Leveling the Playing Field for Non-SDK Bidders

Today, we’re announcing a major expansion of CloudX’s demand capabilities: direct access for omnichannel programmatic buyers to compete in our marketplace alongside SDK bidders.

Publishers can now activate these buyers directly, without integrating additional SDKs—same take rate as SDK demand partners, same transparent auction, same TEE-verified mechanics. We’re bundling our own rendering SDK, fully battle-tested, as part of the standard CloudX integration.

For publishers, this means access to some of the largest pools of brand demand in digital advertising with zero additional tech work. For omnichannel programmatic buyers, this provides the ability to compete on equal footing without building an SDK footprint.

As a marketplace, our job is to bring demand of different shapes and sizes into the auction. Performance buyers optimizing for installs and ROAS. Brand buyers optimizing for reach and awareness. In a diverse auction, some impressions make sense to sell to performance demand, some to brand demand. Coverage across advertiser segments means publishers can find the right buyer at the right price for the right user at the right time.

To get there, we need the full spectrum of demand competing. And right now, some of the most successful advertising companies in history are at a structural disadvantage when it comes to buying mobile app inventory.

Scaled SDK networks bring performance advertising, sophisticated user-level bidding, and deep investment in mobile-first optimization. They’re essential to any monetization strategy. But brand demand from major agencies has been harder for publishers to access. The largest omnichannel programmatic buyers built the infrastructure that powers digital advertising globally—deep relationships with the world’s largest ad agencies, heavy investment in web and CTV. They have demand that wants to flow into in-app inventory, but they’ve been largely boxed out.

The reason: to compete in mobile, you need publishers to integrate your SDK. Building that footprint takes years. When omnichannel programmatic buyers want in-app access without an SDK, they route through exchanges, paying significantly higher fees than SDK bidders. At that spread, you’re priced out before the auction starts. And it’s not tenable for publishers to keep adding more SDKs.

CloudX removes that barrier. Publishers get incremental demand that’s complementary to what SDK networks provide—different buyers, different budgets, different use cases. Incremental demand, incremental value, revenue that can be reinvested in growth or taken as profit.

We’re building a deep and diverse demand marketplace for publishers. SDK networks and omnichannel programmatic buyers, performance and brand, competing transparently for every impression. If you’re an omnichannel programmatic buyer looking for in-app access, or a publisher interested in activating this demand, reach out to hello@cloudx.io.