How and Why to Connect New SSP in Epom WL DSP: Step-By-Step Guide

Everybody wants to rule programmatic advertising. Success starts with the mastery of DSP media buying. But what if you want more? What if you want to expand? Here comes the second part – expanding your supply.

Let’s remind you what an SSP is, how it works, and, most importantly, how to set up custom SSP endpoints.

Keep reading or check out our step-by-step video guide from Epom Academy where we teach you the basics of custom SSP setup in under 3 minutes. The video is easier to digest, while the text provides more info, pick your pill (we’d take both).

https://epom.com/academy/dsp-basics-course/ssps-and-traffic-sources

What Is SSP?

As always, let’s start with the basics.

A supply-side platform is an automated ad tech platform that publishers use to manage, sell, and optimize ad inventory of their ad inventory.

On the other hand, a demand-side platform is an automated ad tech platform that advertisers, ad agencies, and ad networks use for managing, selling and optimizing their ad campaigns.

It’s really simple to look at. You use a demand-side platform to buy. Publishers use a supply-side platform to sell. These are two sides of the same coin of programmatic advertising, and one doesn’t work without the other.

Important note: both of these platforms inhabit the realm of programmatic, not direct advertising. Surely, you can use an ad server with the SSP to make an ultimate advertising Megazord, but that’s a topic for a different article.

How Does SSP Work?

Every programmatic deal has two sides – demand and supply. Both of these technologies work on the basis of real-time bidding protocol, which determines who is the highest bidder and who earns the ad placement.

We are sure you know all of this already from our previous articles, but just to remind you: here’s how a programmatic auction works from the supply side POV.

1. The user visits a publisher’s website or mobile app, which has all the necessary integrations to start an auction.
2. As soon as the page loads, a real-time bidding auction starts. It lasts milliseconds, and its goal is to quickly find and deliver the most relevant ad.
3. The website or app sends an ad request to the SSP. It contains data such as device type, geolocation, and user behavior. The amount of data varies from publisher to publisher.
4. The SSP analyzes data and checks ad space availability. If the ad matches the publisher’s compliance criteria, the SSP proceeds to auction the ad space.

5. The SSP sends bid requests via an ad exchange. Think of these as open marketplaces for programmatic deals. Ad exchanges analyze what the publisher’s SSP wants and send it to the advertisers’ DSPs.

   Each bid request includes parameters like minimum bid amount, ad size, and format, as well as keywords and restrictions. If all the criteria are met, the auction continues.

6. The DSPs analyze the request and submit bids. The bids vary on how relevant the user or context is to the advertiser and how much they are ready to pay for it.
7. The highest bid wins. The bid is recorded, and the SSP returns the ad markup to the publisher.
8. The ad is delivered. Hooray!

The important thing is that all of the SSP and DSP criteria are set beforehand, and once again, the process happens faster than a blink of an eye.

How to Connect SSP?

The prelude is over; let’s get to the sweet part.

Before launching a campaign, you need to understand if the platform is receiving traffic. There are two sources:

1. Internal Setup by Epom

If you’ve decided to buy traffic with our sources, then it’s an easy scenario. Simply address your account manager (one is assigned to you automatically), and they will handle the integration.

With Epom White-label DSP, more than 50 SSPs (including Pubnative, Sovrn, Google, and Xandr) are available to use.

Once the account manager has everything set up, you’ll see the pre-configured endpoints under Traffic Settings > SSP Endpoints and will be able to use them for your campaigns.

If Traffic Settings is not visible at first, just scroll down. And remember, it’s only available if you’re an admin (which you should be by default).

2. Your own SSPs

If you want to connect your own SSP, you’ll need to configure it manually through Traffic Settings. Fear not; it’s quite an easy setup that we’re going to explain next.

Adding and Configuring Custom SSP Endpoints

Let’s do it step by step:

Step 1: Add the SSP

Once again, navigate to Traffic Settings > SSP Endpoints and click Manage SSPs.

Click Add SSP and give it a name. Save the changes.

Step 2. Create an SSP Endpoint

Return to the SSP Endpoints screen. Click Create New Endpoint.

Name it and choose the SSP you’ve just created.

Step 3: Fill in SSP Details

The screen will provide you with specific requirements, such as the OpenRTB version and Bid event type. Input these details as per the SSP’s instructions (the provider should give you these details).

There is a chance you’re integrating with Google or Xandr. In that case, simply activate the connector provided by the Epom team.

Click Save.

Step 4: Generate the Endpoint URL

Now, for the final step. In this same screen, you’ll see a generated endpoint URL.

Copy it and share it with your SSP provider. They will configure their system to send traffic to this URL.

Verifying Traffic Flow

It’s time to check if the traffic goes smoothly.

Go to the Planning section of the DSP. Look for the SSP name and traffic statistics. Right now, none of our test SSPs don’t receive traffic, but if everything’s done according to the guide, you should see the number of bid requests entering the platform.

Request Validation (Optional)

For the optional steps, if your SSP provides a sample bid request, you can validate it using the Request Validator. The tool checks if the request meets the platform requirements.

Upload the request to the validator and analyze the results. If it’s valid, the DSP can process it. If some error occurs, write your account manager for advice.

Labels for Traffic Organization (Optional)

By the way, you can create labels to organize and categorize traffic sources, making campaign management easier. For example, you could set up labels for sensitive categories or certain ad formats. Just contact your account manager to make that work.

Why Expand the SSP list?

What’s the point of all these setups? It’s great of you to ask.

• To get better deals

Increased competition = lower prices. The more SSPs you have, the better the chance to get lower ad placement prices, widen the auction opportunities, and, if you’re lucky, even access the private marketplaces with premium inventory.

• To not get in legal trouble

GDPR & CCPA changes by the day (almost). Some SSPs may not fully comply with the regulations and that means serious legal troubles for your data. Plus, you get a better chance of avoiding “bad actors,” the SSPs that resell inventory without publisher authorization.

• To reach a more diverse audience

It’s a simple logic, different SSPs imply different publishers that result in different audiences. Some SSPs specialize in CTV, DOOH and rich media, while the focus of others is displays and videos. Full coverage gives you better options to reach more diverse audiences.

• To improve win rates

Some SSPs are slower than others in responding to bid requests and that results in lost opportunities. The arsenal of diverse SSPs means you get access to faster, more efficient, and more transparent auctions.

• To reduce dependence

Laying all your eggs in one basket is usually a bad idea. What if an SSP outage happens? What if your favorite SSP changes its pricing policies? You’d better be ready and not rely on a single publisher.

What to Look for in an SSP as an Advertiser?

Okay, but which SSP is even a good one? You probably know the answer if you’ve read this far. To not drag this article even further, we’d sum up all the diverse criteria into one sentence:

The ideal SSP should offer high-quality inventory, advanced targeting options, fair & competitive pricing as well as strong brand safety features, and up-to-date compliance practices.

What’s Next for Your Custom SSP?

Let’s sum up the important bits. To connect an SSP and manage traffic within Epom white-label DSP:

1. Add the SSP in Traffic Settings > Manage SSPs.
2. Create a new endpoint and input SSP-specific details.
3. Share the generated endpoint URL with the SSP provider.
4. Verify that traffic is being received.
5. Optionally, use the request validator for bid request testing and configure labels to better organize traffic.

Voila! In fact, Epom white-label DSP has a lot more to uncover than SSP connection. You know where to find the rest, just request a 14-day free trial.

FAQ

• What are the examples of SSP?

  Some of the most well-known and reputable SSPs include Google Ad Manager, OpenX, Pubmatic, Xandr, and Sovrn.

• What types of auctions are there in programmatic?

  There are four types of auctions in programmatic.

  Open auction – the publisher sets a bid floor to sell ad inventory, advertisers bid on it in real time, and the highest bidder wins. The auction is accessible to everyone.

  Programmatic guaranteed – there is no auction; pubs and advertisers negotiate a fixed price one-on-one for a guaranteed number of impressions.

  Programmatic non-guaranteed – same as with the previous one, but the inventory is not reserved for a specific advertiser. Also, they aren’t required to buy ad inventory when there’s a request. PMP – a programmatic auction only accessible through invites.

• What is an ad exchange?

  An ad exchange is a digital marketplace in programmatic auctions. It is a platform where the SSP sells ad placements to the advertiser’s DSP.

• What is a white-label DSP?

  A white-label DSP is a DSP without a brand tag that you can customize and manage as if it’s your own, without the need to build it yourself.