serve ads on the correct pages, and repurpose ads as needed. By leveraging the performance tracking capabilities of Open X Ad Server, users have been able to identify the best-performing ads and display them more frequently, resulting in improved engagement and higher conversion rates.

One notable example of Open X Ad Server's impact is its implementation by Mail.com Media Corporation, serving millions of unique users and half a billion ads per month. This adoption not only reduced dependency and costs associated with third-party ad networks but also granted more control over network inventory. Another interesting use case involves the integration of Open X Ad Server in free-to-play Facebook and Mobile games, allowing for targeted advertising, cross-promotion of internal games, and a customer relationship management approach to engaging players.

Furthermore, Open X Ad Server has proved valuable to various organizations for programmatically reaching more users, generating customized reports for clients to demonstrate advertisement performance, managing online advertising for local newspapers to increase impressions and ROI, running ad campaigns across multiple sites, and addressing specific needs of smaller businesses. Its utilization extends even to educational platforms for enhancing ad engagement through similar content targeting and A/B testing for registration styles. Additionally, it has been employed by departments in different industries to promote products, partnerships, and memberships with its customizable targeting options.

However, some users have reported experiencing technical issues with the system and have encountered long response times from customer support. Nonetheless, despite these challenges, the quality and performance of Open X Ad Server make it a worthwhile investment for many teams seeking effective ad serving solutions.

Based on user feedback, here are the top recommendations for using the software effectively:

  1. Clearly define your goals and requirements before implementation and communicate them explicitly to tech support for better guidance.
  2. Prioritize structuring inventory and network configurations at the beginning to streamline operations and ensure a smooth transition.
  3. Allocate enough time for training to maximize software capabilities and avoid potential issues.
  4. Take advantage of the feature to create saved reports for easier and faster reporting.

Implementing these recommendations can help users optimize their experience with the software and achieve their desired outcomes more efficiently.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
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Gabriela Band | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
OpenX is used by the Campaign Management team on many of our branding campaigns. We work with them programmatically via an OpenRtb integration in order to get to more users in the US. We have seen CPMs on the exchange a bit high, but the quality and performance we got from the users make it worthwhile.
  • A lot of data points to optimize sent on the bid request.
  • Good coverage on desktop and mobile app.
  • Very good reporting filters on the platform.
  • The Support team is a bit slow to respond.
  • The platform is not very reliable.
  • Prices on the exchange are a bit high compared to the competition.
OpenX works well for campaigns where you want to impact the same user on the desktop, mobile web, and app as they have inventory from each platform. They are big in the US but they lack inventory in APAC and other big geos. I would focus on branding when running campaigns on OpenX and d use other exchanges for performance marketing.
Ad Campaigns (5)
68%
6.8
Ad campaign creation
70%
7.0
Ad deployment
60%
6.0
Display advertising
70%
7.0
Ad display and retargeting segmentation
60%
6.0
Sequence targeting
80%
8.0
Ad Network Integration (2)
70%
7.0
Data Transfer
70%
7.0
DSP integration
70%
7.0
Ad Reporting & Analytics (6)
65%
6.5
Ad dashboards
60%
6.0
Ad performance reports
60%
6.0
Ad conversion tracking
60%
6.0
Ad attribution reporting
70%
7.0
Cross-channel ad management
60%
6.0
Ad forecasting and optimization
80%
8.0
  • Prices are high on the exchange, diminishing ROI.
  • We expanded the reach and increased budgets, improving ROI.
  • We did some co-marketing events together, decreasing fixed costs.
OpenX is less focused than MoPub and it has a bigger reach as it is not limited to the mobile app. Unlike MoPub that focuses on performance, OpenX comes from the branding world and is pushing into CTV and other areas of the industry more catered to traditional media agencies and not pure ad tech players.
October 04, 2019

Omnichannel exchange

Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
OpenX is being used by the supply team in our organization. We are connected to them via OpenRTB and use them among many other exchanges to increase our reach and inventory on app campaigns. We use them for worldwide campaigns although their main focus is on the US and Canada and we have not found good results in any other geos.
  • Their reporting API is very complete
  • A lot of video inventory
  • Good customer service
  • Not a lot of inventory outside North America.
  • Prices are a bit high across the platform.
  • We have found discrepancies on how impressions are counted on their platfrom and our systems.
OpenX is a good partner, specifically for omnichannel branding campaigns as they have a big chunk of legacy desktop inventory and they have been on boarding mobile supply on the last few quarters. For performance campaigns, as their CPM prices are a bit high, sometimes it is hard to reach the desired CPAs because the competition between the DSPs is very fierce.
Ad Campaigns (5)
74%
7.4
Ad campaign creation
70%
7.0
Ad deployment
80%
8.0
Display advertising
80%
8.0
Ad display and retargeting segmentation
70%
7.0
Sequence targeting
70%
7.0
Ad Network Integration (2)
65%
6.5
Data Transfer
60%
6.0
DSP integration
70%
7.0
Ad Reporting & Analytics (6)
70%
7.0
Ad dashboards
50%
5.0
Ad performance reports
60%
6.0
Ad conversion tracking
70%
7.0
Ad attribution reporting
70%
7.0
Cross-channel ad management
90%
9.0
Ad forecasting and optimization
80%
8.0
  • We have been able to expand our reach, improving ROI.
  • We have had high CPMs, offsetting, and lowering our margin.
  • We have partnered on fraud tools, reducing costs.
We have used Basis as a DSP but found better results in integrating OpenX with our own bidder. As for Smaato, they are focused only on in-app traffic so they are a niche player. OpenX is a bigger player for agencies that have different campaigns with multiple objectives and where cross measurement is important.
February 21, 2014

Open X, Not an Open Book.

Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Open X is being used in the form of buying the inventory through our DSP partners in a RTB dynamic CPM buy. Anyone managing campaigns would have experience with Open X inventory and buying from the exchange.
  • When it comes to RTB and spending on the open exchange market, the number one reason why we spend in one exchange over another is simple performance
  • When Open X doesn't perform which it tends not to, we have to shut that exchange off. This exchange tends to not perform at a CPA or CPC KPI and tends to not have the safest sites either.
  • Because I only use Open X as an exchange which I tap into from a DSP I can't speak to it's other capabilities.
  • Get better publishers, have more transparency.
Again, because I'm only speaking to the exchange itself, I can say that its all about performance on the initial weeks of a campaign. When we pull reports and see that OpenX doesn't perform compared to other exchanges we exclude it from the campaigns.
  • None
If OpenX wants to be used or adopted by more desks or RTB partners than it needs to provide the transparency and premium inventory that a AppNexus, ADX and Rubicon provide. This goes for the open exchange and private marketplaces.
Once you see an exchange not perform over a long period of time you start to assume that it will never perform well.
Joshua Franklin | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
OpenX not only made our media buying more efficient, we were able to increase both impressions and ROI to expand our branding while generating a return, which isn't easy to do.
  • Programmatic buying
  • Puts media dollars to a more efficient use
  • Allows for transparency in placements
  • Better product differentiation
  • Connection to more ad management tools
When media buying is inefficient or manual, OpenX is particularly useful.
  • Increased efficiency in buys
Switching cost, current performance
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
At Mail.com Media Corporation (currently Penske Media Corporation http://www.pmc.com ) OpenX was used to power the Mail.com portal page which served millions of unique users per day and more than half a billion ads per month. The Mail.com portal page delivered unique content and was the focal point in which users would pass as they logged into their webmail each day. OpenX was chosen to supplement then reduce the reliance of third party ad networks which were already serving this strategic space in the Mail.com network. OpenX allowed Mail.com to reduce the dependency and heavy costs associated with third party ad networks. In addition to being less dependent on third party ad networks and reducing costs, OpenX helped empower the ad sales and ad operations teams by giving them more control of their own network inventory. OpenX also served ads network wide in each brand and line of business in the Mail.com portfolio.
  • OpenX is a system that was designed to scale as is evident in some key design decisions found throughout the platform. The multi-server setup that was chosen at Mail.com allowed for a distributed server architecture which separated the front end web delivery nodes from the backend MySQL Database master which replicated data back to each front end delivery node mysql slave. This eased the ability to horizontally scale as needed due to the ingenious separation of the ad impressions data tables on the delivery nodes which were being collected locally on each ad impression and then processed periodically back to to the master database which replicated the aggregated statistics back to the delivery nodes. The ability to load balance across the front end web delivery nodes, add caching at many different layers, utilize a CDN for the static ad images, implement PHP accelerators, and hit memcached instead of the MySQL master made the OpenX platform a service that was very resilient to failures.
  • The ability to optimize the platform is also something that OpenX does very well. This is evident in many of the config key parameters available. In addition to OpenX specific tunable's, optimizations can be made at many different levels in which the system sits. These include hardware and operating system level optimizations, tcp and networking stack optimizations, web server/php-cgi configurations, and database (MySQL InnoDB) tunable's. There are many different optimization knobs that can be tuned to help scale the application for the best performance possible
  • The documentation was simple, to the point, and well written which led to an easy initial implementation and roll out of a multi-server setup. The installation and upgrade procedures were straight forward even for the complexities of the multi-server setup. I also found the OpenX team to be accessible and even got a chance to meet some of the team at their Up Close and Personal events at Cal Tech in Pasadena. Core developers were on hand to answer technical questions and also made themselves available to us via email and irq channels.
  • The open nature of the OpenX platform allows for flexibility in the choice of web serving platform to use (Apache, nginx, Lighttpd) and also the database management systems (MySQL, PostGreSQL)
  • Although I do believe that OpenX was designed to scale, many of the platform's target users are running single server implementations which probably led to the silly choice of MyISAM as the default database storage engine for the MySQL tables. In multi-server setups or any installation with a significant amount of load these should be altered and optimized for InnoDB. The default storage may have changed since my last roll out of this platform but I do remember the tables needing altering before putting any significant amount of load on them.
  • In a multi-server setup sometimes problems can arise from the statistics collector and processor on the front end delivery nodes that process the ad impression data and aggregate the resulting statistics back to the master database resulting in several scenarios in which the master database can be out of sync with information collected on the delivery nodes and manual intervention is needed. However, most of these problems can be monitored and engineered for.
  • The focus of OpenX on enterprise customers serving hundreds of millions of ads as opposed to the long tail of smaller publishers who simply can't afford to utilize the enterprise hosted solution and must utilize the OnRamp solution which has suffered from performance problems and might not be a viable option for many medium sized publishers
OpenX is well suited from anything from a small blog to a large enterprise serving millions/billions of impressions per month. Although someone with a solid understanding of the technologies and concepts involved to implement, maintain, and manage the solution is key.
  • Reduced dependency on third party ad networks reducing costs
  • Increased ad sales and ad operations team efficiency
  • Ability to tailor ads for specific brands using many advanced features such as demographics and geo targeting.
  • DoubleClick,DART
The ad sales and ad operations team had been utilizing DoubleClick/DART previous to the migration to OpenX. One of the driving factors for the migration to OpenX was to lower costs associated with utilizing a third party such as the DoubleClick/DART system. The ease of use for the ad ops team, advanced targeting features, and seamless integration into the many brands of the Mail.com portfolio were also other factors involved in why OpenX was selected.
I would renew use of OpenX as it is a solid ad serving platform that is easy to use, install, and maintain with some great advanced features that give more control to publishers ad ops teams large or small while reducing the costs associated with managing, serving, and delivering ads from third party vendors.
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