Optimized Auction Drives 115% Revenue Growth

CarSoup, a leading U.S.-based vehicle shopping marketplace with over 2M monthly pageviews, reaches a highly engaged, in-market audience. However, revenue was not keeping pace with the quality and scale of its traffic.

• Underperforming header bidding setup
• Low overall yield relative to scale
• Unfilled impressions
• Auction dynamics not fully optimized

The traffic was there, but it wasn’t being fully recognized or valued in the auction.

Adapex implemented a full-stack monetization strategy focused on improving competition, fill, and signal strength:

• Header bidding optimization with Merlin™
• Bid enrichment via Magnify™, strengthening signal density in each bid request
• Performance visibility through Matrix™ and Magma™
• Floor strategy reset, including removal of restrictive GAM floors to improve fill and unlock demand

During onboarding, the team worked through several underlying technical issues on the publisher side. This wasn’t a one-step fix. It required diagnosing gaps, implementing changes, and re-validating performance to ensure everything was working as intended. Once that foundation was in place, the impact became clear.

As auction dynamics improved, more demand was able to compete effectively on each impression. Growth was driven by better competition and more efficient monetization of existing inventory. In just a few weeks, performance scaled quickly:

CarSoup’s results came down to improving how their inventory showed up in the auction.

Removing restrictive floors allowed more demand to participate, while stronger signals gave buyers a clearer understanding of each impression. With more buyers able to evaluate and compete, auctions became more competitive and pricing more consistent, leading to a meaningful lift in overall revenue.

Adapex significantly improved our monetization performance. From day one post-launch, we saw stronger competition, better fill, and a meaningful lift in revenue. 

Peter Anderson, Head of Ad Operations, Carsoup.com