Performance Marketing
What is Demand Side Platform (DSP)?
A Demand Side Platform (DSP) is software that lets advertisers buy digital ad inventory programmatically across many publishers and ad exchanges at once, rather than negotiating placements site by site.
Who Is It For?
DSPs are used by paid media teams running programmatic display, video, or connected TV campaigns beyond the walled gardens of Google and LinkedIn.
How Is It Used?
A DSP is used to reach an audience across many websites and apps at scale, bidding in real time for impressions that match specific targeting criteria.
- Bid on ad inventory in real time across a network of publishers
- Target audiences using first- or third-party data segments
- Run display, video, or connected TV campaigns from one platform
- Measure and optimize performance across placements in a unified dashboard
Related Terms & Concepts
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a DSP the same as an ad network?
No — an ad network typically resells inventory from a specific set of publishers, while a DSP gives advertisers programmatic access to inventory across many exchanges and networks simultaneously.
Do B2B companies typically use DSPs?
Less often than B2C, since B2B budgets tend to concentrate on LinkedIn and Google first, but DSPs can be useful for account-based display and retargeting once those channels are maximized.
