• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 25, 2015

The “private exchange” panel at the Programmatic Insider Summit got off on pretty fundamental note: defining what a private exchange actually is. Remarkably, it means somewhat different things to the different experts participating in the panel.

To eBay Director of Advertising Operations Brian Brownie it has “three flavors” ranging from straight up “deal ID” buys to slightly higher funnel level pre-negotiated prices and inventory to full-blown “programmatic reserve deals.”

To Careerbuilder.com Vice President-Media Services Randy White it is basically a “deal ID” deal.

To The Media Kitchen Director of Programmatic Media Buying Brian Nadres it is “anything that’s non reserved but sits on the open exchange beyond the waterfall.”

Semantics aside, the panel seemed to agree that whatever levels are involved, they are deals that are somewhat unique between a publisher and a brand.

Whatever you call them, TMK’s Nadres said that “operationally, it can definitely be a nightmare,” because they still defy standard processes and frameworks. In other words, they’re all different.

For example, he said, TMK has one client that pre-negotiates programmatic deals enabling it to reach users who land on the New York Times’ finance section, but is now beginning to use the data to retarget users who land their and then go to other publishers’ pages. “I’d still like to hit that person,” Nadres said, describing a process that sounds like a mix of contextual and behavioral targeting.

“At least we have that publisher’s first-party data,” he explained, adding “At least we know that person was looking at some sort of finance section.”

Careerbuilder.com’s White gave a more detailed example of how this might work.

He said that private exchange deals typically start out as a deal ID based “first look” buy against desirable users, but that the nuances can be used to refine targeting that is more specific to a brand’s particular audience reach needs.

“The advertiser or buyer wants the first opportunity and will pay a premium for it,” he said, adding, “It’s a certain segment of our audience.” The refinement, he said, is that it can use its first-party data to “reach job seekers in the Georgia area who only have their bachelor’s degree, but only applying for jobs that require an MBA,” a target that Emory’s Angela Lee-Bostick might be seeking to target.

Whatever you call it, and however it is applied, private exchange deals are clearly growing. According to eBay’s Brownie, “as of this morning” there were 345 live deal IDS moving through eBay’s programmatic trading systems.

This article initially appeared as a "Show Daily" post during day two -- Tuesday, March 24 -- of the 2015 Programmatic Insider Summit in Scottsdale, AZ. The event continues through March 25 and can be followed live here.