Build vs buy an AdTech platform

Build internally

Building can fit when the workflow itself is a competitive advantage and your team can own its maintenance. Estimate the work after the first successful request: partner adapters, access control, reporting definitions, incident response, upgrades and operator tools. Name the people who will maintain each part when a partner changes its response or a key engineer is unavailable. Internal ownership gives design freedom; it does not remove delivery or operational dependencies.

• What behavior must be unique, and what can follow an existing contract?
• Who owns protocol changes, security fixes and production support?
• Which acceptance checks demonstrate the complete workflow, including failure paths?

Buy disconnected tools

A specialist tool can fit a clearly bounded requirement. Check the interfaces between tools as carefully as their individual features: which system owns publisher identity, caps, accepted events and final statements? Ask for sample exports and error cases before committing. A lower subscription may still leave your team maintaining adapters and investigating differences between reports. Compare replacement and exit effort as well as initial connection work.

• List the source of truth for accounts, configuration and financial records.
• Confirm export formats, retention and access to records after the contract ends.
• Assign responsibility when two connected systems disagree.

Build on Nexus

Nexus provides Search, XML/JSON feeds, OpenRTB, Video and CPA modules with shared operating controls. Evaluate the module that fits the first workflow, then identify the integrations and custom work needed around it. A compatible protocol does not supply demand contracts or guarantee every partner adapter. Use the deployment and product pages to distinguish available controls from items that need agreement, implementation or an acceptance test.

Compare costs over one agreed planning period

Use the same period and workload for each option. Record initial implementation and migration, recurring platform charges, your own engineering and operations time, separately contracted partner services, and eventual transition costs. Keep one-time and recurring amounts separate. For Nexus, use the current pricing calculator: capacity is scoped by module and, for incoming QPS, by location. Published hosting, white-label and applicable taxes are already included; do not add them again. Custom work or an SLA requires an explicit agreement.

• Initial work: requirements, adapters, configuration, test cases, migration and training.
• Recurring work: the quoted platform scope, internal staffing and any separately required third-party services.
• Change and exit: future integrations, data exports, contractual notice and migration responsibilities.
• Use your own amounts and assumptions; this worksheet does not predict savings or return on investment.

Turn the comparison into a pilot decision

For an illustrative evaluation, choose one approved publisher source and one compatible demand route. Document an accepted request, an ineligible request, an empty response and a timeout, then identify the report that explains each result. Agree on who can configure the route and who can stop the test. Score each option against these same requirements, marking untested items as open. Expand only after the responsible teams accept the evidence; no fixed launch date or production performance follows from this example.

• Record the required outcome, its evidence, its owner and any unresolved dependency.
• Carry the selected module, capacity assumptions and integration list into the pricing enquiry.