  Ad exchanges, i.e., platforms where real-time auctions for ad impressions
take place, have developed sophisticated technology and data ecosystems to
allow advertisers to target users, yet advertisers may not know which sites
their ads appear on, i.e., the ad context. In practice, ad exchanges can
require publishers to provide accurate ad placement information to ad buyers
prior to submitting their bids, allowing them to adjust their bids for ads at
specific domains, subdomains or URLs. However, ad exchanges have historically
been reluctant to disclose placement information due to fears that buyers will
start buying ads only on the most desirable sites leaving inventory on other
sites unsold and lowering average revenue. This paper explores the empirical
effect of ad placement disclosure using a unique data set describing a change
in context information provided by a major private European ad exchange.
Analyzing this as a quasi-experiment using diff-in-diff, we find that average
revenue per impression rose when more context information was provided. This
shows that ad context information is important to ad buyers and that providing
more context information will not lead to deconflation. The exception to this
are sites which had a low number of buyers prior to the policy change;
consistent with theory, these sites with thin markets do not show a rise in
prices. Our analysis adds evidence that ad exchanges with reputable publishers,
particularly smaller volume, high quality sites, should provide ad buyers with
site placement information, which can be done at almost no cost.
