What Is a Supply-Side Platform (SSP)?

SSPs are used to sell display, video, and mobile ads and can connect to multiple ad networks, exchanges, and Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) simultaneously. This connection allows ad inventory to be bought by many potential buyers, increasing competition and maximizing the revenue publishers earn from their ad space.

Here's a simplified step-by-step of how SSPs work:

1. Ad Inventory Management. Publishers place their available ad inventory into the SSP, specifying specific criteria like the minimum bid they will accept (also known as the floor price), the types of ads they will accept, and any preferred advertisers or those they want to exclude.
2. Ad Opportunity. When a user visits a publisher's website, information about the page and the user are sent from the SSP to an ad exchange.
3. Real-Time Bidding (RTB). The ad exchange facilitates a real-time auction among advertisers interested in displaying an ad to that user. Each advertiser, through their DSP, submits a bid, which is the maximum amount they're willing to pay to display their ad.
4. Ad Display. The highest bidder wins the auction, and their ad is served on the publisher's site. The whole process, from the user's arrival at the website to the display of the winning ad, takes place in the time it takes for the webpage to load.

Key benefits of SSPs for publishers include:

1. Access to a larger pool of advertisers. SSPs provide access to multiple DSPs, ad exchanges, and networks, increasing the number of potential advertisers, which can drive up ad prices.
2. Automated selling. SSPs automate the process of selling ad inventory, making it more efficient and less time-consuming.
3. Yield optimization. SSPs use algorithms to analyze bidding trends and adjust floor prices to maximize revenue for each impression.
4. Transparency and control. SSPs provide publishers with data about who buys their inventory, at what price, and how their inventory performs. They also allow publishers to set rules about the types of ads they will accept.

SSP is a crucial tool for online publishers, allowing them to sell their ad space to the highest bidder in a real-time, automated marketplace. This optimizes the selling process and maximizes revenue by ensuring that each ad impression goes to the highest bidder.