The Programmatic Ecosystem: A Quick Guide To Understanding Key Programmatic Players.

The Programmatically Correct is a social live series on Mondays and Thursdays at Noon ET (GMT-4). You can tune in during that time on all major social networks including Clubhouse. The goal of the series is to demystify programmatic media for digital marketers.

Last week, we covered the life of An Ad impression.?You can see the 23 mins session here https://youtu.be/S8Cu83WJMlA ?

This week, we are looking at things from another angle and identifying each important player at different stages of the Life of An Ad Impression, specifically the Programmatic Ecosystem.

Who are those key players? What role do they play? Why is it important to understand this process?

The programmatic ecosystem uses various technology platforms and companies that all play an essential role in the buying and selling of Ad (See Life of An Ad Impression)

We cannot discuss the Programmatic Ecosystem without mentioning the Lumascape.

If you haven’t seen or heard of the Lumascape, here is the most recent version as of 2021:

The Lumascape was created in 2010 as a way to visualize how the fragmented world of digital advertising fits together. It was put together by?Terry Kawaja?as a way to visually organize the mess he saw in a complex and fragmented industry.

Each of these companies and AdTech play a role in our industry and we are going to break down the main ones.

Here is a brief description of the main players involved in the programmatic ecosystem and feel free to use the Lumascape to identify companies within that group:

• Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs): the technology platform that enables brands and agencies to identify available ad inventory and buy it through automation. The “buyer”, which can represent a brand or on behalf of an agency, uses the DSPs to do things such as setting up, optimizing, reporting on the programmatic campaigns. The DSPs allow the buyer to perform the buy as strategically as possible giving the buyer access to different sources including SSPs, 1st and 3rd party data,?and more.
• Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs): the technology or platform that enables publishers to offer their inventory and help maximize how much their inventory sells for. The “seller” has the capability to set floor prices in the open exchange and packaging more exclusive inventory bundles into PMPs (Private Marketplace Deal). SSPs help Publishers monetize their inventory with Ad exchanges, Ad networks, and DSPs at the same time and at their higher values in real-time. During the Life of An Ad impression,?the SSPs also get information about the user data like geography, age, sex, buying habits from the ad server of the website. The SSPs then uses user data sent by the ad server of the website and requests the Ad Exchange for relevant ads for a target audience or user
• Connecting DSPs and SSPs are Ad Exchanges, which manage the auctioning and bidding process and determine the winning bid for a slot in a publisher’s property. We, at Helene Parker Consulting , often refer to Ad exchanges as a tunnel or bridge joining both sell-side and buy-side.?
• Ad Servers?are the technology placing the winning ad in the corresponding page slot. It is also responsible for storing and uploading the ads or banner ads on specific websites, apps, etc. with the capabilities to track visitors to the websites and their behaviors.?
• The best definition we've come across was from PMG and they defined Data Providers as follows: "Data Providers enhance the ecosystem by offering additional pieces of information to better inform each transaction. Things like the context or topic of the page where the ad would serve, pre-built third-party audiences, lookalike audience building, hyper-local targeting, fraud detection and prevention, and first-party data onboarding."
• Publishers use SSPs to connect t multiple ad exchanges to sell their inventory via real-time bidding protocols. Just as the Advertisers/ Brands use the DSP to place a buy, the Publisher uses the SSP to sell their inventory. A publisher can be a single or network of sites and apps.

In Summary

PMG explained it best again:

"An advertiser using programmatic technology uploads an ad to an Ad Server and uses a DSP to help decide where, when, and whom to serve an ad to, as well as how much to bid for each impression opportunity.?The bid is submitted through an auction held by an Ad Exchange and if the bid is won, the ad funnels through an SSP into the Publisher’s Ad Server and is placed on the intended webpage."

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About The Show

The Programmatically Correct is A Live Social Serie on Mondays & Thursdays Where We Demystify The Programmatic Media Industry For Digital Marketers.? You can tune in at 12 PM ET (GMT-4) on all major social networks including Clubhouse.?

This is for you if:

? You’re a growing digital marketing agency that’s ready to add programmatic media to your biz mix OR have already started but aren’t converting

? You’re a professional with traditional media background looking to expand your skillset

? You are a brand or company looking to bring programmatic in-house?

? You want expert advice on campaign setup, audience targeting, how to partner up with AdTechs, and more

? You want to hang with me and talk all things programmatic including “cookieless”, or rather Identity Link Solutions or CTV or any latest industry update.?

This Live Serie is inspired by Helene Parker Consulting:?

??? The Insertion ???

Our signature done-with-you programmatic training solution. Perfect for multi-six-figure Brands and Agency Partners who want to scale their revenue offering Programmatic media as a service while maintaining their high-touch, high-quality business model.

?? Head over to heleneparker.com for more deets!?

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