Supply-side platforms (SSPs) were originally built as publisher advocates. Their job was straightforward: get impressions into the market and take a cut. Then they decided to work with advertisers, a move that never sat easily with the publishers who built their ads businesses on them.
The contradiction was obvious. An outfit meant to push prices up for sellers was now courting buyers trained to push them down.
SSPs brushed off the tension, arguing that better data and smarter buying would lead to higher publisher revenue. OpenX leaned into that pitch more than most, and the bet appears to be paying off.
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