Demand-Side Platforms: How Do They Differ From One Another?

Most websites and apps that make revenues on advertisement can be divided into two categories: those who regard advertisements as their primary income and those to whom advertisements make supplemental income.

To purchase digital advertising inventory, advertisers use Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs); they do it through real-time bidding (RTB) or programmatic direct channels.

There is a variety of DSPs on the market today; the most recognized among them are

The Trade Desk (a comprehensive platform for buying digital advertising inventory across display, video, audio, mobile, and connected TV (CTV) channels with most advanced targeting options, real-time bidding capabilities, and robust reporting and analytics tools),

Google Display & Video 360 (DV360) for managing and optimizing display, video, and programmatic audio campaigns across Google's ad exchange and other inventory sources;

Amazon Advertising that enables advertisers to reach audiences both on and off Amazon-owned properties;

Verizon Media DSP,

Adobe Advertising Cloud,

MediaMath,

AppNexus,

Criteo, and many more.

The proliferation of DSPs can be attributed to several factors, and they differ from one another based on specialization (for example, in serving specific industries, verticals, or types of advertising campaigns), on features and functionality, reach and inventory, data and targeting options, pricing and fees, integration and compatibility, service and support, etc.

Overall, the diversity of DSPs in the market reflects the evolving needs and preferences of advertisers, as well as the complexities of the digital advertising ecosystem. Advertisers should evaluate DSPs based on factors such as specialization, features, reach, targeting options, pricing, integration, and support to identify the platform that best suits their objectives and requirements.