How To Pick A Supply Side Platform For Your Business

A supply-side platform is highly important when it comes to programmatic advertising. Conglomerates, such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, have all implemented them to maximize revenue gained through their advertising channels. There are many reasons why this form of AdTech is predominant today, and we will go over those in a moment. But suffice to say that if your business has a platform for advertising, it is worth investing in an SSP. But how do you pick the correct supply-side ad platform for your business? There are a number of factors that come into play and a few must-haves when picking your SSP.

What Is SSP?

First of all, what is the meaning of SSP? Another meaningless acronym amongst the billion others involved in your modern, tech-heavy industry? No, it happens that this one is useful. SSP (sell-side platform) is an advertising technology that automates the sale and distribution of ad inventory. It optimizes a publisher’s ad inventory and operates hand in hand with DSP (Demand-Side Platform). It calculates the sum total of a publisher’s inventory and evaluates the advertisers. It also evaluates the content available. Finally, it approves the best match for every empty advertising space.

This, of course, is where the bidding comes into place. Advertisers place their bids, and the publishers, rather than having to scan through each bid individually, set the criteria by which their SSP selects adverts. The SSP then implements the advert into the empty space.

To use an obvious example, a company such as Google or Amazon may have ad space available. As a direct result of this, many advertisers want in, and understandably. These are prominent places to hunt for customers. The SSP then tells the ad exchange that the space is available, and then the bids come in from the DSP. The SSP takes the bid price into account, allocates the space to the bidding advertiser, and their ad is published instantaneously. 

Google’s SSP takes 0.12 seconds to select the appropriate bid and does so by picking the one, which is the best fit. This is based upon the criteria already implemented into the SSP by the business owner.

Why Have An SSP?

Assessing and implementing bids is time-consuming and limiting without it. Big companies and SMEs alike are limited to a small selection of advertisers. Supply-side platform advertising saves time and matches the needs of a business. As a business owner, think about the difference. Without investing in an SSP, you could miss out on ad revenue. For instance, ever seen a blank space where an ad should be on a business website or blog? It’s likely that they don’t have an SSP. SSPs are:

• Guaranteed to fill ad space
• Will select the most fitting ads (not necessarily the highest bidders)
• Limit the frequency of certain impressions
• Broaden the reach of ads.

How To Pick The Right SSP

There are certain ‘must-haves’ when selecting the correct SSP. The first to bear in mind is that whichever you pick, it is better to go with advanced technology. Why? Because it will be able to better suit your needs while being flexible and aligned with the market. Consider that the niche models are designed with a particular purpose in mind, and you are unlikely to maximize your success this way. For the majority of businesses, a broad model is required. Secondly, it must have a user-friendly interface. The third important factor is targeting. You want to pick an SSP that has geographical targeting abilities. You don’t want your SSP to target users in Australia if the majority of your impressions come from the UK.

In Conclusion

Having an SSP is the standard today, and it is embraced by content creators and ad executives alike. With the technological shift and advancements in advertising technology, SSPs will only get smarter as time passes and the internet brain gets smarter. As this happens, targeted advertising will also grow smarter and more specific to a viewer’s needs. If you are the founder of an SME or a large enterprise, pick your SSP and go to the moon with it.