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What is a DSP (Demand-side Platform)?

A demand-side platform is software used to purchase advertising in an automated fashion from a variety of sources. Advertisers and agencies use DSPs to buy display, video, mobile, search, and increasingly OTT and even TV ads. DSPs help make the buying process cheaper and more efficient by purchasing media algorithmically across a wide variety of sources, theoretically in a more efficient way.

DSPs use machine learning algorithms and data-driven insights to help advertisers target their desired audiences and optimize their ad campaigns in real-time. They offer a centralized hub for managing and executing programmatic ad campaigns, and typically provide features such as real-time bidding, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.

On the other hand, a supply-side platform is a piece of technology that enables publishers to sell their ad inventory to advertisers in an automated way. SSPs allow publishers to connect with multiple ad networks and demand-side platforms to maximize their ad revenue. They provide a platform for publishers to manage and optimize their ad inventory, and offer features such as inventory management, real-time reporting, and pricing control.

The relationship between DSPs and SSPs is often compared to that of buyers and sellers in a marketplace. DSPs act as the buyers, seeking out the best ad inventory for their clients, while SSPs act as the sellers, offering up their ad inventory to the highest bidder. This automated, real-time bidding process has transformed the world of advertising, allowing for greater efficiency, precision, and scale.

Examples of popular DSPs include The Trade Desk, DoubleClick Bid Manager, and MediaMath, while examples of SSPs include OpenX, Rubicon Project, and PubMatic.

As an independent media buying agency, Criterion Global works with a variety of DSPs chosen according to client preference and needs. While there are risks with removing humans from parts of the equation, and certain limitations to what can be accomplished using DSPs (no Facebook, since Facebook “sunsetted” FBX), DSPs are terrific for performance media buying as they help advertisers purchase inventory at scale.