What Is Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic advertising leverages technology to automatically buy and sell digital ad spaces, delivering relevant ads to users almost instantly.

Through an automated process and criteria set by advertisers, programmatic advertising purchases ad inventory on websites, mobile devices, apps, videos, and social platforms. This automation, supported by learning algorithms, displays ads to users based on various signals, like their purchasing habits.

When a user visits a webpage, the publisher of that site offers the ad impression up for sale via an automated auction, involving various selling platforms (SSP). The buying platform (DSP) bids on that impression considering the advertising strategy, budget, and other criteria. The publisher then awards the ad space to the highest bidder, determined by the CPM (cost per thousand impressions). The ad is then immediately displayed to the user on the site.