02: Programmatic & DSPs

Programmatic & DSPs

The machinery behind most digital ad buying: the part that happens automatically, behind the scenes, once you hit go.

DSP (Demand-Side Platform): Think of it as the "shopping app" advertisers use to buy ad space across thousands of websites and apps at once, instead of calling each one individually. Most of the buying happens via automatic auctions, in real time.

SSP (Supply-Side Platform): The flip side of a DSP: the tool publishers (websites, apps) use to offer up their ad space for sale.

Ad Exchange: The marketplace where DSPs and SSPs actually meet and transact: the trading floor connecting buyers and sellers.

Open Exchange vs. PMP vs. Programmatic Guaranteed: Three levels of the same idea, with increasing control (and usually price): open exchange means anyone can bid, PMP means only an invited group can bid, programmatic guaranteed means price and volume are locked in ahead of time.

Brand Safety vs. Brand Suitability: Brand safety means keeping your ad away from obviously harmful content (violence, hate speech). Brand suitability goes further: making sure the content actually fits your specific brand, which takes more judgment than a simple rule can capture. If a client's suitability needs aren't obvious, that's a conversation for your Punch contact, not a guess.

Viewability Standards (MRC): The Media Rating Council sets the industry's official definition of what counts as a "viewable" ad: the benchmark everyone measures against.

Pixel / Tag: A small piece of tracking code placed on a website that records what a visitor does there. It's used for measurement, retargeting, and figuring out if a conversion happened.

Floor Price: The lowest amount a publisher is willing to accept for a piece of ad space.

Political Advertiser Certification (DSP-level): Beyond a platform's own political ad rules, individual DSPs (The Trade Desk, DV360, and others) often run their own political-advertiser certification on top. Build in lead time for this the same way you would for Meta, Google, or Snapchat directly; it's rarely instant.