Ep 5: DSP vs SSP: the buyer’s robot and the seller’s robot

Myth. DSPs and SSPs are rivals. Actually, each needs the other.

A DSP buys ad space for advertisers. An SSP sells it for publishers.

Follow one impression on news.example. Your SSP packs it into a bid request. Page address, ad size, country, device, and a user ID if consent allows. It sends that to, say, twenty DSPs at once. Each one checks its advertisers’ campaigns. A travel brand’s DSP bids two dollars forty. A bank’s DSP bids one ninety. The SSP runs the auction, picks the top bid, takes its fee, and returns the winning ad to your page. Both sides speak one standard language, called OpenRTB. The DSP works for the buyer. The SSP works for you.

Open your ads.txt file, the public list of who may sell your ads. Most lines are SSPs.

Next, your ad server is not an SSP.