A demand-side platform (DSP) is a software that advertisers use to buy ad space through real-time bidding. With the help of DSPs, advertisers can reach a high number of suppliers at the same time. DSPs act as a base of all available ad space suppliers in order to simplify buying ad inventory process for advertisers.
An DSP is the technology alternative to an ad network. It has similar functionalities to a traditional ad network but with access to a different kind of inventory and purchase method.
DSP allows buyers of digital advertising inventory to manage ad exchange via one interface. It makes it easy for businesses to buy online advertising. Advertisers utilize DSPs to get high-quality traffic at scale with minimal friction since DSPs are an effective marketing automation tool. Upon receiving creative, targeting, and a budget, the DSP searches the publisher network for websites that meet the advertiser’s requirements. Ads can now be managed across many real-time bidding networks, which is another advantage of a DSP.
The basic logic behing DSPs is this:
First, the advertiser creates a campaign – uploads a creative, sets up targeting and the budget. This is done through a dashboard and it is often simplified.
When the campaign is creates, demand-side platform goes through its publisher network and selects the traffic that matches the criteria advertiser has selected. It then makes a bid for placement, resolves the bid, places the ad and manages payment process. None of this is done by hand, the whole process is completed automatically.
Due to the automations that take place through a DSP, marketers save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent campaign setup.
Besides that, DSPs can automatically get in touch of a number of publishers, cutting the time needed for finding the right advertising space for each campaign.
This setup allows advertisers to spend more time working on other valuable areas for their campaigns that can improve performance, for example – segmentation of their target users.
DSPs are a valuable tool because with them, campaigns can be managed in real time so the advertisers can easily adjust campaigns from DSPs without waiting for them to end. Additionally, the automation feature that comes with a DSP means that advertisers can easily scale their campaigns in real-time.