• DE&I Commitment
  • Careers
  • Locations
  • Book a Meeting
    Book a Meeting
  • Company
    Learn a little more about us, our values, and our team
    Our Values
    We don't just talk the talk; we live by our core values
    About Us
    Empowering brands to realize their potential with data, insights, and technology
    Leadership
    Meet our leadership team
    Secure Data Architecture
    Our promise of data security and privacy. We keep your data safe from publishers, competitors and bad actors
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    We are committed to making a positive impact on our communities and our planet
  • Platform
    Plan, manage, optimize, and measure your campaigns with our omnichannel platform
    Our Platform
    A platform that connects all walled garden media
    Connected Media
    Create and manage campaigns across search, social, retail media and apps, in one platform
    Connected Data
    Make data-driven decisions as you plan and strategize
    See the industries we serve
    Learn how our customizable solutions can help with your unique needs
    Explore our partner integrations
    See the media, retailer, and data partners we work with
  • Clients
  • News and Events
    Check out recent announcements and see what we’re up to
    News
    Check out our recent media coverage
    Events
    Join us for our next conference or webinar
    Roundtable discussion: Beyond Onsite
    Tackle the next phase of retail media over breakfast with Nectar360 and peers
    Retail Media for Grocery Webinar
    Join us to dig into trends and challenges shaping the industry in 2023
  • Resources
    From new releases, to industry trends and best practices, Skai has you covered
    Blog
    Read the latest insights and thought leadership from our industry experts
    Capabilities
    Take your campaigns to the next level by enhancing your platform capabilities
    Research
    Explore our reports and whitepapers so you can keep up on the latest industry trends
    Subscribe
    Sign up to get the latest updates straight to your inbox
    Quarterly Trends Report
    Learn digital advertising campaign performance trends from Q4 2022
Back to Blog

How Walmart Connect’s Advanced Second-Price Auction Focuses on Relevancy

Joshua Dreller, Sr. Director, Content Marketing @ Skai™

July  21, 2022
walmart connects second-price auction

As retail media continues to mature, retailers are evolving to handle the increasing expectations of advertisers. Walmart Connect has demonstrated a desire to help its marketing clients maximize their investments in its platform with its continual rollout of innovative and valuable features.

In June via the blog post, How Walmart Search advertising is evolving, Walmart Connect’s Senior Product Marketing Manager, Dionne Resnik, shared some of the company’s most recent enhancements. These include additional Sponsored Products placements and a new Top Search Trends daily report to help advertisers better understand how shoppers find and purchase products.

Most notably, though, was the launch of its advanced, second-price auction for Sponsored Products and Search Brand Amplifier to help give advertisers the confidence to bid their best, with a reduced risk of overpaying. 

A recent post shared some initial details:

Combined with our recent search-relevancy enhancements, advanced second-price auction helps reduce advertisers’ risk of overpaying for cost-per-click bids, giving them the confidence to bid their best and putting Walmart advertising within reach for budgets of all sizes.

This move to a second-price auction helps Walmart Connect’s program to be on par with other retailer publishers. As we’ve seen in the initial growth phases of other channels, standardization across publisher offerings is a clear signal of maturation — an excellent sign for retail media advertisers. 

walmart connect second-price auction

More details on Walmart Connect’s second-price auction

Walmart Connect Advanced second-price auction for Walmart Search advertisingThe June announcement also includes a one-page guide on this new auction dynamic to help marketers better understand how it will work. 

When a customer searches for a product on Walmart’s site or app, the platform runs a real-time auction to determine which ads will appear along with the search results, and in what placements. To choose the winner of each ad placement, the platform first determines which competing ads are relevant.

It awards the placement to the most relevant ad and establishes the cost-per-click price after considering the bids of the other relevant ads. The auction winner pays the amount necessary to win based on competing bids, which may be less than their maximum bid. 

WMC’s advanced second-price auction uses relevancy + the bid to better match ads to shoppers

WMC’s advanced second-price auction uses <br>relevancy + the bid to better match ads to shoppers

Relevancy is now at the heart of Walmart Connect

As you read above, Walmart Connect’s second-price auction “..awards the placement to the most relevant ad…” The new, one-page guide also defines ad relevancy: 

Ad relevance is determined by how closely the advertised product matches the customer’s intent, the ad’s contextual relevancy, the quality of item page content, and the product’s historical performance at Walmart. 

Thus, Walmart Connect now uses relevancy plus the bid price to determine which ads are served. Relevancy is overriding some of the previous logic and eligibility criteria from the past. For example, before this change, your product had to rank organically in the top 128 search results for the keyword to be eligible for advertising. 

This restriction potentially kept relevant ads from showing up that consumers may want to see and buy. So, this new change to Walmart Connect’s auction dynamics will offer users a better shopping experience. 

YouTube

By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.
Learn more

Load video

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

“We have been ready for Walmart Connect’s second-price auction for a while, and our product teams have been working closely with Walmart to roll this out seamlessly for our clients,” says Skai’s Kevin Weiss. “We believe our machine-learning optimization algorithms will drive even better results with these important auction updates from Walmart.”

The second-price auction should give advertisers more confidence to push their bids higher and deploy new strategies because they can count on relevancy to drive better ad matching with more intelligent pricing.

Skai + Walmart Connect for retail media success

Skai now supports Walmart Connect’s second-price auction and will continue to support the new innovation on the platform.

As publishers launch in an emerging channel, standardization helps minimize its complexity, which reduces friction to quickly scale and drops barriers to attain positive performance. Walmart Connect’s shift to the second-price auction signals that retail media is becoming mature.

Skai’s Retail Media solution empowers brands to plan, execute, and measure digital campaigns that meet consumers when and where they shop. Built with best-in-class automation and optimization capabilities, our unified platform allows you to manage campaigns on Walmart and 30+ retailers, including Amazon, Target, and Instacart all in one place.

For more information, schedule a quick demo to see Skai’s omnichannel marketing functionality. 

Request a Demo

Related Posts

  • Mother’s Day 2022 Retail Insights from Walmart Connect
    Read More
  • Woman sitting down at her desk browsing a retail fashion sale with her credit card in hand.
    Dive into the Retail Media Advertising FAQs
    Read More
  • street sign.
    The Skai 5: Five Growth Drivers for Retail Media Spending
    Read More
  • Kroger Precision Marketing Announces Its Retail Media Partnership with Skai
    Read More
  • Consumers looking on their laptop at Walmart PPC ads.
    Walmart PPC: How to Get Started
    Read More
  • skai black friday amazon ads checklist fb
    The Skai Black Friday Amazon Ads Checklist 2021
    Read More
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
  • Copy Link
    Copied!
Tags: Create, Plan, Retail, Retail Media, Target, Walmart, xPAx

Subscribe to Updates

Media that matters.
Marketing that works.
© 2023 Kenshoo, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Recruitment Privacy Policy.
  • Connected Data
    • Market Intelligence
    • Our Approach
    • By Need
    • By Solution
  • Connected Strategy
    • Dynamic Marketing Mix
    • Budget Forecasting
    • Strategic Consulting
  • Connected Media
    • Overview
    • Retail Media
    • Paid Search
    • Paid Social
    • App Marketing
    • Auditing
    • Expert Services
  • Measurement
    • Incrementality
    • Experiments
    • Cross-Channel Attribution
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Case Studies
    • Training & Enablement
    • Developer Hub
Privacy Preference

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

Privacy Preference

Save All

Save

Accept Only Essential Cookies

Manage Cookie Preferences

Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

Privacy Preference

Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

Save All Save Accept Only Essential Cookies

Back

Privacy Preference

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Name
Provider Owner of this website, Imprint
Purpose Saves the visitors preferences selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
Host(s) .skai.io, skai.io
Cookie Name borlabs-cookie
Cookie Expiry 1 Year
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Purpose This cookie stores selections made by the user in the Accessibe tool in order to maintain those settings on future visits. These cookies help us make our website compliant with our obligations under US law.
Privacy Policy https://accessibe.com/privacy-policy
Cookie Name acsbState, acsbReset
Cookie Expiry n/a
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name wordpress_sec_,wordpress_test_cookie,wp-postpass_*, wordpresspass_*, wordpressuser_*
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

We use these cookies to enhance functionality and allow for personalisation, such as live chats, videos and the use of social media.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .chilipiper.com, skai.chilipiper.com
Cookie Name fs_uid, CHILI_PIPER_CLUSTER, guest-session, _sp_ses*, _sp_id*
Cookie Expiry Session / 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .comeet.co, www.comeet.co
Cookie Name visid_incap_, nlbi_#######, incap_ses_, referrer22_00a, incap_ses_1364_2167377
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name moduleFormPardotDownload
Cookie Expiry 30 days

Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for website analytics. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name _ga,_ga_*,_gat,_gat_*,_gid
Cookie Expiry 2 Months
Accept
Name
Provider Hotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, 5th Floor, Dragonara Road, Paceville St Julian's STJ 3141 Malta
Purpose Hotjar is an user behavior analytic tool by Hotjar Ltd.. We use Hotjar to understand how users interact with our website.
Privacy Policy https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
Host(s) *.hotjar.com
Cookie Name _hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls, _hjDoneTestersWidgets, _hjIncludedInSample, _hjShownFeedbackMessage, _hjid, _hjRecordingLastActivity, hjTLDTest, _hjUserAttributesHash, _hjCachedUserAttributes, _hjLocalStorageTest, _hjptid, _hjSessionUser_2229986, _hjIncludedInPageviewSample, _hjIncludedInSessionSample, _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress, _hjFirstSeen
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Marketing cookies are used by third-party advertisers or publishers to display personalized ads. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Linkedin
Cookie Name lidc, li_gc, lang, AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie, TDCPM, TDID, bscookie, ln_or
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Skai
Accept
Name
Provider 6sense
Cookie Name _gd_session, _an_uid, _gd_visitor, _gd_svisitor, 6suuid
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Pardot
Purpose Cookie name associated with services from marketing automation and lead generation platform Pardot. The visitor value is the visitor_id in your Pardot account. This cookie is set for visitors by the Pardot tracking code.
Host(s) .pardot.com, pi.pardot.com, skai.io
Cookie Name pardot, visitor_id*, lpv*
Cookie Expiry Session / 10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for conversion tracking of Google Ads.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name IDE, 1P_JAR, NID, SOCS, CONSENT, AEC, _gcl_au, OTZ, test_cookie
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Facebook used for website analytics, ad targeting, and ad measurement.
Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies
Cookie Name _fbp,act,c_user,datr,fr,tr,m_pixel_ration,pl,presence,sb,spin,wd,xs
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Wistia
Host(s) .wistia.com
Cookie Name cb_anonymous_id, _sp_ses.2b40, _li_dcdm_c, __hssrc, _gcl_au, _clsk, hubspotutk, _sp_id.2b40, __hssc, __hstc, _uetsid, _uetvid, _gid, _ga, _ga_GQR109DZ3Y, _lc2, fpi, _ex-pricing-cta, _fbp, cb_group_id, cb_user_id, _clck
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Instagram content.
Privacy Policy https://www.instagram.com/legal/privacy/
Host(s) .instagram.com
Cookie Name pigeon_state
Cookie Expiry Session
Accept
Name
Provider Openstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Purpose Used to unblock OpenStreetMap content.
Privacy Policy https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
Host(s) .openstreetmap.org
Cookie Name _osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
Cookie Expiry 1-10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Twitter content.
Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
Host(s) .twimg.com, .twitter.com
Cookie Name __widgetsettings, local_storage_support_test
Cookie Expiry Unlimited
Accept
Name
Provider Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
Purpose Used to unblock Vimeo content.
Privacy Policy https://vimeo.com/privacy
Host(s) player.vimeo.com
Cookie Name vuid
Cookie Expiry 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock YouTube content.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en
Host(s) google.com
Cookie Name CONSENT
Cookie Expiry 6 Month

Borlabs Cookie powered by Borlabs Cookie

Privacy Policy Imprint