Daily Dot is a leading digital media company delivering news, culture, and entertainment to millions of U.S. readers daily. As a mobile-first platform, it specializes in high-impact journalism optimized for mobile users, generating over 280 million ad opportunities monthly across mobile and desktop.

Opportunity

As a high-scale, mobile-first publisher, Daily Dot wanted to improve monetization while maintaining a seamless user experience.

The team needed a more flexible and responsive infrastructure, one that could support dynamic pricing, enable real-time testing, and improve performance across viewability and layout stability.

They were looking to:

• Protect inventory value and improve monetization across Prebid and Amazon
  
• Reduce latency and scale demand partner participation
  
• Improve viewability and prevent layout issues, particularly on AMP
  
• Replace legacy systems to support long-term growth and operational efficiency

Solution

Mile deployed a multifaceted optimization plan, tailored specifically to Daily Dot’s mix of traffic types, layouts, and revenue goals. 

The approach included Dynamic flooring, Prebid Server implementation, layout and viewability upgrades, and forward-looking stack improvements, designed not only to drive revenue today, but to enable faster innovation tomorrow.

Deploying Mile’s AI Dynamic Flooring

To strengthen auction outcomes and capture more value from each impression, Daily Dot aimed to implement a floor pricing strategy that could adapt to real-time demand.

• AI- Driven Floor Pricing
  Mile activated dynamic floors across Prebid, using a model that analyzes over 15 parameters, including bidder trends and site-level data - to set optimal price floors for every auction.
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• New Flooring Strategy
  Planned Amazon-native flooring with ad size-level ML-based floors to balance demand across Prebid and TAM.
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• Performance Tracking
  Delivered real-time visibility into CPMs, win rates, and match rates through hourly reporting and live dashboards.

After implementation, Daily Dot saw a 13.56% RPM lift and a 12.30% CPM lift, from flooring driving stronger yield across high-value inventory.

Prebid Server Implementation

Daily Dot wanted to improve page performance and scale its demand stack without the limitations of browser-based header bidding.

• Reduced Latency
  By shifting auction logic from the browser to the server, Mile reduced the number of network calls on page load, leading to faster rendering and a smoother user experience.
  
  
• Demand Partner Scalability
  Server-side infrastructure removed browser connection limits, allowing Daily Dot to onboard more SSPs -like Rubicon, PubMatic, OpenX, Criteo, The Trade Desk, and AppNexus, without impacting load time.
  
  
• Stronger Fit for Rich Formats
  The new setup supported more efficient delivery of complex formats like video and outstream units, improving reliability across varied inventory.

After implementation, Daily Dot saw a 25% RPM lift, a 13% CPM lift across AMP inventory.

Viewability Improvements & Layout Fixes

Daily Dot wanted to improve viewability on AMP pages and prevent layout issues that were affecting ad performance and user experience.

• AMP-Specific Data Loading Strategy
  To address low viewability in lower ad slots on AMP (50%<), Mile implemented an AMP-specific data loading strategy to increase visibility without affecting page speed.
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• Sticky Footer Redesign
  The mobile footer unit was rebuilt to improve viewability, ensure AMP compliance, and prevent layout-breaking issues across devices.
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• Standardized Layout Behavior
  Sticky units were standardized across formats to prevent video hijacking and eliminate mobile layout crashes.

After implementation, viewability exceeded 65%, leading to stronger ad performance and a more stable user experience.

Legacy Infrastructure Transition

Daily Dot wanted to move away from legacy systems that limited flexibility and caused delivery issues across formats.

• Infrastructure Migration
  Mile replaced the existing setup with a more flexible infrastructure, which could support SSP expansion, identity enrichment (e.g., UID 2.0, LiveRamp ATS), and traffic shaping.
  

• Plugin Cleanup
  Legacy Prebid plugins were disabled to prevent double ad insertions and layout instability, allowing Mile’s stack to run without interference.
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• Ad Slot & Styling Guidance
  Mile provided support on ad styling, slot placements, and long-form page behaviors to ensure stable layout and consistent ad rendering.

After implementation, Daily Dot gained full control over slot behavior and ad delivery—unlocking scalable optimization and long-term revenue growth.

Impact

Daily Dot saw measurable performance improvements across revenue, viewability, and infrastructure flexibility after implementing Mile’s solutions.

Viewability Gains:

• AMP viewability improved to over 65%
  
• Footer unit viewability increased from over 45%

By working with Mile, Daily Dot achieved meaningful improvements in monetization, viewability, and infrastructure efficiency.
With smarter pricing strategies, a scalable server-side setup, and a flexible foundation for testing and optimization, the team gained the tools needed to adapt quickly and grow revenue, without sacrificing user experience.

The Mile Advantage

Instant Revenue Insights

Monitor performance in real time across 30+ metrics and 20+ dimensions. Track everything from session RPM to alternative ID effectiveness.

Risk Free A/B Testing

Run experiments on ad layouts, refresh rates, and bidder partners without disrupting your current setup. Make confident decisions backed by data.

Dedicated Expert Support

Get real time Slack support, regular performance check ins, and fast custom optimizations from a team that goes the extra mile.