The demand for transparency between marketers, publishers, and brands has increased, especially over the past year. Marketers are being warned toward caution when shopping fora DSP (or those companies which claim that initialism). Putting prospective companies under granular scrutiny is the way to avoid doing business with a fake. According to MarTech Today, there are a few telltale signs to look for before signing with a company claiming to exist and operate under a DSP banner.
First, make sure they have a self-serve user interface. If they don’t have a UI, then you are probably not dealing with a true DSP. Without a UI, you can’t log in and check your campaign’s performance numbers. You would be forced to rely on reports given by someone, possibly a manager,within the company. Even if there is a UI, a fake DSP will convey very shallow reports.
Next, find out if a prospective DSP company has its own API. A real DSP does not piggyback on another DSP’s technology. Request API documentation from them. If they can’t provide this, you are likely dealing with a fake.
Is the DSP company transparent about their API, UI, data reporting, and similar aspects of their company’s services? A fake will not likely be open with this kind of viable information, mainly because they are an intermediary and not an exclusive provider. A true DSP will be able to provide evidence, showing they operate with these technologies.
Finally, a legitimate DSP will also be very transparent about their fees. Real DSPs will be very open about their platform fees or other payouts that marketers need to know about. Also, a real DSP will have a platform contract of some kind. A fake will ask marketers to sign some kind of purchase order for media.
