Graham Media Group (GMG) is a local media company and subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company, operating seven television stations and a growing digital portfolio across the U.S.

Through its digital arm, Graham Digital, and tools like Social News Desk, GMG extends its reach across web and social media platforms. With a mobile-first audience and significant Safari traffic, GMG focuses on providing a seamless user experience while improving programmatic revenue.

Opportunity

Managing hundreds of millions of monthly ad opportunities across multiple properties, GMG was navigating increasing complexity in auction management, partner integrations, and browser-related constraints.

To address growing Safari traffic, stricter privacy regulations, and increasing auction complexity, the team aimed to streamline operations and gain greater control across their programmatic stack to support long-term revenue performance.

They were looking to:

• Gain more flexibility and control over demand across their portfolio
  
• Improve auction performance and operational efficiency.
  
• Protect inventory value and strengthen brand safety controls.
  
• Enhance addressability and competitiveness in cookieless environments.

Improving Monetization in Cookieless Environments 

GMG needed to improve match rates and increase bid density in cookieless environments like Safari.

• Identity Module Activation
  Mile deployed multiple identity solutions, including Intent IQ and LiveIntent, across both client-side and server-side setups, strengthening audience addressability across cookieless browsers.
  
• Operational Visibility and Reporting
  Mile provided a simplified CPM uplift report comparing inventory with and without IDs, giving GMG clear data to support monetization strategy.
  
• Real-Time ID Effectiveness Tools
  Mile began development of a Slack bot that allows GMG to query ID effectiveness by site, browser, and SSP, providing real-time visibility into identity module performance..

After implementation,  Safari Session RPM increased by 46%, and Session RPM across cookieless environments improved by 40%, driving stronger monetization outcomes across high-value inventory.

Server-Side (S2S) Demand Activation

To expand revenue channels and reduce reliance on client-side demand, GMG aimed to activate server-side bidding across its properties while maintaining control over user experience and partner overlap.

• Expanded Demand Channels: Mile enabled server-side bidding across all GMG properties, quickly activating leading partners including AppNexus and OpenX, and integrating over 10 additional partners.
  
• Strategic Partner Selection: Restricted new S2S partners to avoid overlap with existing client-side integrations, allowing room for controlled A/B testing and optimization.
  
• Revenue and Efficiency Monitoring
  Mile closely tracked programmatic revenue, Session RPM, and auction outcomes to validate the impact of S2S activation, setting benchmarks for future scaling.

After implementation,Server side contributed to nearly 10% of GMG’s programmatic revenue. 

Auction path optimization

GMG’s auction setup included redundant paths through Open Bidding, making it harder to control demand routing, enforce floor prices, and optimize revenue.

• Open Bidding Removal
  Mile removed Open Bidding ( from all GMG domains, eliminating unnecessary auction paths and improving demand signals.
  
• ADX Standalone Strategy
  Shifted ADX into a dedicated GAM line item, giving GMG more direct control over how demand was routed and prioritized.
  
• Path Optimization
  Simplified the GAM stack by removing redundant yield group logic, helping dynamic floors perform more effectively across auctions.

After implementation, GMG saw an 18% increase in fill rate and a 36% lift in monetization opportunities per session (MIPS)  between January and March 2025.

Floor Price 

GMG needed a way to protect inventory value, improve bid competitiveness, and build a data-backed foundation for future yield optimization.

• Dynamic Floor Activation
  Mile implemented AI-driven dynamic floors across all GMG properties, setting smarter, real-time price floors at the impression level to maximize auction outcomes.
  
• Controlled Testing and Validation
  Control groups were established to compare CPMs and RPMs between floored and non-floored traffic, attributing the direct impact of dynamic flooring on revenue performance.
  
• Baseline for Ongoing Optimization 
  Comprehensive revenue tracking and analysis provided GMG with a measurable, long-term baseline, supporting future A/B testing and continuous yield improvement.

After implementation, Mile’s dynamic flooring drove an estimated 6% lift contributing to incremental revenue.

Protecting Brand Safety with URL Throttling

GMG needed to mitigate the risk of keyword-based blocking from SSPs without negatively impacting yield.

• Partial URL Exposure Strategy
  Mile proposed throttling URL signals by sending partial paths instead of full URLs, reducing the chance of keyword misclassification by demand partners.
• Controlled Traffic Rollout
  The solution was initially deployed on a percentage of traffic, enabling GMG to observe performance impact in a controlled environment before broader rollout.

This approach protected GMG’s inventory reputation while allowing for a controlled, data-driven rollout of the URL throttling strategy.

Rebuilding Video and Display Demand Strategy

The previous video vendor’s aggressive refresh rates, low-CPM display units, and non-transparent bidder prioritization were degrading GMG’s auction quality and risking domain reputation.

• Demand Path Cleanup
  Mile recommended removing the vendor’s display demand while retaining the player shell, giving GMG direct control over CPM management and bidder quality.
  
• Prebid Integration via Player
  Mile advised enabling Prebid through the AnyClip player’s existing adapter, improving transparency and reducing reliance on non-GMG paths.
  
• Protecting Domain Reputation
  By eliminating low-quality auction traffic and strengthening direct bidder relationships, GMG protected its site classification in DSPs and laid the groundwork to fully optimize its video monetization stack.

Impact

By working with Mile, GMG achieved measurable improvements across monetization, auction performance, and inventory health.

After implementing all of Mile’s optimizations, GMG saw a 35% increase in total programmatic revenue and a 57% lift in Session RPM between January and March 2025.

Key Results

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.