• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, April 14, 2010

In a bid to help publishers regain control over the sale of their inventory through third-party ad networks and exchanges, the Rubicon Project this morning unveiled a new platform that it claims will "balance the digital advertising ecosystem." The new platform, dubbed "Permission Control 2.0," is an apparent move to give publishers tools for dealing with the shift toward so-called "demand-side" players who have shifted some of the online display marketplace power to ad agencies and media buyers.

Rubicon described the system as a new "infrastructure" that will give publishers "complete visibility and control over which demand partners can sell their inventory, at what level of transparency and at what price."

In a related move, Rubicon said it is simultaneously launching a "real-time bidding" (RTB) beta program with a limited number of undisclosed publishers it claims will enable them to "safely capture all potential ad revenue, from all buying methods."

Rubicon did not disclose details about how the permission control system or the real-time bidding beta work, but said that combined, they would give publishers the ability to see and control "money spent through all industry buying methods - including real-time bidding (RTB), cookies, audience segments, content/contextual segments and site buys - without putting their pricing and direct sales efforts at risk."

Rubicon, along with PubMatic and AdMeld, is one of the technology-focused companies that have been racing to develop more sophisticated infrastructures that enable publishers to work more efficiently with third-party groups such as ad networks and exchanges to sell their unsold, "non-premium," or "secondary premium" inventory to advertisers. They emerged as the number of ad networks exploded, and as demand-side platforms were created by agencies and other entities to exploit the marketplace dynamics in favor of advertisers, triggering fears among publishers that their inventory was becoming commoditized and driving prices down for their premium inventory as well.

"The market currently lacks rules around transactions between publishers, demand partners and their advertisers. This lack of clarity around the rules of engagement has led to price erosion, data leakage and channel conflict within the market," stated Craig Roah, COO and founder of the Rubicon Project. "As we work to create a fair marketplace, we are committed to providing publishers with transparent, efficient and safe access to all sources of demand to best monetize their ad inventory."

Rubicon said the new system would enable publishers to better control their unsold inventory by explicitly assigning sales rights and pricing policies by country and region.