What’s the difference between demand vs supply-side marketing platforms?
Advertising technology, such as demand-side and supply-side platforms, enables programmatic advertising and streamlines the buying and selling of display, video, and mobile adverts. However, there are significant variations between these two platforms that you should be aware of.
Continue reading to learn the distinction between demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms, as well as how they work to automate transactions between publishers and advertisers.
What exactly is a DSP (Demand Side Platform)?
A demand-side marketing platform, or DSP, is a piece of software that assists advertisers and agencies in purchasing digital ad inventory across several publisher websites. The software simplifies and automates the entire process, assisting buyers in obtaining the finest ad impressions using data to target their targeted audiences while reducing variable costs associated with traditional advertising approaches.
A DSP platform searches for and identifies available ad inventory based on parameters supplied by advertisers. It also considers previous surfing habits and other adverts that customers may have seen in the past.
Demand-Side Platform Examples:
Marketers can handle their company’s paid ads using individual ad managers such as Facebook Ads or Google Ads, or they can utilize DSPs such as those listed below to automate the acquisition and management of online ads.
- Google Marketing Platform
- Knorex
- Basis Technologies
- MediaMath Amazon (AAP)
- Facebook Ads Manager
- Smadex
- Jampp
- Choozle
- Rocket Fuel
- TubeMogul
Publishers and Advertisers Benefit from Demand-Side Platforms
DSPs are essentially utilized to provide access to digital ad inventory, and these platforms eventually enable advertisers to buy more advertising at lower prices and in a more efficient manner.
One of the most significant advantages of DSPs is that agencies and advertisers no longer have to spend many hours manually calling multiple publishers to try to negotiate arrangements.
This type of platform also makes it simple to target audiences based on demographics such as gender, age, income level, geography, and so on.
One thing to keep in mind before using these in your organization is to ensure that you have a clear privacy policy in place. These platforms frequently work by keeping visitor data or employing pixels/cookies, and you should make sure this is clearly stated in your disclosures to avoid any legal difficulties.
What exactly are Supply-Side Platforms/SSPs?
Ad tech systems that handle ad supply are known as supply-side marketing platforms. They are an efficient way of displaying the ad inventory of several publishers in a single location.
This type of platform is primarily utilized by digital ad publishers to sell their inventory at predetermined price ranges via online auctions. Publishers link their ad inventory to the SSP, which allows them to auction off unsold inventory to numerous DSPs.
The following diagram demonstrates the relationship between a DSP and an SSP:
An SSP enables publishers to automate the sale of ad space on their websites in order to maximize the price of ads for sale without requiring human intervention.
Supply-Side Platform Examples
There are numerous SSPs that can be classified based on various aspects such as cost, ad formats, user experience (UX), reporting capabilities, data synchronization, and integration possibilities, and the ability to set up private transactions.
Among the most popular SSPs are:
- Google Ad Exchange
- Index Exchange
- TripleLift
- Pubmatic OpenX
- Amazon Publisher Services
- Rubicon
- FreeWheel
- Verizon Media
Many of the top SSP systems are built to easily integrate with leading website builders, allowing publishers and advertisers to profit from site users who choose to click into a display ad and make a purchase.
Publishers and Advertisers Benefit from Supply-Side Platforms
The main advantage of supply-side platforms is that they make it simple for publishers to auction off a portion of their inventory. They collaborate with DSPs to analyze advertisers and determine bid rates and ranges.
This makes it easier to determine which inventory is most suited to a certain ad campaign.
Publishers can use this platform to filter ad placements to meet the needs of advertisers, taking into account characteristics such as rich media formats, premium surroundings, and so on.
Supply-Side Platforms involve the following processes:
Ad space is sold to DSPs via exchanges via header bidding. Finding suitable advertising to connect to based on the auction parameters and the advertiser’s specifications, displaying relevant advertisements to consumers based on their geographic location.
Streamlining the advertising sales and delivery processes Improving ad latency to improve the whole real-time bidding process
Taking Advantage of Both Platforms.
As you can see, the primary distinction between the two platforms is who “owns” it. And, while many criteria distinguish demand-side and supply-side marketing platforms, the two can overlap so that both publishers and advertisers profit from these separate programmatic advertising platforms.
They both collaborate to help maximize the buying and selling of digital adverts. Advertisers can use DSPs to place ads at a low cost. Publishers can use SSPs to sell ad inventory to the highest bidder (which is the exact opposite).
The move between these platforms allows marketers to better identify their most responsive clients and audiences, allowing them to communicate with them online. Some people also like to use a virtual phone system to answer queries and provide support when necessary.
Conclusion
As seen in this article, DSPs and SSPs are at different ends of the same programmed process. SSPs are used by publishers to sell their advertisements, whereas DSPs are used by advertisers to purchase ad inventory. They have different features, yet both platforms can be used to produce the best outcomes for both publishers and marketers.
