What Is a Supply Side Platform?
SSP stands for Supply Side Platform. SSP makes it easy for publishers to sell ad space by automating processes. “Supply Side” relates to owners of ad inventory, including website publishers, video platforms, app developers, media publishing firms, and owners of logically aligned websites.
An SSP essentially creates a new revenue stream for editors via ad placements. Publishers can place different types of ads(such as banner, native, and video ads, in-app, display, etc.). SSP replaces the cumbersome task of negotiating with advertisers. Publishers connect their inventory to an SSP, and the SSP makes that inventory available to many potential buyers through programmatic advertising channels.
SSPs connect publishers to demand sources via ad exchanges, demand side platforms, ad networks, and direct programmatic buyers. Once a publisher’s page or app screen visitor is identified, the SSP can make a bid for the ad impression. Whichever impression wins the ad will be with the visitor for the longest duration.
SSPs empower publishers to optimize revenue by selling their ad inventory. SSPs can increase impression competition and protect the publisher’s brand, whilst helping owners control their pricing. SSPs also provide reporting on ad revenue, demand sources, and ad performance.
Using Supply Side Platforms in context
To generate revenue from organic traffic pages, one affiliate publisher sold unsold banner space to programmatic advertisers using a supply-side platform.
The importance of Supply Side Platforms
Supply Side Platforms are important because advertising inventory is worth less if sold poorly. Very high-traffic websites can end up having a lot of their traffic sold using a poor monetization strategy. Supply Side Platforms allow publisher websites to put their advertising inventory to many buyers all at once, allowing for more buyers to compete to purchase that advertising space.
In the non-programmatic ad world, selling ad space is incredibly tedious and requires publishers to focus their entire efforts on selling advertising to a single advertiser. Publishers would need to send contracts to advertising buyers, set ad buy prices, and then have to set and manage their advertising. This is still the case for sponsorship advertising on the higher end, direct advertising buys on the higher end, and even on single-page ad impressions.
Supply Side Platforms offer a solution to the problem of scaling advertising by completely automating the selling process. SSPs allow publishers to sell their ad space based on the ability to sell in frameworks, audiences, where their ads are placed, the type of ads to place, the ads to sell to consumers, their audience, the consumers, and their market.
For publishers, supply-side platforms are important because the advertising space and individual impressions may vary. A user in a high-value market may generate more ad purchases than a user in a low-value market. An SSP places the ad space and the user impression to the user and market that values it the most.
For advertisers, SSPs are valuable because they allow advertisers to buy publisher inventory as a whole. With DSPs and exchanges connected to SSPs, advertisers can run ads across multiple websites and apps to target the desired audience without negotiating each placement.
How it works
A Supply Side Platform functions as a representation of a publisher’s inventory in the market for programmatic advertising. The publisher uses ad tags, software development kits, header bidding wrappers, or other systems. These connections allow the SSP to recognize ad spaces and offer the placements to buyers.
A user loads a publisher’s page. Advertisements that are to be shown elsewhere are shown in the ad slots. The SSP receives a request about the impression. The SSP may collect the page’s advertising space location, size, category, user, device, and browser, as well as the content or audience, which may impact user closure or that may be contextual. The SSP sends all this information to advertisers.
Advertisers in this scenario are closing bids. The SSP receives the bids and chooses the advertiser that best meets the supply control and buying stipulations, closure restrictions, and contractual agreements of the publisher (if they exist), and informs the publisher which ad to run. All of this occurs in the span of seconds. During that time, the ad appears to be a part of the page as a result of interaction between the publisher’s ad server, SSPs, DSPs, ad exchanges, verification vendors, consent vendors, and the advertiser’s systems.
As a result, a modern SSP is much more than a selling tool. It is an integrated portion of a technical layer that dictates the packaging, exposure, pricing, protection, measurement, and optimization of the inventory.
Key functions of Supply Side Platforms
One of the significant roles of an SSP is conducting real-time bidding. Real-time bidding, or RTB, helps advertisers bid for an ad space for an impression. The SSP sends the impression opportunity to buyers, collects the bids, and assists in picking the winning ad. The RTB is one of the reasons why programmatic advertising is able to sell large volumes of traffic economically.
The second main function of an SSP is yield optimization. In this case, yield refers to the publisher’s revenue return from their inventory. SSP provides yield increase through demand competitiveness increase, setting of price floors, routing of impressions to best-buyers, and uncovering of placements that are providing poor performance. This aims to improve revenue without compromising the traffic users’ experience.
Inventory management is another essential task of an SSP. As a publisher, it is critical to ensure that there is control over the advertisements that are viewed on their properties. An SSP will assist in the control of various ad elements, such as the blocking of sensitive ad categories, exclusion of a certain advertiser, ad quality control, and ad repetition control. This control is particularly crucial for publishers that value their brand and editorial and publisher quality.
Reporting and analytics also another essential function. An SSP provides publishers with analytics on revenue from their placements, demand partner bids, and the best ad placements. The analytics also cover ad inventory fill-per rate and the adjustment points for ad pricing. Insights on advertisement analytics can inform decisions on traffic monetization, content strategy, and site layout to improve performance.
SSPs facilitate integrations with relevant advertising technologies like ad servers, CMPs, DMPs, CDPs, brand safety tools, fraud detection tools, analytics platforms, and header bidding solutions. Thanks to these integrations, publishers can construct a more holistic monetization stack.
Supply Side Platforms in affiliate marketing
When it comes to affiliate marketing, Supply Side Platforms can be beneficial to publishers with substantial traffic looking to monetize beyond direct affiliate links. Many affiliate websites utilize content like product reviews, product comparison, product tutorial content, product buying guide, product coupon content, and other niche informational content. All those pages draw users with high commercial intent, thus attracting advertisers.
Such sites can earn affiliate commissions on users who click affiliate links and complete affiliate conversions. Meanwhile, these sites can also have display ad placements that earn revenue from site visitors who fail to convert. An SSP helps facilitate the sale of placements programmatically.
This can be of great value to content that draws some traffic but results in low affiliate conversions. For example, a glossary page, informational guide, or content in the form of a research article can bring users who aren’t in the buying stage. However, programmatic ads can earn money from the attention that users draw.
SSPs can provide different revenue streams for affiliate publishers. Different affiliate programs have different cookies, commissions, approval, etc., rules. Either way, programmatic ad revenue represents another monetization channel. SSP usage does not replace the affiliate strategy. An affiliate program can produce significantly higher revenue than traditional ad clicks. Programmatic ads add another revenue stream.
How affiliate publishers use SSPs
For many veteran affiliate marketers, SSPs serve a different purpose. An ad stacking strategy can leverage SSPs. Placing programmatic ads in lower-intent spaces differs from placing affiliate ads in higher-intent spaces. Programmatic ad value also depends on SSP, ad density, placement, and so on, as well as page content.
SSPs help affiliate publishers bridge the gap between site/app and programmatic demand. The value of programmatic ads justifies the traffic needed to implement an SSP. Low-traffic sites may start with less sophisticated ad networks. Conversely, high-traffic sites may use an SSP, ad server, or managed service to demand more ads and provide better direct access.
Publishers set ad placement. Even so, SSPs find priority buyers for ad impressions. Advertisers also set ad placement in the value chain. Common placements also include ad placements with content, above and below-content ad placements, and sticky ads. Publishers may set rules to enhance the user experience. Sites may eliminate ads that contradict specific niches, queue low-quality ads last, or avoid ads that cannibalize primary affiliate offers. A software review site may avoid placing ads for low-quality or sham software. A financial affiliate site may require increased compliance and controls for advertisers.
Publishers can even assess page type performance. Where affiliate clicks are more valuable, commercial pages may allow fewer ads. Informational pages may allow more ads because the affiliate intent is weaker. It is critical to maintain the right balance because overly aggressive ad placements lead to a loss of trust, a slower site, and decreased conversion.
Supply Side Platform vs Demand Side Platform
Supply Side Platforms are used by publishers. Demand Side Platforms are used by advertisers. An SSP aids in seller inventory. A DSP aids in buying inventory. In programmatic advertising, both SSPs and DSPs work hand in hand.
An SSP is used to make the ad space available to the publisher. A DSP is used by the advertiser to procure the impressions. A DSP looks to buy most cost-effectively and efficiently, and the SSP looks to maximize profit as best as possible for the publisher.
It is extremely important to identify the differences between the two for beginners. An SSP is the supply for the ad placements. A DSP serves to satisfy the demand. Ad exchanges and programmatic marketplaces are usually intermediaries between the systems that facilitate the buying and selling of impressions and bids.
Key SSP metrics to know
There are numerous metrics that publishers should be aware of when using an SSP. Fill rate is the measure of the percentage of ad impressions sold. A low fill rate could be caused by several reasons, which include low demand, low-quality traffic, geographies serviced, tech problems, or pricing.
CPM is the cost of advertising for 1,000 impressions. Also relevant is the effective CPM, which shows the publisher that thousand impressions. Highly effective CPM means that it is a more valuable inventory and that it is selling for a higher price.
The bid rate indicates how frequently buyers are submitting bids for impressions, while the win rate indicates how frequently a demand source secures a bid. Revenue per session can provide affiliate publishers with insight into user-level monetization, particularly when there are both ad and affiliate revenues.
Another key metric is viewability. Ads may be loaded but are not guaranteed to be seen. Ads with higher viewability can create a demand and can increase pricing potential over time.
Another factor is latency. Ad calls that slow the site down impact user experience, but for affiliate marketers that depend on organic search, slow ad calls impact user engagement and conversion. A well-structured SSP should factor in speed, usability, and monetization.
Choosing a Supply Side Platform
Limited site monetization, in combination with site content, site traffic, and service monetization goals, should be considered to help determine the best SSP. Each publisher should consider how quickly the SSP app can be integrated and how quality ad demand is managed across forms.
Integration is a primary component. Publishers may only need a basic integration, while others need advanced header bidding, server-side integrations, app monetization, video, native, and even direct deal support. A publisher should choose an SSP that can fit with their proposed integrations, and more importantly, beyond their integration. Transparency is one of the most crucial SSP selection criteria. Publishers should know who the buyers are, what charges are applied, how opting bids/losses are placed, and what revenue is recorded. Lack of transparency makes optimization nearly impossible.
Brand safety and advertising quality should be a huge focus. Untrustworthy ads reduce retention and drive away valuable users. Low-quality ads hurt affiliate marketing. Publishers of financial, software, health, and business service tools can’t afford to fill pages with low-quality advertising.
Support and account management also matter. Programmatic monetization is very sophisticated. If users hard-install things, they are also sophisticated. They will need help during setup, troubleshooting, floor price and demand balance, and revenue optimization to implement advertising and consent.
Supply Side Platforms (SSP) mistakes
One of the more common mistakes is assuming SSP is a “set-and-forget” monetization solution. Joining the programmatic club is not a guarantee for strong site monetization. Publishers will always need to balance placement, pricing, demand, page speed, and user experience.
With affiliate content, a common mistake is putting too many ads. More ad impressions may mean more short-term display ad revenue, but ad density causes ad fatigue, may divert the user away from affiliate targets, and erodes trust. The best ad density is balanced, but that is not the only variable. A page-buying target page is in contrast c,omparative/educational page. Ad placements tend to ignore ad price floors. Price floors define the lowest bid an inventory buyer can place. Insufficient price floors cause inventory underselling. Excessive price floors lead to a poor fill rate. A proper price floor means that they are placed and constantly reassessed in balance.
Lax blocking rules can hurt publishers. If an affiliate site sells only one premium software purchase, mediocre ad choices can hurt affiliate sales. Publishers are not immune, and SSP audience/blocking rules ought to align with the publisher.
Another SSP mistake is relying solely on SSP revenue from downloads. Trying to maximize wrong targets will cause underperformance on the placement/affiliate target.
While setting up their SSPs, publishers must adhere to various privacy laws and platform rules to safeguard user privacy, a common feature in programmatic advertising. SSPs deal with sensitive information, such as user consent, geographic location, device particulars, and advertising IDs.
In the European Union, consent management is extremely critical due to the GDPR. Some SSPs mandate that consent must be obtained before personalized advertising may be employed. If publishers do not adhere to the rules, they not only risk privacy breaches but may also experience a drop in buyer interest.
Moreover, with the decline of third-party cookies, publishers and SSPs have to adjust their targeting. Now, the use of contextual inference, first-party data, authenticated audiences, and privacy-safe identifiers is on the rise. Strong content structure should improve the value of the publishers’ content, and so should topical relevance and first-party relationships with users.
Related terms
An SSP coupled with a revenue strategy should become part of your potential publishing revenue system. The broader question for the publisher is how each page on the publisher’s website is monetized. Some website pages may be sign-up pages for Email, Forms, allow for Programmatic Ads, Affiliate Links, Ads, and Pages that allow for the creation of a Retargeting audience.
The Supply Side Platform (SSP) streamlines the process of advertising inventory while allowing for the publisher to retain control over how their ad inventory is monetized. Understanding user intent is paramount for maximizing profits. An SSP optimized for user intent will analyze behaviors to understand when imposition of an ad would be beneficial. For example, if a user is reading an article detailing workflow automation (and designed with the SSP to understand where the user is in their workflow), an ad to purchase an expensive workflow automation tool would be ill-advised. The user will not have progressed far enough into the research process to justify that purchase.
Even the most experienced publishers understand that each workflow automation tool SSP is optimized differently, thus the margin for dedicated ad monetization is less when imposing ads on high-intent SSPs than on the most informative advertisers. An SSP will use the simplest ad monetization, be saturated with ads that will be optimized for a high intent workflow monetization tool passing. Standard procedures for video ad monetization are that less is more, and that is dependent on the margin. The margin within the ad meeting of the meeting is determined by simple layout control.
Ad inventory refers to the space on the publisher’s website that they have not sold advertisement rights to. Yield optimization is the process of maximizing the revenue earned from that inventory. Yield optimization includes ad placement and pricing. Floor prices, ad placements, and placement optimization stipulate the prioritization of placement to ensure publisher safety from harmful ad placement.
Explanation for dummies
Let’s say you have a website with ad space. You can sell this space to companies that want to advertise, but this is a time-consuming task. You have to negotiate, deal with ongoing maintenance of the ad, and deal with the payments as they come in.
With an SSP, you still retain control, but an SSP does most of the time-consuming negotiation and maintenance. Here’s what a typical transaction looks like through an SSP. A user gets onto your website, and the SSP pings a bunch of advertisers to see who wants to place an ad. You don’t deal with the maintenance; the ad is replaced when a new advertiser or SSP pays you to place an ad. You don’t have to deal with payments because that is also done by the SSP.
This is great for affiliate marketers, because some people who come to your website either choose not to buy a product through your affiliate link or completely disengage. SSPs pay you to show ads for those users who don’t engage.
To put it simply, SSPs take ad space that websites (publishers) have and automate the process of selling that space to advertisers who want it.
