Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising is when ad impressions are bought, sold, and served automatically via adtech platforms (see Demand-Side Platform (DSP), Supply-Side Platform (SSP), Ad Exchange, and Data Management Platform (DMP)).

Programmatic advertising uses automated processes driven by algorithms, allowing publishers and advertisers to serve relevant, timely ads across multiple channels and optimising the whole process for all parties (including the viewer). Programmatic buying contrasts with manual buying – where an advertiser makes a deal directly with a publisher’s sales team – although programmatic still requires some human input, such as setting KPIs, adjusting parameters, and monitoring results.

Programmatic can involve buying impressions directly (through programmatic direct or guaranteed deals) or via a real-time bidding (RTB) auction.