Programmatic advertising marketplace OpenX announced the launch of a free Chrome tool/extension that will enable publishers to optimize their website's desktop and mobile pages using insights on the speed and performance of each page.
The insights and recommendations from the new Ad Footprint tool were developed to help publishers enhance user experience on their site, improve page speed and increase overall revenue.
Here's how it works. After completing a full scan of the page requests on a given desktop or mobile Web page, the Ad Footprint feature returns a page-level analysis evaluating the page load process used to determine how long partners are taking to load elements, speed comparison rankings of a page against hundreds of other websites and actual, actionable advice - recommendations for optimizing user experience and balancing the importance of monetization.
OpenX, for example, suggested that Website Magazine combine ad requests and identified an ad partner that was definitely acting sluggish - excellent guidance for a free Chrome extension.
"Ad tech is complex and dynamic, getting it right requires not only world class software but also a deep investment in research and development to solve for the recurring problems publishers face in our industry," said Caleb Sotelo, staff engineer and director of OpenX Labs. "Publishers deserve tools that are self-serve, adaptable, and transparent, and OpenX is building them."
Ad Footprint presents the results through a very user-friendly interface (see image below) that can be utilized by both business and technology/development teams.