When DSPs and SSPs Converge

The Rise Of Unified Advertising Platforms And The Reshaping Of The Programmatic Supply Chain

The traditional separation between Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) and Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) has begun to dissolve. DSPs are building direct publisher integrations that bypass SSPs. SSPs are launching buying tools for advertisers that bypass DSPs.

This analysis covers the drivers and scale of convergence, its current state, its implications for advertisers, publishers, and platforms, the role of AI advertising agents in accelerating consolidation, and the likely end-state.

This research note covers the following:

  1. Executive Summary
  2. Defining the DSP/SSP Convergence
  3. How Real is the Convergence?
  4. Why the Convergence Is Happening
  5. What Convergence Means for Advertisers
  6. What Convergence Means for Publishers
  7. The UAP Power Shift: Walled Gardens of the Open Internet?
  8. How AI Advertising Agents Will Change the Picture
  9. The End-State: 10-15 Global Transaction Platforms
  10. Conclusion

Companies covered: Amazon (Amazon Advertising), Cox Media Group, Disney, Equative, Google, GroupM, Magnite, Martin, Meta Platforms, Netflix, PubMatic, SpotX, SpringServe, Streamr.ai, The Trade Desk (TTD), Vizio, Yahoo.