Media Buyers Blog

GDPR, TCF and Consent Strings: What a DSP Must Handle in Europe

Every programmatic ad bought in Europe starts with a question most buyers never see: did this person agree to have their data used for advertising, and by whom? The answer travels inside the bid request as a short encoded text called a consent string. If a DSP cannot read it, it is guessing. Guessing is expensive. A...

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TCF consent string and GDPR feature image with a glowing shield, consent toggles and a server receiving the consent signal.
If You’re Spending $50,000/Month on Ads, You Should Own the Platform

Should You Own Your DSP? Costs, Revenue and Break-Even

Agencies and media buyers who spend steadily on programmatic advertising eventually ask the same question: should we keep...

VAST video ad serving feature image showing a video player receiving an ad from a DSP through the VAST standard.

VAST, VPAID and Video Ad Serving Explained for DSP Buyers

Video is one of the most valuable formats in programmatic buying, and also one of the most fragile....

Bid shading feature image showing a DSP dashboard lowering bids toward the winning price in a first-price auction.

Bid Shading and First-Price Auctions: Why Your DSP Bids Less Than You Ask

Many media buyers notice something odd when they look closely at their DSP logs. They set a maximum...

Brand safety blocklist feature image showing a DSP dashboard with a shield filtering unsafe ad placements.

Brand Safety Blocklists: How Category, Domain and Keyword Blocking Work

Every programmatic buyer has seen it happen at least once. A client’s ad appears next to a story...

CTV programmatic advertising feature image showing a connected TV screen linked to DSP dashboard panels.

CTV Programmatic Advertising: How to Buy Connected TV Inventory Through a DSP

Television used to be bought in advance, in bulk, by the spot. You picked a channel and a...

What is a bid request feature image showing an OpenRTB bid request travelling from a publisher's ad slot to a DSP dashboard.

What Is a Bid Request? Anatomy of an OpenRTB Bid Request for Advertisers

Every programmatic impression you have ever bought started as a small block of data sent to your platform...

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