Many of our clients come to us looking for greater efficiencies from their online advertising. They have heard that the ad exchanges offer "cheap" inventory and expect to pay rock-bottom prices. We often counsel them to bid significantly higher than rock-bottom, allowing them to purchase the better performing inventory.

There are two important issues to keep in mind:

1. Better inventory is usually more expensive. That's because it is often of higher quality, enhanced with data or other targeting, or other factors. As in every aspect of life, you get what you pay for.
2. You won't overpay. We do not make money like an ad network, who attempt to maximize the spread between the price they pay for inventory and the price you pay for that inventory. As we bid in the auction we always attempt to pay the lowest price possible for the inventory you've selected and pass those savings on.

So we'd encourage you to start your campaigns with a higher bid and let the results speak for themselves.