Top 10 Best SSP Platforms

If you’re a publisher looking to sell some ad space, you need a supply-side platform (SSP). It’s a tool that allows you to manage, sell, and optimize all your ad inventories so you can connect them to demand partners properly. With SSPs, you’ll get the best possible return on your investment. 

There are many SPP options to choose from on the market and each one offers unique features that may or may not fit your business. Choosing the right one can be daunting. To help you navigate this as a publisher, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best SSP platforms out there right now. 

What is an SSP Platform?

An SSP is a technical intermediary that allows you, as a digital publisher, to monetize your content by automating the sale of ad inventory. They help you to get better prices for your ad impressions by connecting you to more demand partners, like demand-side platforms (DPS) and ad exchanges. 

By connecting you, SSPs allow you to reach more potential buyers so you can maximize your revenue through auction models like Real-Time Bidding (RTB). 

If you’re starting out as a publisher and want to start selling to businesses, you need an SSP!

How do SSPs Work? 

SSPs work by sending ad requests to your connected DSPs whenever a user loads one of your web pages. Here’s a breakdown:

1. The publisher grants the SSP access to their ad units.
2. The SSP issues ad requests to multiple DSPs and ad exchanges.
3. DSPs bid on the ad unit, proposing different prices based on their audience targeting criteria.
4. The SSP evaluates these bids, considering the publisher’s settings and the advertisers’ requirements, to find the highest bidder.
5. The winning ad is displayed on the publisher’s site.

By streamlining your ad inventory management, SSPs benefit you by: 

• Setting price floors. 
• Optimizing your ad revenue. 
• Allowing marketers to target your desired audience through DSPs. 
• Improving your B2B funnel.

Why Do You Need an SSP?

Digital advertising is one of the most competitive industries there is. SSPs work by making it easier to manage your ad space. Some of the major reasons why you, as a publisher, need SSPs include:

1. You gain access to different demand partners

SSPs connect you with all kinds of demand partners such as brands and agencies looking to advertiser their products or services. This works by improving your chances of finding the highest-paying advertisers possible.

2. It works by boosting your revenue

In most SSP platforms, you can use real-time bidding and direct deals which works to boost your return on investment. 

3. To control your ad inventory better

SSPs give you all the tools you need to manage and optimize your ad inventory. Rather than wasting your ad space, these platforms can help you use it to its fullest potential. 

4. More transparency thanks to reporting tools

SSPs usually provide advanced reporting and analytics tools. These allow you, as a publisher, to track your performance and optimize all your strategies so you can make the right decision every time. 

5. Ad quality and relevance

By connecting with multiple demand sources, SSPs will mean you can display the most relevant and high-quality ads. This improves the experience that digital marketers have with you, boosting your engagement. 

The 10 Best SSP Platforms For Your Business

Choosing the right SSP can make all the difference to your ad revenue and the overall success of your publishing business. Having said that here are the top 10 best SSP platforms that stand out on the market today:

OpenX

OpenX integrates SSP, RTB, and an ad server, helping you monetize all your ad content with high-yielding global advertising marketplaces. It’s known for its scalability and great performance, and is a top choice if you’re a larger publisher that’s looking to maximize your ad revenue to its highest potential. 

Features:

• By combining SSP and RTB, OpenX provides a one-stop solution for you to properly manage all your ad inventory.
• It can handle large volumes of traffic.
• It’s known for its reliability and speed. OpenX ensures that ad auctions are conducted quickly so that you can maximize all your revenue opportunities.
• With sophisticated targeting, OpenX means you can deliver highly relevant ads to your audience. 

PubMatic

Combining SSP with a cloud infrastructure, PubMatic helps you if you’re a web publisher because it boosts ROI through media ads. PubMatic has advanced reporting features and a global infrastructure so that you can get real-time data insights. With PubMatic, you can maximize your potential revenue from all your ads. 

Features:

• PubMatic’s cloud-based platform means you’ll have a highly available and scalable SSP. 
• The platform provides real-time analytics and reporting. This allows you to make decisions based on data. 
• With a strong global presence, PubMatic connects you with all types of demand partners to boost your revenue potential. 

Google Ad Manager

Google Ad Manager is a full-service platform born in 2018 from the merger of Google AdX and Google DFP. This tool will oversee all the aspects of your ad campaigns so you can gain access to advanced reporting. Google Ad Manager is known for its user-friendly interface and its ability to seamlessly integrate with other Google products. This makes it an ideal choice for publishers of all shapes and sizes.

Features:

• Google Ad Manager provides a dashboard for managing all parts of your ad campaigns, all the way from trafficking to reporting.
• The platform integrates smoothly with all other types of Google products, including Google Analytics and Google Ads.

Sovrn

Sovrn helps you to improve your programmatic revenue with OneTag, a feature that simplifies installation and management. It also helps you to monetize your audience insights. Sovrn’s platform is fantastic for smaller publishers who are looking to simplify managing their ads while boosting their overall revenue.

Features:

• Sovrn’s OneTag simplifies the management of all ad units. This makes it much easier for publishers to get started.
• The platform provides valuable insights into audience behavior. This aids smaller publishers in optimizing their ad strategies.

Index Exchange

A transparent global marketplace, Index Exchange gives publishers full control of pricing and configuration.  With this platform, you can carry out real-time bidding for bigger digital media companies. Index Exchange’s focus is on transparency and giving control to the publisher, making it a trusted partner for high-end digital houses. 

Features:

• Publishers have complete control over their ad inventory, including pricing and configuration, so that they can improve their revenue. 
• The platform supports real-time bidding, meaning publishers can tap into competitive bidding environments and secure the best possible prices for their ad units.

Equativ

Equativ is all about offering monetization across all your different platforms. Its cookieless-ready SSP marketplace gives you access to lots of audience data, including premium clients. It’s also easy to integrate thanks to its SDK. Equativ is best suited for publishers looking to future-proof their ad strategies.

Features:

• Equativ’s platform works in a cookieless environment, so your privacy is guaranteed. 
• The platform provides access to more high-quality audience data so you can target your ads as a publisher. 

Teads 

Known for pioneering out-stream video, Teads connects publishers to produce new video ad inventory. It’s unique as it allows you to monetize all your content via programmatic buying. 

These video ad formats and strong demand partnerships make it a valuable SSP for publishers that like to focus more on video content. 

Features:

• The platform supports programmatic buying so that you can automate the sale of all your video ad inventory.
• Teads offers plenty of ad formats to improve your user engagement and the performance of all your ads. 

Criteo

Criteo’s ‘Commerce Grid’ is the only SSP that is built with commerce in mind, as it connects publishers directly with retailers. The platform also offers commerce insights, that help media owners to create effective supply strategies that boost their advertiser’s ROI.

Features:

• Publishers benefit from Criteo’s robust connections to a wide array of demand sources, including Criteo’s direct advertiser relationships and various demand-side platforms (DSPs), enhancing fill rates and increasing competition for ad impressions.
• Criteo SSP provides sophisticated yield management tools, utilizing real-time data and predictive analytics to maximize ad revenue and ensure optimal yield from inventory.

Improve Digital 

Improve Digital has plenty of partnerships across Europe. As a publisher, it offers you a range of solutions to optimize all your ad exchanges. Over time, this will improve not only your impressions but also your revenue.

With such a broad network, it makes it a more reliable choice for European publishers that want to get the most out of their ad revenue. 

Features:

• Improve Digital helps publishers boost all their ad impressions and fill rates.
• The platform has cutting-edge technology to deliver more high-performance ads and supports your growth as a publisher.

Magnite 

The result of the merger between Rubicon Project and Telaria, Magnite gives you Private Marketplace (PMP) and Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) offerings. It provides you, as a publisher, with far more control over your ad inventory sales. 

Magnite has a strong industry reputation making it a preferred SSP for the majority of leading publishers.

• Magnite offers PMP capabilities, allowing you to create exclusive ad deals with buyers.
• The platform supports PG deals, giving you guaranteed ad revenue. 
• Magnite’s platform is known for its performance, which makes it a more trusted choice for big publishing houses. 

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right SSP can be a tough task for a publisher. If you’re looking to maximize your ad revenue and manage your ad inventory properly, you’ll need an SSP. Each of the SSPs we’ve listed provides unique features. Before paying for any of these softwares, you need to evaluate what they can do against what you need as a business.