Glossary A–ZLetter D
Demand-side platform (DSP)
A demand-side platform is software that lets advertisers and media agencies buy ad slots automatically from many sellers at once.
It evaluates offers, places bids and manages the budget according to set rules. It is the buying side of automated trading, known as programmatic.
An agency might specify in the DSP: screens in railway stations and shopping centres in three cities, weekdays from 7 to 10 am, a maximum price per thousand impressions, a four-week flight. The platform receives offers from connected supply-side platforms and buys matching ad plays. Many DSPs manage online, video and out-of-home advertising from a single interface.
For digital out-of-home, a DSP has to handle some special features: one ad play reaches several people at once, and creatives need the right format for each screen. Network operators usually do not connect to a DSP directly but reach it through an SSP or a sales house. What a DSP records as an impression depends on the audience data supplied by the sell side.