Glossaryprogrammatic advertisingreal-time bidding

Ad Exchange

ad exchangeDSPSSPRTBimpression buyinginventory sellingmedia buying platform

An ad exchange is a dynamic technological platform that facilitates the buying and selling of available ad impressions. Advertisers access inventory by placing bids through demand-side platforms (DSPs), while publishers make their inventory available via supply-side platforms (SSPs) or by connecting directly with the ad exchange. The entire transaction process is conducted through real-time bidding (RTB).

Ad exchanges are frequently compared to stock exchanges — the mechanics of buyers competing for available units and sellers offering supply at market-determined prices translate almost directly from equities trading to digital media.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
The process of purchasing and selling digital ad space through automated auctions that occur in the time it takes a webpage to load. In an RTB auction, advertisers bid on individual impressions via Demand-Side Platforms…
Header Bidding (HB)
A technique used by publishers to collect multiple bids from demand sources — including DSPs and ad networks accessed via SSPs and ad exchanges — simultaneously, rather than sequentially. Publishers implement header…
Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
Also known as: DSP An AdTech platform that enables agencies and advertisers to purchase ad inventory from Supply-side platforms (SSPs) and ad exchanges. DSPs are typically used to buy inventory on an…
Supply-Side Platform (SSP)
An advertising-technology platform used by publishers to sell ad inventory in an automated fashion, typically through Real-time bidding (RTB) auctions. SSPs are most commonly used by online publishers — websites and…