Glossary entry
What is Programmatic Advertising?
Programmatic advertising automates the buying and selling of digital ad inventory through real-time auctions. Instead of manual insertion orders, algorithms bid for individual impressions in milliseconds, optimizing audience match, placement quality, and price for every single user.
How programmatic works
A user loads a page. The publisher sends an impression to an SSP. The SSP runs a real-time auction across multiple DSPs. DSPs bid on behalf of advertisers based on user data, context, and goals. Highest bid wins. The whole exchange completes in under 100 milliseconds.
Programmatic channels
Display, video, CTV, audio, native, digital out of home, and even some print and TV inventory now buy programmatically. CTV is the fastest-growing slice.
Open vs. private marketplaces
Open exchange: any DSP bids on any inventory at scale. Private Marketplace (PMP): invite-only with negotiated floor prices and audience guarantees. Programmatic Guaranteed: fixed price, fixed inventory, programmatic delivery.
How Unled Network helps
For programmatic at scale we operate DV360 as our primary DSP. Managed Campaigns includes programmatic strategy, PMP negotiations, and performance reporting.
Related Unled Network services
Frequently asked
Do I need a DSP for programmatic?
Yes. The DSP is the buying interface to programmatic exchanges.
Programmatic vs. Google Ads Display?
Display in Google Ads is a subset of programmatic. Real programmatic is broader (more inventory) and more flexible (more bid logic).
How much do I need to spend?
$5K/month gets meaningful results on a major DSP. 5K+ unlocks PMP deals and premium inventory.
Is CTV considered programmatic?
Yes, the majority of CTV ad spend is now programmatically purchased.