To maximize profit and minimize costs is what every business strives to.

Going programmatic is the latest trend in digital advertising, moving both advertisers and publishers closer to that goal. Today, we answer a few questions about the SSP programmatic solution and explain why more publishers should use it.

What is programmatic?

To start off, we can agree that both content publishers and advertisers profit from the same thing: reaching as wide an audience as possible.

Publishers want to attract more people to their website (or channel) by offering content, and then sell their potential advertising spaces to advertisers. Naturally, advertisers seek an audience to show their ads to.

Then they both start negotiating for the price of the advertising spaces (or inventory) on the publishers’ pages. And this is where the two sides start to differ:

1. Publishers want to sell as much of their available ad spaces for more money
2. Advertisers want to buy the best ad spaces available for less money

Programmatic technology is what helps both sides negotiate easier and profit more, and this is why it’s considered the future of advertising.

It says ten, but we could list even more.

What is an SSP?

SSP stands for Supply-Side Platform, or sometimes Sell-Side Platform.

What it does is help publishers maximize their profit by selling their advertising spaces at the highest price. Also, the fact that an SSP does this automatically is why the technology behind it is called programmatic.

A Supply-Side Platform is the publisher’s counterpart to an advertiser’s Demand-Side Platform, or DSP in short. These are both quite useful pieces of ad tech, or sometimes referred to as “yield optimization platforms”.

Their purpose is to help speed up the process of both media buying and selling, and thus bring more profit for both sides doing the negotiating.

How do SSPs and DSPs work actually?

Essentially, supply meets demand on a digital ad marketplace (ad exchange), and the price negotiating between SSPs and DSPs can be monitored in real-time, as it unfolds. By connecting to multiple ad exchanges and ad networks, a publisher’s SSP reaches many DSPs.

Once the user opens a publisher’s page, the bidding begins:

First, the SSP considers the publisher’s essential condition – a minimum price for which they’re willing to sell an ad space, or a potential impression. It then sends out information about the user on the page and starts collecting offers from DSPs.

Once it has several of them, it accepts the one with the highest price.

Supply, meet Demand.

This way, everybody wins – because of a wider reach and the whole bidding process, publishers sell more of their ad spaces for more money, while advertisers buy at a lower price than they would otherwise.

The best thing for end-users is that they get to see personalized ads relevant to them, because the technology and free market already worked it out.

Oh wait, did we mention that the whole process is like, super-fast? It takes less than a second (depending on the user’s browser and internet speed).

The benefits of SSP programmatic technology

Before programmatic, the buying and selling of impressions was done one by one. This is OK, if you like wasting time and leaving a bunch of your inventory unused…

With the SSP programmatic solution, publishers can reach demand they might never even knew existed, for the inventory which would otherwise gather virtual dust, unsold.

Using a quality Supply-Side Platform, that dusty ad inventory can automatically find its demand, maximize fill rate and thus bring more profit.

Here’s how AdCumulus SSP can be used for publisher’s yield optimization:

• Set prices, make deals and see your demand skyrocket

AdCumulus SSP can set price floors to ensure the inventory doesn’t get sold under a certain price. With it, you can also set your own private and preferred deals with certain advertisers. Accessing multiple sources like ad exchanges and ad networks can do wonders for generating more competition and unlocking demand.

• Run analytics and adjust on-the-go

Measuring data to see who’s bidding, who ends up buying and how much they’re paying is a feature not to be overlooked. Also, you can make adjustments to your campaigns in real-time, even while they’re running. Filter ads with targeting, and blacklist those bid responses which you don’t want.

• Easily manage and use to the fullest

Taking control of your ad inventory has never been easier. Through a simple interface, use SSP programmatic technology to find out exactly what the value of your ad spaces is and never let it go to waste.

• Integrate with other cool products

The SSP can dominate as a single player, but it performs even better if you team it up with other useful solutions. Adding our Ad Server and Data Management Platform to your software crew will leave your competitors in the dust.

All pros, no cons!

Do you know a better way to increase revenue, while saving your precious time and money?

If you don’t, get in touch and we’ll provide you with the answer.