DSPDemand-Side Platform
A DSP is a platform that lets advertisers buy programmatic ad inventory across multiple ad exchanges from a single interface. It's the buy side of programmatic.
What does DSP actually mean?
A Demand-Side Platform (DSP) is the technology advertisers use to buy programmatic ad inventory at scale. DSPs connect to multiple ad exchanges (Google AdX, Magnite, OpenX, Xandr) and let buyers bid on impressions in real time across millions of websites, apps and CTV inventory.
Major DSPs: The Trade Desk (independent leader), Google DV360 (Display & Video 360), Amazon DSP, Yahoo DSP, MediaMath. Meta Ads Manager and TikTok Ads Manager are technically self-serve buying interfaces but aren't DSPs in the traditional sense: they don't buy across exchanges.
DSPs handle bidding logic, targeting (audiences, contextual, geo), inventory selection, frequency capping and reporting. They're the right tool for advertisers who want to buy across the open programmatic ecosystem (Display, CTV, programmatic OOH, audio) rather than within a single walled garden.
Example
An enterprise advertiser uses The Trade Desk to run a $500K cross-channel campaign: $200K on programmatic CTV, $200K on Display, $100K on programmatic audio. The DSP handles bidding, targeting and consolidated reporting across exchanges.
When it matters
DSPs are the right tool for cross-exchange programmatic buying. Walled gardens (Meta, TikTok, Google PMax) handle their own buying directly.
Related terms
Programmatic advertising
Programmatic advertising is the automated buying of ad inventory through real-time auctions, replacing direct media buys with software.
CTV
Connected TV is internet-delivered television (Roku, Apple TV, smart TVs, Hulu, Netflix Ads), increasingly bought programmatically.
Viewability
Viewability is the percentage of impressions that meet IAB standards for being seen: at least 50% of pixels in view for at least 1 second (display) or 2 seconds (video).
Brand safety
Brand safety is the discipline of preventing ads from appearing alongside harmful, controversial or off-brand content.
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