AdOps (Advertising Operations) Engineer is a rather rare position. Most IT companies are not yet considering this role as a separate specialty. Therefore, engineers, product managers, business analysts, marketers and other specialists most often take on different elements of AdOps work.
What is AdOps engineer doing? What are the specifics of this role? How to become an AdOps engineer?
WHAT IS ADOPS?
Advertising operations, or “ad ops”, is a complex of processes and solutions in the field of online advertising.
While modern businesses are constantly looking for innovative ways to reach new customers and spread their message across wider audiences, online advertising careers are getting more and more popular among young specialists.
From banner ads and TikTok videos to SMS and email marketing – ad ops generate revenue and boost consumer’s interest to goods and services in all areas of today’s business.
WHAT ARE THE TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADOPS ENGINEER?
Publishers (owners of websites, mobile apps, etc.) run various monetization mechanics: subscriptions, paid content, or advertising. AdOps engineer is responsible for the latter – the monetization of a site or app that happens through ads.
He or she chooses types and sources of advertising, sets up their placement, and monitors the cost of impressions and the occupancy of advertising units.
Normally, AdOps engineer joins the project at the later stages of developing the first product version, when the UI / UX is quite clear. It is time to start embedding ads into it.
At the very beginning, AdOps engineer studies the product and chooses the architecture of the advertising solution. He or she (with the product manager) looks at all the ad spaces in the application (also called "inventory") and decides how they will fit into the existing interface.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN MONETIZATION SOLUTIONS FOR MOBILE AND WEB?
As a rule, these are the main advertising networks and platforms selling advertising space. There are hundreds of vendors in the markets: MoPub Marketplace, Smaato, PubMatic, InMobi, Chartboost, AdColony, OpenX and so on.
For example, banner ads can be mediated with multiple partners. It means that we integrate several sources at the same time into one advertising space – with sequential or parallel enumeration for each impression.
A solution for running parallel auctions among multiple sources before the display within the application. One of the most popular is Amazon TAM and Prebid.org.
A server that configures how to deliver ads to the app per ad space.
WHAT ARE THE COMMON ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS?
HOW TO BECOME AN ADOPS ENGINEER?
Most often, AdOps engineers grow from product managers, business analysts, developers, or technical project managers. If your processes somehow intersect with advertising integrations or marketing campaign management, it is a straight road to AdOps.
Hard skills requirements:
Soft skills requirements:
IN A NUTSHELL
AdOps engineer is a specialist who works at the intersection of engineering, business analysis, and product management. This role requires a person with a comprehensive understanding of the product and user behavior, as it all affects monetization.
Often there is no separate AdOps engineer position and the AdOps functions are executed by the Product Manager or Technical Lead. Another common scenario is when this role is spread among several specialists. For example, a Product Manager is responsible for the business part (establishing contacts with advertising sources, reporting and tracking indicators), and a Software Engineer is responsible for technical integrations.
Nevertheless, if you happen to get the job, AdOps engineers' salaries resemble the compensation of project and product managers.
What is AdOps engineer doing? What are the specifics of this role? How to become an AdOps engineer?
WHAT IS ADOPS?
Advertising operations, or “ad ops”, is a complex of processes and solutions in the field of online advertising.
While modern businesses are constantly looking for innovative ways to reach new customers and spread their message across wider audiences, online advertising careers are getting more and more popular among young specialists.
From banner ads and TikTok videos to SMS and email marketing – ad ops generate revenue and boost consumer’s interest to goods and services in all areas of today’s business.
WHAT ARE THE TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF ADOPS ENGINEER?
Publishers (owners of websites, mobile apps, etc.) run various monetization mechanics: subscriptions, paid content, or advertising. AdOps engineer is responsible for the latter – the monetization of a site or app that happens through ads.
He or she chooses types and sources of advertising, sets up their placement, and monitors the cost of impressions and the occupancy of advertising units.
Normally, AdOps engineer joins the project at the later stages of developing the first product version, when the UI / UX is quite clear. It is time to start embedding ads into it.
At the very beginning, AdOps engineer studies the product and chooses the architecture of the advertising solution. He or she (with the product manager) looks at all the ad spaces in the application (also called "inventory") and decides how they will fit into the existing interface.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN MONETIZATION SOLUTIONS FOR MOBILE AND WEB?
- Advertising sources
As a rule, these are the main advertising networks and platforms selling advertising space. There are hundreds of vendors in the markets: MoPub Marketplace, Smaato, PubMatic, InMobi, Chartboost, AdColony, OpenX and so on.
- Advertising delivery mechanisms
For example, banner ads can be mediated with multiple partners. It means that we integrate several sources at the same time into one advertising space – with sequential or parallel enumeration for each impression.
- In-app bidding solution
A solution for running parallel auctions among multiple sources before the display within the application. One of the most popular is Amazon TAM and Prebid.org.
- Ad Servers
A server that configures how to deliver ads to the app per ad space.
WHAT ARE THE COMMON ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS?
- Google Ad Manager as Ad Server and mediation platform. The most flexible option, there are practically no cons.
- MoPub as Ad Server and mediation platform with connected MoPub Advanced Bidding solution. It is convenient, but the solution has a little less flexibility compared to Google Ad Manager.
- AdMob as a platform for mediation with “out of the box” partners, as well as custom bidding. This kind of architecture allows for quick integration but provides a minimum of features.
HOW TO BECOME AN ADOPS ENGINEER?
Most often, AdOps engineers grow from product managers, business analysts, developers, or technical project managers. If your processes somehow intersect with advertising integrations or marketing campaign management, it is a straight road to AdOps.
Hard skills requirements:
- product analytics software (Firebase, Amplitude, Flurry, Indicative, custom BI solutions like Python ETLs, Time series DBs);
- traffic source software (AppsFlyer, Kochava);
- A/B testing tools (like Firebase);
- marketing automation tools (Swrve, Braze, Firebase);
- ad servers (Google Ad Manager, MoPub, AdMob);
- special software for setting Header Bidding orders on ad servers (PubMonkey);
- developer tools (Charles Proxy).
Soft skills requirements:
- sociability (for communicating with advertising sources representatives, as well as developers and other project participants);
- interest in data (for trend watching, discovering problem areas, deciding what to focus on and what to improve);
- pedantry (for performing routine, but very important tasks as accurately as possible).
IN A NUTSHELL
AdOps engineer is a specialist who works at the intersection of engineering, business analysis, and product management. This role requires a person with a comprehensive understanding of the product and user behavior, as it all affects monetization.
Often there is no separate AdOps engineer position and the AdOps functions are executed by the Product Manager or Technical Lead. Another common scenario is when this role is spread among several specialists. For example, a Product Manager is responsible for the business part (establishing contacts with advertising sources, reporting and tracking indicators), and a Software Engineer is responsible for technical integrations.
Nevertheless, if you happen to get the job, AdOps engineers' salaries resemble the compensation of project and product managers.
