Before thinking about how to choose a Header Bidding consultant, the first thing you should ask yourself is whether you actually need one in the first place.
The rule is pretty simple.
If you don’t have technical resources and you don’t already have a Header Bidding wrapper up and running, you probably don’t need a consultant. You need a plug-and-play solution.
I’d tell you to stop reading because you landed on the wrong article. Go back and look for self-managed Header Bidding wrappers.
On the other hand, if you have the technical resources to implement a Header Bidding wrapper, or you already have one running and you’re not sure whether you’re leaving money on the table, keep reading.
1. Does the consultant have real “in-the-trenches” technical experience, or are they just a salesperson?
It’s easy to learn the vocabulary and sound convincing. The problem is that knowing the terminology doesn’t mean you know what to do when something stops working.
A good consultant should have worked directly on real implementations, know how to review Prebid configurations, understand requests and responses, investigate discrepancies, and identify problems inside the wrapper.
A good way to distinguish a consultant with real technical experience from someone who is mostly commercial is to give them a specific problem.
For example:
“We have a bidder with a very good response rate, but very little revenue. What could be causing it?”
If they start by asking you for a report to review the bidder’s data and checking the wrapper configuration, you’re probably on the right track.
If the immediate response is “you should add this other SSP” or “you should change your wrapper,” you can already smell the smoke, and it’s not steak on the grill!
RUN!
The consultant doesn’t necessarily need to solve the problem personally by writing the code, but they do need to understand how to diagnose it and be able to speak on equal terms with your technical team, telling them what to review or adjust.
2. Are they 100% independent?
If you’re paying them, or you’re about to, you need to know that their recommendations are 100% independent and are not influenced by a commission.
Commercial agreements, referral fees, and partnerships are legitimate and common across the industry. The problem starts when the person who is supposed to advise you independently also has a financial incentive to recommend certain vendors.
Imagine a consultant recommends adding a new demand partner. Are they doing it because they found a genuine opportunity for incremental demand? Or because they earn a commission for every publisher they refer?
The question is simple:
“Do you receive any commission, referral fee, or financial incentive from the vendors you recommend?”
The answer should be just as simple:
NO.
3. Can they explain the “why”?
A good consultant shouldn’t just tell you what to change. They should be able to explain why they’re recommending it.
Every recommendation should have a hypothesis behind it and, whenever possible, data to support it.
If the consultant can’t explain it in a way your team understands, there’s a problem.
And hiding behind technical complexity doesn’t count. If someone truly understands a system, they can usually explain it in simple terms.
In fact, a good sign is that after working with a consultant for a few months, your own team should understand its monetization stack better than it did before.
See you next time 🙌
