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Why Is SPO So Popular Lately?

Publishers
1
minutes
Technical Level
November 18, 2023
1
minutes
November 6, 2019
Technical Level
Curt Larson
Chief Product Officer
There has been an increased focus on this lately, but why? There are two main drivers.  

First, the proliferation of header bidding means that most impressions are available via multiple supply paths for each impression, whereas in the past most impressions were only available via one path.  With a diversity of paths by which to buy each impression, buyers have the option to control which path they buy through.

The other change driving increased interest in SPO is the suite of new tools available that give more visibility into the ecosystem.  First, ads.txt made clear which paths publishers authorized to sell their inventory.  More recently, sellers.json makes it clear who is actually getting paid when you buy an impression on an exchange (though only the “first hop” - ie who the exchange pays directly).  Finally, to get past that first-hop limitation, the new RTB supply chain object gives buyers visibility into the entire supply chain for an impression.

Taken together, header bidding, ads.txt, sellers.json, and supply chain object give buyers both the reason and the tools to implement SPO policies.

To learn about the best practices for getting started with SPO, read on to our next article.

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There has been an increased focus on this lately, but why? There are two main drivers.  

First, the proliferation of header bidding means that most impressions are available via multiple supply paths for each impression, whereas in the past most impressions were only available via one path.  With a diversity of paths by which to buy each impression, buyers have the option to control which path they buy through.

The other change driving increased interest in SPO is the suite of new tools available that give more visibility into the ecosystem.  First, ads.txt made clear which paths publishers authorized to sell their inventory.  More recently, sellers.json makes it clear who is actually getting paid when you buy an impression on an exchange (though only the “first hop” - ie who the exchange pays directly).  Finally, to get past that first-hop limitation, the new RTB supply chain object gives buyers visibility into the entire supply chain for an impression.

Taken together, header bidding, ads.txt, sellers.json, and supply chain object give buyers both the reason and the tools to implement SPO policies.

To learn about the best practices for getting started with SPO, read on to our next article.

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About Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech—

Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech is a short 3-minute podcast exploring the news in the digital advertising industry. Ad tech is a fast-growing industry with many updates happening daily. As it can be hard for most to keep up with the latest news, the Sharethrough team wanted to create an audio series compiling notable mentions each week.

There has been an increased focus on this lately, but why? There are two main drivers.  

First, the proliferation of header bidding means that most impressions are available via multiple supply paths for each impression, whereas in the past most impressions were only available via one path.  With a diversity of paths by which to buy each impression, buyers have the option to control which path they buy through.

The other change driving increased interest in SPO is the suite of new tools available that give more visibility into the ecosystem.  First, ads.txt made clear which paths publishers authorized to sell their inventory.  More recently, sellers.json makes it clear who is actually getting paid when you buy an impression on an exchange (though only the “first hop” - ie who the exchange pays directly).  Finally, to get past that first-hop limitation, the new RTB supply chain object gives buyers visibility into the entire supply chain for an impression.

Taken together, header bidding, ads.txt, sellers.json, and supply chain object give buyers both the reason and the tools to implement SPO policies.

To learn about the best practices for getting started with SPO, read on to our next article.

About Calibrate—

Founded in 2015, Calibrate is a yearly conference for new engineering managers hosted by seasoned engineering managers. The experience level of the speakers ranges from newcomers all the way through senior engineering leaders with over twenty years of experience in the field. Each speaker is greatly concerned about the craft of engineering management. Organized and hosted by Sharethrough, it was conducted yearly in September, from 2015-2019 in San Francisco, California.

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Curt Larson
Chief Product Officer

About the Author

Curt Larson has over 20 years of career experience in technology and product management. After spending 5 years at Deloitte Consulting managing large-scale systems implementation projects, he led the rollout of new mobile handsets and services for Vodafone Japan. He then moved to Silicon Valley and led several product management teams, including as a founding employee at Jibe mobile (now Google), growing and taking RingCentral public, and 10 years at Sharethrough, where he led the creation of the first native exchange and guided Sharethrough to a programmatic business model. He has co-authored numerous programmatic specs with the IAB and is active in the industry. He has experience leading product, UX, analytics, business development, operations, marketing, publisher sales and engineering. He sits on the board of the directors of the IAB Tech Lab, helping guide their work to support the industry through technology standards and solutions.

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