Demand Side Platform (DSP)

Demand side platforms (DSPs) are advertiser campaign management products that provide advertisers features for buying ad placements online in real time. Buying ad placements in real time through DSPs gives advertisers the ability to target their desired audiences as they are actually browsing websites. DSPs are typically managed by in-house marketing teams, advertising agencies, or agency trading desks that specialize in real-time advertising. By providing clarity into impressions and conversions, DSPs help advertisers spend their digital advertising budgets more effectively. DSPs are nearly always packaged into advertiser campaign management products that can manage ads across display, mobile, social, search, and video advertising channels. To purchase ads in real time, DSPs integrate with ad exchanges, which serve as a marketplace for ad inventory. Supply side platforms (or SSP) parallel DSPs. Publishers use SSPs to sell their advertising inventory in ad exchanges. Some DSPs can also integrate directly with SSPs to foster direct buys.