SSP (Supply side platform)

The supply side platform (SSP – Supply Side Platform) helps website or app owners sell digital ads in automated auctions. It is a technology platform used to coordinate and manage the supply and distribution of ad inventories. 

The purpose of SSPs is to efficiently improve revenue optimization of ad space inventory across websites and mobile apps to minimize unfilled ad inventory and maximize revenue. To define what an SSP is, it is necessary to understand how ad technology, ad exchange and platforms play a role in helping an advertiser complete ad fill rates on the publisher's website from a demand-side (DSP) platform.

How Does the Supply Side Platform Work?

The functionality of these platforms has expanded over the years. Generally, publishers can create and manage ad codes through the platform. However, manual placement is no longer efficient due to large audiences and an increasing number of advertisers competing for the same ad space. 

Now supply-side platforms (SSPs) work with similar technology and demand-side platforms (DSPs) to evaluate advertisers, stock the advertisers' total inventory, determine the bid range for each ad impression, and then recommend the best match for each ad unit. 

A supply-side platform can make inventory more sellable directly to buyers or through ad exchanges (Ad Exchange), demand-side platforms (DSP), and agencies.

SSPs can send existing ad impressions to as many potential buyers as possible. The main goal is to sell all the inventory at the best price.

The SSP automatically fulfills the requirements, matching the correct bid to the correct inventory, and finally sending a request to the ad server. 

SSPs are used by internet publishers while DSP is used by advertisers. Publishers' ad inventories are readily available for programmatic sale if DSPs are integrated with other SSPs.