Key Points

  • Due to growing privacy regulations, the once-essential world of third-party data is becoming more obsolete every day, while the importance of first-party data grows.
  • No matter what shifts occur, data will remain essential to publishers and their ability to grow their revenue, which makes the presence of a quality Data Management Platform (DMP) paramount to publishers.
  • There are many DMP providers available to explore, each with their own unique features, pros, and cons.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways to collect audience data. Every user of your site or app, everything they do in your sphere, all of it - it's all data, and you can use it. But you still have to find a way to manage it. That's where a data management platform (DMP) comes in.

As with most things in ad tech , you have a lot of choices when it comes to Data Management Platforms. Playwire is here to help. Below, we discuss the top DMP partners for 2022. Keep reading.

Playwire has built its very own DMP to help you capture and utilize customer data, and like everything we do, it puts publishers first, always. You can get exclusive access to our DMP alongside our wide range of publisher revenue services. All you have to do is contact us.

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Defining a DMP

What is a Data Management Platform (DMP)?

A data management platform does one basic thing: it gathers relevant data. For publishers, a DMP may gather data about user demographics, on-site or in-app behavior or engagement with ads, among many other things.

Good DMPs also break down your audience data into more manageable chunks, whether that means marking it as first-, second-, or third-party data, categorizing it, breaking it down into audiences, or otherwise synthesizing it in a way that enables you to understand and use it.

Why is it important for publishers to not only gather data but also manage it? Because custom audiences are gold to advertisers, and analytics on things like user demographics can help you make the case for higher-priced ad placements on your website or app. As an added bonus, it helps you to tell what's working and what isn't as you try to increase your revenue.

First-Party Data vs. Third-Party Data

The simplest definition of 1st party data is this: It’s data that you collect directly from users or visitors while they’re on your website or app. That’s in contrast to 3rd party data, which comes from users’ behavior and actions on other websites and apps.

To make the best most of a data management platform, the more ways you have to collect direct data about your users, the better off you'll be. When your audience themself is the data source, you'll have the most success. So make use of any way you have to collect information from your audience.

About Playwire’s DMP

As part of our revenue amplification platform, RAMP, Playwire offers (in our opinion) the best data management platform to publishers. Our DMP is tailor-made for publishers who would like to grow and future-proof their ad revenue stream. By harnessing the power of first-party data, Playwire's DMP eliminates your reliance on third-party cookies in a privacy-friendly way. Additionally, and one of the most important things we use it for, our DMP creates cross-site audience segments for our publishers.

That's exactly what direct advertisers - the ones who pay big money for your inventory - are looking for, and our DMP gives it to them. The end result is more revenue for you, the publisher. And it's all done for you.

Our DMP has over 250 pre-defined audience segments that advertisers are already paying major dollars to access. Each defined audience segment provides advertisers with the confidence that they are truly hitting their target audience, for which they'll pay top dollar, which means more money in publisher pockets.

DMP-audiences

Other Notable DMP Providers

We're partial to our DMP, but there are many others. If you're shopping around, here are seven of the other top DMPs to consider.

1. LiveRamp

As a DMP provider, LiveRamp does a little bit of everything, and it's so good that Playwire has partnered with LiveRamp for years. In part, LiveRamp helps publishers monetize their first-party data to create a revenue stream that is separate from ad revenue. The monetization of first-party data is only going to become more important as the cookie-less world becomes a reality.

Publisher Benefits:

  • DMP integrates with more than 500 partner platforms 
  • Higher programmatic revenue from cookie-less inventory
  • Segmentation of granular audience data for more valuable inventory

LiveRamp Reviews:

LiveRamp is among the most well-known DMP solutions today, and even with wide use, it has scored well on third-party review sites. The platform has an aggregate rating of 4.1 out of 5 on G2 and 8.1 out of 10 on TrustRadius. Fans tended to list partner integration capabilities as a top benefit, and negatives tended to center on technical hiccups with custom audiences.

2. Audience Studio (Salesforce DMP)

Audience Studio, formerly Salesforces DMP, is only one part of this massive data management software company's offerings, but it's a powerful part. With this DMP, you can collect data from virtually all channels - website, mobile app , email, social, and more - and you can also purchase second-party data.

Publisher Benefits:

  • Automated, actionable insight delivered to publishers based on incoming data
  • Built-in consent management platform (CMP)
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning functions build precise audience segments

Salesforce DMP Reviews: 

Citing endless customization and excellent reporting functions as positives and a lack of third-party data integrations as a negative, users have given the Salesforce DMP an average of 4.1 stars on G2 and 6.9 out of 10 on TrustRadius.

3. Lotame

Lotame has been a leader in the DMP sphere for a while now, and they've taken all the right steps to get ahead of the death of the third-party cookie . Today, Lotame users can analyze and monetize their first-party data and even take advantage of the platform's built-in predictive data analytics functions.

Publisher Benefits:

  • Supportive of direct and programmatic channels
  • Demonstrable and significant reductions in cost per lead tied to segments built in the DMP
  • Allows publishers to interface directly with marketers and agencies inside a private data exchange

Lotame Reviews: 

Garnering 4.3 stars on G2 and a 7.2 on TrustRadius is likely a testament to the power of the basic DMP product and the excellent customer service mentioned in many of the top reviews. On the more negative side, some reviewers said they experienced delays in the population of newly created audience segments.

4. Adobe Audience Manager

Adobe Audience Manager is designed to work well with the rest of the Adobe suite, but if you're not on the Adobe bandwagon, don't worry. This AI-powered and agnostic platform can pull in data from virtually any channel. If yours is a tech-forward brand, you may enjoy the built-in Data Science Workspace , which allows you to use your own algorithms or pre-built ones to get deep data insights.

Publisher Benefits:

  • Incorporates data from multiple sources to create real-time customer profiles
  • Use real-time customer profiles to personalize the customer experience
  • Look-alike modeling extends the reach of audience segmentation capabilities

Adobe Audience Manager Reviews: 

With four stars on G2 and an 8.3 on TrustRadius, Adobe Audience Manager is one of the highest-rated DMPs available today. Positive experiences tended to focus on integration with other Adobe tools and the DMP’s ability to create razor-sharp audience segments. Negative experiences often related to price and technical issues.

5. Oracle BlueKai

The Oracle BlueKai Data Management Platform comes with all the bells and whistles of the other top DMPs mentioned here, but it truly excels in helping publishers grow their audiences. As you are gathering and analyzing data within the platform, you can use built-in tools to get look-alike modeling that helps you identify new users. A bigger audience means more ad revenue.

Publisher Benefits:

  • Records inventory trends over time for publisher review
  • Able to blend third-party data inputs from different channels and devices
  • Look-alike modeling enables publishers to expand their reach

Oracle DMP Reviews: 

Support and implementation issues tended to result in the lowest reviews for Oracle BlueKai, but overall, the reviews stood at a fairly positive 3.8 stars on G2 and 8.3 on TrustRadius. Positive reviews often mentioned the sheer amount of data available in the platform’s data marketplace.

6. Permutive

Permutive is a DMP that is well-positioned for the next phases of online privacy. It comes with the typical features of high-quality DMPs, but it adds a lens of privacy to every piece of data, enabling you to manage and analyze your data while keeping privacy at the highest possible degree.

Publisher Benefits:

  • Cites a 3.5-times increase in programmatic ad revenue for publishers on the platform
  • Unlimited lookbacks and live campaign data analysis provide actionable insights to increase revenue
  • Integrates with most major partners, including Facebook, Twitter, Experian, LiveRamp and more

Permutive Reviews: 

Permutive has an impressive 4.5 stars on G2 but not enough data on TrustRadius to create an aggregate rating. G2 reviewers enjoyed the simple user interface and responsive customer support, but they weren’t big fans of the price or the extra cost for some third-party integrations.

7. OnAudience.com

OnAudience.com specializes in really big data sets, and it's capable of incorporating data not only from your channels, but from those of any partners you may have. That gives you an added layer of analysis, segmentation and potential new audience targets. The data sharing goes both ways, too - you can easily share your data with partners whenever you like.

Publisher Benefits:

  • More than 27 billion user data profiles already on the platform
  • Monetizable user behavior insights automatically generated
  • Integrates data from multiple other sources for use in a single platform

OnAudience.com Reviews: 

G2 reviewers had almost nothing negative to say about OnAudience.com, giving the platform 4.8 stars on average. Meanwhile, users on TrustRadius had almost nothing to say period, as there were not enough reviews to provide an aggregate rating at the time of publication. The few negatives about the platform centered on user experience and customer support issues, while the positives were mostly about reach.

Playwire: The Top DMP for 2022 and Beyond

DMPs play an essential part in publishers' efforts to maximize their revenue. You really can't manage without one, and the DMP you choose can have a direct effect on your revenue. We have outlined some of the best data management platforms available in 2022, but we have to say: Playwire's DMP is designed for publishers like you, and our partners have seen enormous success using it. Why go out looking for a DMP when you can have one that's built into Playwire's full suite of revenue management services?

Whether you're ready to get started or have some questions, we're ready to hear from you. Reach out to our team of publisher revenue experts by contacting us online.

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