MarTech landscape: what is a provide-facet platform (SSP)?

find out how supply-aspect systems lend a hand publishers take care of and sell their internet advertising inventory.

Ginny Marvin on March eleven, 2016

supply-aspect platforms (SSPs) lend a hand publishers promote digital advert impressions in automatic auctions. Publishers can promote and handle show, video or native advert inventory on pc and mobile via SSPs. in this installment of promoting Land’s MarTech panorama series, we goal to cut through the jargon and explain what supply-aspect structures do, how they work and why they topic.

What do promote-side systems do?

supply-side structures — also known as sell-side platforms or yield optimization platforms — are used by digital publishers to control the sale and fulfillment of their promoting “supply” and indirectly, get the best possible prices for their advertisements.

SSPs are tool platforms that operate in a similar way to their counterpart, the demand-facet platforms (DSPs) advertisers use to buy digital advertising programmatically. on the other hand, SSPs are designed namely to lend a hand publishers sell ad impressions — cellular, video, show and so on — at maximum CPMs (cost-per-thousand impressions).

How do SSPs help publishers get the best CPMs?

through a provide-side platform, publishers can open up their promotion stock for bidding to many ad patrons on more than a few advert exchanges, ad networks and demand-side structures. the speculation is that through placing available ad impressions in an public sale that may entice a large number of patrons, the increased demand will drive up bids and yield higher CPMs.

The automation enabled by SSPs offers efficiencies in two methods. SSPs enable publishers to automate and speed up the standard back-and-forth negotiations between advert gross sales and media shopping for groups. they also enable publishers to leverage vasts quantities of information in ways in which aren’t feasible in a handbook shopping for process.

How do SSPs use information?

in addition to serving to publishers attain a much broader web of doable buyers, SSPs permit publishers to share the precious knowledge they have got about their users at the advert influence level. When publishers make unsold advert impressions available via an SSP, the patrons — DSPs, advert exchanges and ad networks — will take into account the content material of the page where the on hand ad impact seems, in addition to the user knowledge the writer has for that influence (information might embrace demographics, area, looking and buy history) and in shape it against the target market focused on criteria set with the aid of the buyers. If the publisher knowledge and advertiser goals overlap, the buying systems will bid on the advert impression in an auction (ceaselessly held in actual time at the fast the affect turns into to be had) on behalf of the advertiser. The profitable bid gets the affect.

Are SSPs much like advert exchanges?

As SSPs have attracted a important mass of publishers promoting and managing inventory via their systems, the SSPs have come to act like advert exchanges, and lots of have launched ad exchanges. simply as with a customary advert exchange, patrons can get entry to inventory programmatically throughout quite a lot of publishers promoting via an SSP.

even as the lines have grown fuzzy, there are a variety of capabilities that SSPs are designed to handle. For one, SSPs can connect with mulitiple advert exchanges, advert networks and DSPs. SSPs additionally supply publishers controls like the power to set minimum bids, or pricing flooring, on certain stock and ensure that stock to be had best to particular consumers, exchanges and networks.

What are one of the vital major SSPs?

ONE via AOL for Publishers, AppNexus publisher Suite, DoubleClick for Publishers, OpenX, PubMatic, Rubicon project, Yahoo-owned BrightRoll and facebook-owned LiveRail are among the greatest provide-side structures.

concerning the author

Ginny Marvin

As 1/3 Door Media’s paid media reporter, Ginny Marvin writes about paid affiliate marketing subject matters together with paid search, paid social, show and retargeting for Search Engine Land and advertising and marketing Land. With more than 15 years of selling experience, Ginny has held each in-home and agency administration positions. She provides search advertising and demand technology recommendation for ecommerce corporations and will also be discovered on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.