When Richard Ottoy talks about Assertive Yield, he starts at the beginning, with a publisher problem. The company’s CEO and founder, Nils Lind, was running gaming sites and struggling to find the right business intelligence tools to manage inventory and audiences effectively. So he built his own.
That platform proved so effective that other publishers began to take notice. What started as an internal solution evolved into a commercial product, and eventually into Assertive Yield, now around seven years old. While the business has European roots, with headquarters in the Netherlands, much of its early traction came from North America, where it works with major publishers and supply-side platforms.
Now, with Ottoy stepping in as SVP of Sales for EMEA, the focus is shifting.
A new role with a regional mandate
Ottoy’s remit is clear, build out the company’s presence across Europe. That means hiring local sales teams, expanding relationships with publishers and adtech partners, and establishing stronger market visibility.
The business already has a foothold in the UK, with a small sales team in place, and is actively recruiting in key markets such as France and Germany. The ambition is to create meaningful coverage across the region and capitalise on what Ottoy sees as a significant opportunity.
“There’s a gap in the market,” he said. “There isn’t one clear leader in this space, and we believe our technology is strong enough to take that position.”
Market pressures create new priorities
That opportunity is closely tied to the challenges facing publishers today. Declining traffic, shifting referral patterns, and the growing impact of AI on search are all contributing to a tougher commercial environment.
Ottoy points to sharp drops in traffic across some publishers, in extreme cases up to 70% or more, as evidence of how severe the situation has become. While platforms and market dynamics remain outside publishers’ control, their internal operations are not.
“As much as you can’t control revenue in the current market, you can control your costs,” he says.
This shift in mindset is driving renewed interest in infrastructure efficiency, as well as more sophisticated approaches to monetisation.
Optimisation beyond revenue growth
Assertive Yield positions itself as a full-stack revenue management platform, giving publishers a holistic view of their programmatic operations. This includes managing demand sources, optimising user experience, and analysing performance across the stack.
One of its key propositions is traffic shaping, a capability designed to filter out low-value impressions and prioritise inventory that is more likely to convert. The result, Ottoy argues, is often revenue neutrality with significantly reduced supply.
“If you’re processing 30% less inventory but maintaining the same revenue, your cost base changes dramatically,” he explains.
This is particularly relevant for adtech companies such as SSPs and DSPs, where infrastructure and data costs represent a major line item. By reducing unnecessary traffic, companies can lower these costs while improving key performance metrics such as win rates and conversion rates.
Reducing vendor sprawl
For publishers, the benefits extend beyond traffic optimisation. Ottoy highlights the potential to consolidate multiple vendor relationships into a single platform.
Assertive Yield’s offering spans analytics, tag management, and revenue optimisation, meaning publishers can potentially switch off several existing tools. In some cases, he says, clients have replaced up to seven different vendors, delivering meaningful cost savings.
At a time when every line of the P&L is under scrutiny, that kind of consolidation is proving attractive.
Adapting to a changing ecosystem
The broader ecosystem is also evolving. Changes in how inventory quality is assessed, including new approaches to identifying made-for-advertising environments, are forcing publishers to rethink their strategies.
At the same time, the rise of paid acquisition channels as a response to declining organic traffic is introducing new complexity. Understanding the value of different traffic sources, and tailoring user experiences accordingly, is becoming increasingly important.
Assertive Yield’s analytics layer allows publishers to segment audiences based on acquisition channels and optimise accordingly, from engagement through to revenue generation.
Overcoming inertia in large organisations
Despite the urgency, Ottoy acknowledges that change is not always straightforward. Large publishers often face lengthy procurement processes, internal resource constraints, and a degree of attachment to existing systems.
To address this, Assertive Yield is investing not just in sales and marketing, but also in support functions such as solutions architects. These specialists can work directly with clients to accelerate implementation and reduce the burden on internal teams.
“Speed is everything at the moment,” Ottoy says. “If we can remove friction and help publishers act quickly, that’s a huge advantage.”
A business betting on momentum
For Ottoy, the timing feels right. The company is investing heavily in headcount, expanding both its commercial and technical teams, and increasing its marketing efforts to raise awareness.
With publishers under pressure and actively reassessing their operations, he sees a window of opportunity.
“The technology is there, the business is in a strong position, and the market is ready,” he says. “Now it’s about making sure people know what we can do.”
