GLOSSARY

Demand-Side Platform (DSP)

A type of software that allows an advertiser to buy ads programmatically or with the help of automation. DSPs allow advertisers to buy high quality traffic at scale with minimal friction.

What is a demand-side platform?

A demand-side platform (DSP) is a software platform that enables advertisers to purchase ads in a programmatic or automated manner. DSPs are usually limited to advertising on their respective inventories, and they help advertisers by triggering bids automatically when the appropriate conditions are met. These conditions can range from demographics (e.g., college students) to behavior (e.g., buying a specific product). When these conditions are met, the DSP automatically begins the bidding process, and whichever entity wins the bid gets their ad displayed.

What are the benefits of using a DSP?

DSPs allow advertisers to optimize their ad spend with less manual effort. DSPs also grant deep insight into how people are interacting with advertisements and make it easier to build, track, and execute campaigns.

What are the drawbacks of DSPs?

There is no single DSP that covers every part of the internet; each one is proprietary and only allows advertisers to bid on ads where the chosen DSP can place them. This means that choosing DSPs is a critical strategic decision, and that you might even use more than one or change DSPs as market conditions change. 

What DSP should I use?

Your choice of DSP should be primarily decided by where your target audience is. For example,if most leads come from Amazon, you’d be best off going with Amazon DSP.

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