Best Programmatic Advertising Platforms

Introduction

The realm of programmatic advertising is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with global ad spending lakhs and lakhs to soar in more heights, approaching a staggering 557.56 billion U.S. dollars. 

In this digital landscape, programmatic advertising has become a game changer for marketers, offering an accurate track record of their targeted customer purchase journey. The benefits range from heightened conversion rates and revenue boosts to cost reduction, superior optimization, enhanced ad management, and more.

For businesses who want to adopt the power of programmatic advertising for them, the crucial first step is selecting the right platform to partner with. 

In this detailed guide, we look into the intricacies of programmatic advertising, explore its inner workings, and present which are the 12 best programmatic advertising platforms to drive your marketing success in 2024 and beyond.

Understanding Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising represents a paradigm shift in the buying and selling of ad space, leveraging automated technology to enhance efficiency and precision. This automation ensures that ads are strategically delivered to specific audiences based on data-driven decisions. 

Whether through real-time bidding or direct purchases, Programmatic advertising helps the marketers to secure their prime digital real estate without the traditional manual negotiations, optimizing ad placements and targeting capabilities. 

Brands therefore can ensure that they are connecting to their right audience with their relevant content at opportune moments.

How Programmatic Advertising Works

The mechanics of programmatic advertising are complex yet efficient. When a user visits a website featuring programmatic ad placements, the website transfers the visitor’s data to an ad exchange. 

Subsequently, the ad exchange properly studies the user’s data, encompassing browsing behavior and demographic details, presenting this information to their realtime behavior, triggering an auction.

Advertisers, armed with demand-side platforms (DSPs), assess the data and determine the value of displaying their ad to the selected users, setting a bid accordingly. 

Post-bidding, the ad exchange selects the highest bid, granting the winning advertiser the coveted ad space. Almost instantaneously, the chosen ad materializes on the user’s webpage, ideally aligning with their interests and behaviors. 

The Result involves the collection of metrics data such as clicks, impressions, and conversions, enabling advertisers to strategically refine their future bidding and targeting criteria.

Challenges in Programmatic Advertising

Despite its manifold advantages, programmatic advertising presents substantial challenges. Marketers get really frustrated with issues like inconsistent taxonomy of marketing campaigns, difficulties in pulling data from numerous ad accounts, and a lack of cross-channel performance visibility.

Inconsistent Taxonomy of Marketing Campaigns

A pervasive challenge in programmatic advertising is the disparate taxonomy of campaigns, characterized by different naming conventions and UTM structures. This heterogeneity gives you the accurate measurement of marketing effectiveness, hindering campaign optimization, budget allocation, and data-driven decision-making.

Addressing this challenge necessitates the implementation of a marketing analytics platform. Platforms such as Improvado act as a unifying force, collecting the campaign data from various programmatic platforms. For instance, Improvado seamlessly integrates with many other major programmatic platforms such as MediaMath, AdRoll, and Criteo, providing proper performance data, fostering coherence and actionable insights.

Moreover, Improvado’s UTM quality dashboard offers visibility into the actual ad spend attribution, pinpointing campaigns marked by improper or incomplete UTM tags. This ensures accountability, transparency, and efficient tracking of the marketing budget’s effectiveness.

Difficulties Pulling Data from Numerous Ad Accounts

Marketers often gets busy with some complex task of managing programmatic campaigns across diverse ad accounts and platforms, each with its unique data format and API. 

Manual data extraction from multiple ad accounts consumes more time, leading to delays in data processing, reporting, and the identification of crucial trends.

Here, marketing analytics platforms like Improvado emerge as indispensable allies. Whether for large marketing agencies handling number clients data or global brands orchestrating programmatic campaigns across diverse regions, Improvado streamline the data collection process, liberating marketers to focus on launching efficient campaigns.

Lack of Cross-Channel Performance Visibility

One of the programmatic advertising platforms’ shortcomings is the inability to analyze both organic and paid performance within a unified view. 

Native analytics tools within platforms typically get the data effectively from other channels, which indirectly becomes a challenge to marketers to manually aggregate data for a comprehensive understanding of the customer journey.

It is always advisable and recommended to implement marketing analytics platforms like Improvado, designed to automate data collection across channels and furnish ready-made dashboard templates for cross-channel analysis. 

This not only saves the marketers valuable time but also ensures that decision-making processes are grounded in complete and accurate data, unfettered by the limitations of manual aggregation.

Top Programmatic Advertising Platforms by Category

Programmatic advertising is divided into four main categories of advertising: Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs), Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs), Ad Exchanges, and Data Management Platforms (DMPs). Let’s know about each of these platforms one by one. 

Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs)

Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP

Overview: Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP is the only omnichannel programmatic DSP which supportas connected TV, video, display, native, audio, and search campaigns. Positioned as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Ad Tech, Adobe comes with many features such as inventory management, personalized marketing, and search management.

• User Interface: Intuitive, designed for enterprise clients.
• Data Integration: Integrates with Adobe suite and other third-party tools.
• Audience Targeting: Advanced targeting using Adobe Audience Manager.
• AI & Machine Learning: Adobe Sensei for optimization & automation.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, video, audio, native, CTV, and more.
• Pricing Model: Custom, based on ad spend and modules used.
• Customer Support: Dedicated support & training resources.
• Analytics & Reporting: Comprehensive with real-time insights.

Pricing: Custom. The cost depends on factors like company size, requirements, and the number of tools purchased.

Supported Ad Inventory: Display, video, audio, mobile apps, Digital out of Home (DOOH), TV, native, and social.

Audience Targeting: it Offers advanced audience targeting options based on the device type, location, browser, and more.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures: Implements page screening and pre-bid filtering for detecting faulty inventory, fraud, suboptimal viewability, and brand violations.

MediaMath

As Per the detailed observation and Research Conducted By Sujit Shukla, MediaMath is one of the earliest programmatic advertising platforms, launched in 2007 partnering with more than 3,500 advertisers for omnichannel campaigns. 

The SOURCE ecosystem emphasizes supply-path optimization and algorithmic decision-making, earning MediaMath the world wide recognition in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Ad Tech.

• User Interface: It comes with a clean user interface offering advanced features. 
• Data Integration: Robust integration with popular ad exchanges & DMPs.
• Audience Targeting: Precision targeting with proprietary Brain algorithm.
• AI & Machine Learning: it has Predictive algorithms for optimized bidding.
• Ad Formats Supported: Mediamath offers Multiple ads formats like video, mobile, and native.
• Pricing Model: pricing often based on custom and the features required. 
• Customer Support: 24/7 support, training, and consultation.
• Analytics & Reporting: Real-time analytics and actionable insights.

Pricing: Custom. Cost is mainly determined by factors like ad spend and required features.

Supported Ad Inventory: Connected TV, display, mobile, video, audio, native, and DOOH.

Audience Targeting: Diverse targeting options are also available encompassing audience segment, contextual, first-party data, site list, location, daypart, technology, video, and audio.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures: Utilizes the SOURCE ecosystem for pre-bid IVT protection and onboarding tools.

AdRoll

AdRoll is mainly known for its simplicity and quality ad templates, helping brands in expanding their reach through video, social ads, display, native, and email. Positioned as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Ad Tech, AdRoll helps to store a large amount of data for targeted ad delivery.

• User Interface: AdRoll comes with user friendly design.
• Data Integration: In AdRoll you can easily connect with other major eCommerce platforms.
• Audience Targeting: It helps in retargeting and also helps to focus with dynamic creative.
• AI & Machine Learning: AI-driven product recommendations.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, social, email, and video.
• Pricing Model: Performance-based and flat-rate plans.
• Customer Support: Email, chat, and phone support.
• Analytics & Reporting: Transparent cross-channel reporting.

Pricing: AdRoll Offers a free package for starters and custom pricing for enterprises.

Supported Ad Inventory: You will get access to various formats of ads like Video, social ads, display, native, and email.

Audience Targeting: Encompasses contextual, lookalike, demographic, interest, and CRM targeting.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures: AdROLL has got a Trust and Safety Team for automatic and manual filtering of invalid traffic.

Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs)

PubMatic

PubMatic helps both media buyers and publishers, by offering tools for header bidding, RTB advertising, Private Marketplaces (PMP), and ad quality. It has a user-friendly interface and its ease-of-use for publishers to connect with data partners to optimize monetization.

• User Interface: Modern, user-friendly UI.
• Data Integration: it has a Wide range of data partners.
• Audience Targeting: PubMatic has some Advanced targeting capabilities.
• AI & Machine Learning: PubMatic comes with Real-time optimization algorithms.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, video, mobile, native, CTV.
• Pricing Model: Custom, often based on ad spend and features.
• Customer Support: it has 24/7 support & dedicated account managers.
• Analytics & Reporting: In-depth reporting & real-time analytics.

Supported Ad Inventory: CTV, OTT, display, video, addressable, mobile, native, and more.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures for Publishers: Implements real-time scanning and strategic partnerships for safeguarding publishers’ audiences across formats and channels.

Google Ad Manager

Google Ad Manager, leading the chart with 51% of market share, remains the most popular SSP among publishers. It also offers tools for large publishers with substantial direct sales, Google supports safety standards and protocols to ensure ad suitability and combat invalid activity.

Supported Ad Inventory: Video, mobile, display, and native.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures for Publishers: Supports IAB ads.txt standard, SafeFrame, and of course HTTPS for protection against unsuitable ads and invalid activity.

• User Interface: The user interface of Google Ads Manager is very. Comprehensive, and is also integrated with Google ecosystem.
• Data Integration: Google ads comes with Extensive integration with Google services & third-party tools.
• Audience Targeting: Google ads helps in Precision targeting within Google ecosystem.
• AI & Machine Learning: Google ads Manager has an Advanced AI for forecasting & optimization.
• Ad Formats Supported: Video, mobile, display, and native.
• Pricing Model: The pricing Model of Google ads varies with features & scale.
• Customer Support: Extensive documentation, community forums, and direct support.
• Analytics & Reporting: Comprehensive, integrated with Google Analytics.

Criteo

Criteo focuses mainly on retail media services, which indirectly helps publishers to monetize their site content through first-party data and audience leveraging. Unlike Google Ad Manager, Criteo caters to publishers with low traffic numbers and emphasizes retargeting.

Supported Ad Inventory: Criteo supports Social media ads, video ads , display ads, web, and mobile ads.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures for Publishers: Criteo has an advanced image recognition technology to recognize unsafe content from publishers’ digital properties.

• User Interface: Intuitive, tailored for remarketing.
• Data Integration: It get blend with major eCommerce platforms and DMPs.
• Audience Targeting: It has a Dynamic retargeting with user-centric focus.
• AI & Machine Learning: Criteo supports AI-driven product recommendations & bidding.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, native, mobile, video.
• Pricing Model: CPC-based and performance-driven pricing.
• Customer Support: Dedicated account strategists & support.
• Analytics & Reporting: Transparent performance dashboards & reports.

Ad Exchanges

Xandr

Formerly known as AppNexus, Xandr is the leading programmatic advertising platform, offering a full stack of services, including a DSP, SSP, and an Ad Exchange. It comes with features like a header bidding wrapper, Xandr tracks over 11.4 billion ad impressions daily.

Supported Ad Inventory: Video, banner, audio, native, and more.

• User Interface: Xandr has an Comprehensive, data-driven UI.
• Data Integration: Rich partner ecosystem, with AT&T data.
• Audience Targeting: Advanced, with AT&T data integration.
• AI & Machine Learning: Xandr helps in Advanced optimization & prediction.
• Ad Formats Supported: Xandr gives the benefits of various Ad formats like Display, video, mobile, native, CTV.
• Pricing Model: Custom, based on features & volume.
• Customer Support: Dedicated account support & resources.
• Analytics & Reporting: Detailed insights & analytics dashboard.

SmartyAds

SmartyAds is a white-label ad exchange platform, with over 25,000 publishers and 2 billion impressions daily. As a full-stack programmatic ad tech platform, SmartyAds offers the best security and anti-fraud features, making the marketplace safer for publishers and advertisers.

Supported Ad Inventory: Video, banner, audio, native, push, pop, and more.

• User Interface: Intuitive, user-centric design.
• Data Integration: Smartyads has an Extensive third-party integrations.
• Audience Targeting: Smartyads has an Diverse targeting options.
• AI & Machine Learning: Smart optimization & bidding.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, video, mobile, native, audio, CTV.
• Pricing Model: In Smarty Ads pricing might vary based on services & features.
• Customer Support: It offers 24/7 support, with personalized assistance.
• Analytics & Reporting: Comprehensive performance reports.

PubMatic (Ad Exchange)

Overview: As an ad exchange, PubMatic maintains its leadership, facilitating over 171 billion ad daily impressions. With a focus on ease-of-use, DMP integrations, and open-source header bidding, PubMatic serves both publishers and advertisers.

Anti-fraud/Safety Measures: PubMatic has real-time scanning and strategic partnerships for safeguarding audiences across ad formats and channels.

• User Interface: Modern, user-friendly UI.
• Data Integration: Wide range of data partners.
• Audience Targeting: Advanced targeting capabilities.
• AI & Machine Learning: Real-time optimization algorithms.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, video, mobile, native, CTV.
• Pricing Model: Custom, often based on ad spend and features.
• Customer Support: 24/7 support & dedicated account managers.
• Analytics & Reporting: In-depth reporting & real-time analytics.

Data Management Platforms (DMPs)

Audience Studio by Salesforce

Overview: Salesforce’s Audience Studio, formerly Salesforce DMP, integrates seamlessly with Salesforce CRM, helping advertisers to capture and segment the effective data. 

With predictive intelligence and real-time activation, it also offers a robust framework for consistent performance and to maintain a healthy relation with customers.

• User Interface: Intuitive, tailored for Salesforce users.
• Data Integration: Deep Salesforce integration, third-party data sources.
• Audience Segmentation: Advanced, with real-time data activation.
• AI & Machine Learning: Predictive intelligence & data modeling.
• Ad Formats Supported: Supports diverse customer data profiles.
• Data Collection: Real-time data collection & activation.
• Pricing Model: Custom, based on features & volume.
• Customer Support: Comprehensive Salesforce support & training.
• Analytics & Reporting: Real-time data insights & Salesforce reports.

Lotame

Lotame is one of the Leading DMP which provides services such as audience management, data marketplace, and identity resolution. And also gives access to first-party data and a data marketplace for expansion, Lotame helps you to know your user base and helps you to analyze their data effectively. 

• User Interface: Lotame is User-friendly and also comes with modern design.
• Data Integration: it has Extensive data partner integrations.
• Audience Segmentation: it helps in creating a Flexible audience & segmentation.
• AI & Machine Learning: AI-driven insights & audience modeling.
• Ad Formats Supported: Cross-device, multiple digital touchpoints.
• Data Collection: Real-time data gathering & activation.
• Pricing Model: Lotame has a pricing which can be customized based on your data needs.
• Customer Support: Dedicated account management & support.
• Analytics & Reporting: In-depth audience analytics & reporting.

The Trade Desk

Alongside with its DSP services, The Trade Desk offers a DMP effectively helps advertisers and publishers to collect, manage, and activate data With features like lookalike modeling and a data marketplace, it supports comprehensive audience insights and analytics.

Moving Forward: Automating Programmatic Analytics

Programmatic advertising generates substantial data, making effective analytics crucial for understanding campaign performance and optimizing marketing strategies. A robust marketing analytics platform is essential to collect data, reporting, and analysis. Here’s a 3-step guide on automating programmatic analytics

• User Interface: Trade Desk comes Sleek and efficient design.
• Data Integration: Trade Desk has Multiple data partners & exchanges.
• Audience Segmentation: It has a Granular based audience who are mainly focused in targeting.
• AI & Machine Learning: AI-powered bidding & optimization.
• Ad Formats Supported: Display, video, audio, mobile, native, CTV.
• Data Collection: Trade Desk gives you Real-time bidding & data processing.
• Pricing Model: Custom, based on ad spend and features.
• Customer Support: It has 24/7 support & dedicated resources.
• Analytics & Reporting: Trade Desk provides you with Detailed campaign performance & analytics.

Choose a Comprehensive Marketing Analytics Platform

Look for a platform which comes with various programmatic platforms, ensuring seamless data collection.

Choose platforms that offer customizable dashboards and provide you with real-time reporting to gain immediate insights.

Utilize Marketing Analytics to Address Programmatic Challenges

Overcome inconsistent taxonomy by using platforms that standardizes and consolidates campaign data from multiple programmatic platforms, not only that it also also helps you to Tackle difficulties in data from numerous ad accounts by leveraging a marketing analytics platform that automates data collection across channels.

Enhance Cross-Channel Performance Visibility

Choose a marketing analytics platform that provides ready-made dashboard templates for cross-channel analysis.

Do Ensure that the platform supports automated data collection and aggregation across organic and paid channels.

As per the recent report made by Sujit Shukla, investing in a comprehensive marketing analytics platform, businesses can save time, streamline processes, and gain deeper insights into the performance of their programmatic advertising campaigns. 

Platforms like Improvado, with their ability to integrate with various programmatic platforms, offer a solution to the challenges posed by programmatic advertising, ensuring marketers can make data-driven decisions and optimize their campaigns effectively.

Conclusion

Selecting the best programmatic advertising platform requires a complete understanding of your business objectives, target audience, and regional considerations. 

Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP, MediaMath, and AdRoll are noteworthy choices, each comes with unique features. 

The effectiveness of advertising platforms can vary, and staying informed about industry trends is crucial for making informed decisions.

For advertising in India, Google Ad Manager stands out with its extensive integration and support for various ad formats. However, market research specific to the region is essential to tailor your strategy effectively.

The largest digital advertisers globally include tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Facebook, while the top 5 advertisers span industries such as consumer goods, e-commerce, beauty, and technology.

In conclusion, regularly reassessing the landscape, staying updated on industry trends, and aligning platform choices with your specific business needs are key to a successful programmatic advertising strategy.

For more in-depth insights into digital advertising and marketing strategies, explore our blog at sujitshukla.com and stay ahead in the competitive world of online business.

FAQs – Best Programmatic Advertising Platforms.