Supply Chain
Part of Understanding the advertising technology supply chain
Following an ad request from publisher to advertiser
Trace a programmatic ad request from a publisher’s placement to eligible buyers and identify where delivery can stop before an impression.
An ad request describes an opportunity to show an ad. In a programmatic web route, a seller may send information about that opportunity to eligible buyers.
A buyer can bid, decline or fail to respond. A later decision determines whether a proposed ad fills the publisher’s placement, and delivery can still fail. A request is not a recorded impression.
The sequence below follows one illustrative web-display placement. Call order and available records depend on the publisher’s integration and its partners.
Illustrative ad request route: publisher to advertiser and back
- Publisher configures placementThe publisher sets up the placement, booked campaigns and routes to outside demand.
- Direct campaign may be eligibleA publisher-side system may have a direct campaign eligible to fill the placement; its configuration determines whether it also seeks programmatic bids.
- Header bidding may gather bidsIn a header-bidding setup, some bids can be gathered before the publisher ad server is called.
- Selling platform receives requestThe selling platform receives placement information and applicable requirements.
- Selling platform validates and chooses demand partnersIt can validate the request and choose eligible demand partners; not every DSP receives every request.
- DSP evaluates the requestThe DSP checks campaigns it can buy for and may return a bid, return a no-bid response, encounter an error or miss the deadline.
- Seller assesses bidsThe selling platform assesses eligible bids and may pass a preferred result upstream. Further comparisons can follow.
- Publisher-side final decisionA final decision maker may select that result, a different programmatic ad or a booked campaign.
- Creative delivery and renderingIf selected, the creative must still be delivered and rendered; the reader may leave the page or a technical issue may stop delivery.
- Event recordingParticipants record events under their own applicable rules, so reports may count requests, bids, seller wins, final selections, rendered ads or billable events differently.
Before a buyer sees the request
The publisher configures the placement, booked campaigns and routes to outside demand. When the placement becomes available, a publisher-side system may have a direct campaign eligible to fill it. Its configuration determines whether and how it also seeks programmatic bids.
In a header-bidding setup, some bids can be gathered before the publisher ad server is called. Confirm the site’s actual call order before diagnosing a delay.
From selling platform to buyer
If the opportunity enters a programmatic route, a selling platform receives information about the placement and applicable requirements. It can validate the request and choose eligible demand partners. Not every DSP receives every request.
Information sent to a buyer depends on the request and the integration. A particular data point may not be present in every request.
A DSP evaluates the request against campaigns it can buy for. It may return a bid, return a no-bid response, encounter an error or miss the deadline.
A bid can contain a price and proposed ad information, but it still has to pass the seller’s technical and commercial checks.
Back to the publisher
The selling platform assesses eligible bids and may pass a preferred result upstream. Further comparisons can follow.
A publisher-side final decision maker may select that result, a different programmatic ad or a booked campaign. Winning an SSP auction does not guarantee that the ad fills the placement.
If selected, the creative must still be delivered and rendered. The reader may leave the page, or a technical issue may stop delivery.
Participants record events under their own applicable rules. When reports differ, establish whether each counts requests, bids, seller wins, final selections, rendered ads or billable events.
Trace a missing impression
Work back from the last event you can confirm:
- No buyer request:check whether the placement entered the selling route and whether the seller sent it to that buyer.
- Request but no accepted bid:separate a DSP no-bid or timeout from rejection of a returned bid.
- Accepted seller bid but no publisher win:examine the later selection and competing demand.
- Publisher selection but no recorded impression:examine creative delivery and each system’s counting rule.
Keep the placement, reporting period and any identifiers partners expose. Not every partner’s logs show every stage, so available records may not provide a complete trace. This method investigates one route; it does not claim every platform exposes every stage.
Trace a missing impression: check by last confirmed event
- No buyer requestCheck whether the placement entered the selling route and whether the seller sent it to that buyer.
- Request but no accepted bidSeparate a DSP no-bid or timeout from rejection of a returned bid.
- Accepted seller bid but no publisher winExamine the later selection and competing demand.
- Publisher selection but no recorded impressionExamine creative delivery and each system's counting rule.
- Keep contextKeep the placement, reporting period and any identifiers partners expose.
