Best Demand Side Platform (DSP)

How Many Demand Side Platform (DSP) Products Does G2 Track?

Total Products under this Category: 172

Category Stats (Sep 2026)

  • Average Rating: 4.25/5 The average rating of products in this category, based on all submitted ratings
  • Top Trending Product: illumin (+0.12%) - Among all products in this category, illumin recorded the largest rating increase compared to last month

Last updated: September 01, 2026

How Does G2 Rank Demand Side Platform (DSP) Products?

Why You Can Trust G2's Software Rankings:

  • 30 Analysts and Data Experts
  • 10,000+ Authentic Reviews
  • 172+ Products
  • Unbiased Rankings

G2's software rankings are built on verified user reviews, rigorous moderation, and a consistent research methodology maintained by a team of analysts and data experts. Each product is measured using the same transparent criteria, with no paid placement or vendor influence. While reviews reflect real user experiences, which can be subjective, they offer valuable insight into how software performs in the hands of professionals. Together, these inputs power the G2 Score, a standardized way to compare tools within every category.

G2 Grid® for Demand Side Platform (DSP)

G2 Grid® for Demand Side Platform (DSP) plotting products by satisfaction and market presence

Highlighted products: StackAdapt, The Trade Desk, Quantcast Platform, illumin, Simpli.fi, Viant Technology, AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks), and NT Technology.

Underlying data: [Grid® JSON](https://www.g2.com/categories/demand-side-platform-dsp/grids.json?focus%5B%5D=stackadapt&focus%5B%5D=the-trade-desk&focus%5B%5D=quantcast-platform&focus%5B%5D=illumin-illumin&focus%5B%5D=simpli-fi&focus%5B%5D=viant-technology-llc-viant-technology&focus%5B%5D=adroll-abm-formerly-rollworks&focus%5B%5D=nt-technology)

StackAdapt

StackAdapt is the leading technology company that empowers marketers to reach, engage, and convert audiences with precision. With 465 billion automated optimizations per second, the AI-powered StackAdapt Marketing Platform seamlessly connects brand and performance marketing to drive measurable results across the entire customer journey. The most forward-thinking marketers choose StackAdapt to orchestrate high-impact campaigns across programmatic advertising and marketing channels. Learn more about StackAdapt here: www.stackadapt.com. And if you're looking for a change, we'd love to have you on our team—check out our open roles by visiting: www.stackadapt.com/careers. StackAdapt is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. We have teams and support across North America, EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.

Average Rating: 4.7/5.0

Total Reviews: 892

How Do G2 Users Rate StackAdapt?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.8/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 9.4/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 9.3/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind StackAdapt?

  • Seller: StackAdapt
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2014
  • HQ Location: Ontario
  • Twitter: @StackAdapt
    2,579 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    1,816 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Digital Marketing Manager, Digital Strategist
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Financial Services
  • Company Size: 62% Small, 32% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About StackAdapt?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users highlight the ease of use of StackAdapt, appreciating its user-friendly interface and efficient campaign setup.
  • Users praise StackAdapt for its superior customer support, receiving proactive assistance that enhances their advertising strategies.
  • Users commend StackAdapt's exceptionally helpful team for providing strategic insights and fast support, enhancing campaign management.
  • Users value StackAdapt for its excellent customer service and helpful support team, enhancing their advertising experience significantly.
  • Users value the user-friendly interface and robust features of StackAdapt for managing ad campaigns effectively.
Cons
  • Users note reporting limitations in StackAdapt, finding it complex and time-consuming to organize necessary data.
  • Users find reporting issues complicate data organization and rely on support for custom pulls, hindering efficiency.
  • Users find the budget management process complicated with transparency issues and restrictions on credit card billing limits.
  • Users find limited reporting capabilities make data organization more complex and time-consuming than expected.
  • Users find the reporting functionality complex, often needing custom support pulls to access organized data efficiently.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of StackAdapt?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About StackAdapt?

The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk's self-service, cloud-based platform enables ad buyers to create, manage, optimize and measure advertising campaigns across ad formats and devices. Integrations with hundreds of global data, inventory, and publisher partners ensure maximum reach and decisioning capabilities, and enterprise APIs enable custom development on top of the platform. The Trade Desk's powerful technology offers advertisers unparalleled audience scale and reach, evaluating more than 13 million impressions and quadrillions of permutations across the open internet every single second. The platform's goals-based buying allows advertisers to set multiple KPIs, with transparency into performance and the ability to optimize campaigns in-flight. Advertisers on the platform can also leverage a robust data marketplace to inform and measure their ad campaigns against online and offline business results. Recognized for its innovation and agility, The Trade Desk is a leader in Connected TV and Retail Media, as well as emerging programmatic channels like audio, digital-out-of-home, and gaming. To help marketers understand the rapidly evolving and complex world of data-driven advertising, The Trade Desk also offers Edge Academy certification courses. Founded in 2009 in Ventura, California, The Trade Desk (Nasdaq: TTD) has more than 3,000 employees in dozens of offices across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Clients include the biggest brands and largest advertising agencies in the world. The company's client retention rate has been above 95% for the past nine years, due to outstanding client service and superior technology.

Average Rating: 4.4/5.0

Total Reviews: 178

How Do G2 Users Rate The Trade Desk?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 8.5/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind The Trade Desk?

  • Seller: The Trade Desk
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2009
  • HQ Location: Ventura, CA
  • Twitter: @TheTradeDesk
    20,680 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    4,793 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Account Manager
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Computer Software
  • Company Size: 43% Medium, 30% Small

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About The Trade Desk?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users value The Trade Desk's advanced targeting options and transparency, enhancing campaign performance and efficiency.
  • Users find The Trade Desk remarkably easy to use, allowing for quick and intuitive campaign setup and management.
  • Users value the advanced audience targeting of The Trade Desk, enhancing their campaigns with diverse and complex options.
  • Users appreciate The Trade Desk's advanced targeting options, enabling precise audience engagement and optimized campaign performance.
  • Users appreciate the effective campaign management features of The Trade Desk, enabling optimized and user-friendly digital ad campaigns.
Cons
  • Users face a steep learning curve with The Trade Desk, particularly challenging for newcomers to navigate effectively.
  • Users find the expensive minimum spend and complexity a barrier for smaller campaigns and new team members.
  • Users often face a steep learning curve with The Trade Desk, making it challenging for new users to adapt.
  • Users note the complex setup and steep learning curve that hinder accessibility for smaller campaigns and new users.
  • Users find the difficult setup of The Trade Desk challenging, particularly for new users and smaller teams.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of The Trade Desk?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About The Trade Desk?

Quantcast Platform

Quantcast is the AI-powered ad platform built for performance marketers. Leveraging nearly 20 years of expertise, our mission is to radically simplify open internet advertising. We harness AI and machine learning to deliver superior audience intelligence and drive exceptional campaign performance. With real-time audience intelligence and end-to-end omnichannel optimizations, Quantcast helps advertisers and agencies of all sizes understand audiences deeply, act faster, and turn ad spend into measurable growth. www.quantcast.com

Average Rating: 4.2/5.0

Total Reviews: 189

How Do G2 Users Rate Quantcast Platform?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 7.5/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Quantcast Platform?

  • Seller: Quantcast
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2006
  • HQ Location: San Francisco, CA
  • Twitter: @Quantcast
    10,210 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    536 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Programmatic Manager
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Retail
  • Company Size: 39% Medium, 34% Small

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Quantcast Platform?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users appreciate the ease of use of Quantcast Platform, simplifying report creation and campaign management.
  • Users value the intuitive user interface and effective audience insights provided by the Quantcast Platform.
  • Users value the user-friendly platform for campaign management, enabling easy report creation and effective optimization.
  • Users appreciate the intuitive analytics of the Quantcast Platform, enabling efficient insights and enhanced decision-making.
  • Users appreciate the advanced audience targeting of Quantcast Platform, enhancing their campaign effectiveness and insights.
Cons
  • Users find the limited features of the Quantcast platform frustrating, particularly regarding campaign duplication and bulk editing.
  • Users find the missing features in Quantcast Platform frustrating, particularly due to absence of bulk editing options.
  • Users struggle with poor reporting due to limited API connections and the lack of automated summary data for conversions.
  • Users face issues with reporting capabilities, as automated reports often fail and API connections are lacking.
  • Users are frustrated with the reporting limitations of Quantcast Platform, facing delays and incomplete conversion data.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Quantcast Platform?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About Quantcast Platform?

illumin

illumin is evolving the digital advertising landscape by empowering marketers to achieve transformative results through its customer-centric approach. Featuring a unified canvas built around the open web, illumin lets brands and agencies seamlessly plan, build, and execute campaigns across the entire marketing funnel, connecting programmatic channels, email, and social media within a single platform. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, illumin serves clients across North America, Latin America, and Europe. For more information, visit illumin.com.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 155

How Do G2 Users Rate illumin?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind illumin?

  • Seller: illumin
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2009
  • HQ Location: Toronto, Canada
  • Twitter: @AcuityAds
    174 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    235 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Automotive
  • Company Size: 57% Small, 28% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About illumin?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users find Illumin's platform to be incredibly user-friendly, making it easy to manage campaigns independently and effectively.
  • Users appreciate the precision and efficiency of illumin for optimizing campaigns and facilitating real-time analysis.
  • Users highlight the precision and efficiency of illumin's campaign management, enhancing their marketing strategies effectively.
  • Users commend the exceptional customer support from illumin, highlighting their proactive and responsive assistance throughout the partnership.
  • Users value the team's helpfulness, as support is consistently excellent throughout all stages of their experience.
Cons
  • Users experience poor reporting flexibility, often needing to export data for more detailed analysis and insights.
  • Users find the steep learning curve challenging, making it hard to feel comfortable with illumin quickly.
  • Users express concerns over limited reporting features, finding them hard to digest and somewhat fragmented.
  • Users find reporting limitations in Illumin, especially lacking flexibility and necessary filters for deeper analysis.
  • Users find reporting limitations frustrating, as they desire more customization and straightforward data access within Illumin.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of illumin?

Simpli.fi

Simpli.fi is the real-world media platform built for the age of immediacy. By unifying digital behavior and real-world movement into a single actionable signal, Simpli.fi enables over 2,000 agencies, advertisers, and media groups to target, optimize, and measure campaigns precisely where consumer decisions happen. Built on the truth that people use digital to navigate the physical world, Simpli.fi is engineered platform to connects these signals in real time—allowing brands to act on consumer intent the moment it occurs and measure the impact all the way to the door. We thrive on innovation, data-driven results, and a culture of continuous improvement to make marketing more immediate, intelligent, and connected.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 153

How Do G2 Users Rate Simpli.fi?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.7/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Simpli.fi?

  • Seller: Simpli.fi
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2010
  • HQ Location: Fort Worth, TX
  • Twitter: @simpli_fi
    1,808 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    607 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Account Manager
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Broadcast Media
  • Company Size: 56% Small, 36% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Simpli.fi?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users commend the accessible and helpful customer support of Simpli.fi, enhancing their overall experience and campaign success.
  • Users find Simpli.fi's platform incredibly easy to use, with helpful support enhancing their overall campaign management experience.
  • Users find Simpli.fi's supportive team highly accessible and helpful, enhancing their overall marketing experience significantly.
  • Users value the exceptionally helpful team of Simpli.fi, ensuring support and assistance throughout their campaigns.
  • Users value Simpli.fi's hyperlocal targeting capabilities, enhancing precision for franchise and multilocation client campaigns.
Cons
  • Users find Simpli.fi's pricing to be expensive and lacking clarity, making budgeting and planning more difficult.
  • Users struggle with the complex setup of Simpli.fi, finding the interface and onboarding process unintuitive and challenging.
  • Users dislike the extra fees and lack of pricing transparency, leading to unexpected charges and confusion.
  • Users express frustration over the lack of clarity in onboarding and pricing, impacting trust and overall experience.
  • Users struggle with the poor interface design of Simpli.fi, finding it cluttered and challenging to navigate.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Simpli.fi?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About Simpli.fi?

Viant Technology

Viant Technology (NASDAQ: DSP) is an exclusively buy-side, AI-powered advertising platform purpose-built for CTV. Viant uniquely combines proprietary content intelligence, household-level identity resolution, and person-level attention signals to connect advertisers with real customers and drive measurable outcomes across the open internet. Through its award-winning AI solutions, Viant is building the future of autonomous advertising, where AI doesn't just assist the campaign, it delivers real results. Learn more at viantinc.com.

Average Rating: 4.2/5.0

Total Reviews: 310

How Do G2 Users Rate Viant Technology?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 7.9/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Viant Technology?

  • Seller: Viant Technology LLC
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 1999
  • HQ Location: Irvine, California
  • Twitter: @viant_tech
    2,996 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    468 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Programmatic Trader
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Online Media
  • Company Size: 41% Medium, 39% Small

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Viant Technology?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users commend the quick and helpful customer support from Viant Technology, which enhances their overall experience.
  • Users find Viant Technology's platform to have exceptional ease of use, facilitating effortless campaign management and support.
  • Users commend the easy setup of Viant Technology, enabling quick campaign launches and effortless adjustments.
  • Users find Viant Technology’s platform offers setup ease, allowing quick campaign launches and adjustments with excellent support.
  • Users appreciate the quick and helpful support team at Viant Technology, enhancing their overall experience with the platform.
Cons
  • Users find the limited reporting options frustrating, making navigation and data access unnecessarily complicated.
  • Users find reporting limitations frustrating, particularly lacking KPIs and issues with exporting day-to-day data accurately.
  • Users find the complex reporting challenging, hindering their ability to easily access campaign metrics and insights.
  • Users face editing difficulties, finding bulk changes tedious and advanced features challenging to navigate effectively.
  • Users struggle with a steep learning curve in navigating Viant Technology's complex interface and advanced features.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Viant Technology?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About Viant Technology?

AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks)

AdRoll is a connected advertising platform designed to assist growth-oriented marketers in navigating the complexities of digital advertising. This software solution provides a comprehensive suite of tools that empower mid-sized businesses to transform intricate marketing challenges into clear strategies that drive customer engagement and conversion. By leveraging advanced artificial intelligence, AdRoll streamlines the advertising process, enabling users to focus on achieving their business goals. Targeted primarily at mid-sized businesses across various industries such as ecommerce, technology, financial services, and education, AdRoll caters to marketers seeking to enhance their advertising effectiveness. The platform is particularly beneficial for those looking to implement multi-channel advertising strategies, as it offers insights into audience behavior and cross-channel attribution. This functionality allows businesses to understand the customer journey better and optimize their marketing efforts accordingly. One of the standout features of AdRoll is its ability to deliver full-funnel performance. Marketers can create and manage campaigns that span multiple channels, ensuring that their messaging reaches potential customers at various touchpoints. Additionally, the platform provides valuable audience insights, helping users identify and target the right demographics effectively. For B2B teams, AdRoll's Account-Based Marketing (ABM) capabilities, previously known as RollWorks, enhance these features by enabling account-specific targeting and multi-touch campaigns, supported by real-time buyer intelligence. AdRoll's integration capabilities further distinguish it within the advertising software category. The platform seamlessly connects with various marketing tools and systems, allowing users to consolidate their advertising efforts in one place. This integration not only simplifies campaign management but also enhances data analysis, enabling marketers to make informed decisions based on comprehensive performance metrics. With nearly two decades of data backing its operations and a reputation for award-winning support, AdRoll equips marketing teams with the resources they need to advertise more intelligently, respond quickly to market changes, and achieve their objectives efficiently.

Average Rating: 4.3/5.0

Total Reviews: 652

How Do G2 Users Rate AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks)?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks)?

  • Seller: NextRoll
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2018
  • HQ Location: San Francisco, California
  • Twitter: @NextRoll_Inc
    274 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    146 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Digital Marketing Manager, Marketing Manager
  • Top Industries: Computer Software, Information Technology and Services
  • Company Size: 58% Medium, 28% Small

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks)?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users find AdRoll ABM's ease of use exceptional, aided by helpful support and smooth onboarding processes.
  • Users appreciate the precise audience targeting of AdRoll ABM, enhancing engagement through tailored content delivery.
  • Users appreciate the easy targeting methods of AdRoll ABM, enhancing their ability to effectively reach desired accounts.
  • Users value the precise targeting of AdRoll ABM, enhancing engagement and optimizing campaign performance through actionable insights.
  • Users commend the exceptional customer support from AdRoll, facilitating a smooth onboarding and successful campaign management.
Cons
  • Users find the steep learning curve of AdRoll ABM challenging, especially concerning campaign management and reporting.
  • Users express concern over missing features, such as limited native advertising options and inadequate reporting capabilities.
  • Users note the limited features of AdRoll ABM, particularly regarding filtering options and native advertising capabilities.
  • Users are frustrated with inadequate campaign tracking and lack of effective lead generation from AdRoll ABM.
  • Users find the targeting limitations of AdRoll ABM restrict their segmentation and tracking capabilities significantly.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks)?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About AdRoll ABM (Formerly RollWorks)?

NT Technology

NT Technology is an independent programmatic advertising platform that helps brands and agencies worldwide connect with audiences across Display, Mobile, Video, Social, and Search. With transparent reporting, custom targeting, and creative capabilities powered by NT Lab — our in-house studio — you get full control over performance. From interactive rich media to AI-enhanced ad formats, NT helps you reach the right audience, in the right place, with the right message. Best for: brands, agencies, and marketers looking for high-impact programmatic solutions with global reach and creative flexibility.

Average Rating: 4.8/5.0

Total Reviews: 20

How Do G2 Users Rate NT Technology?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.8/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 9.5/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.8/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind NT Technology?

  • Seller: NT Technology
  • Year Founded: 2012
  • HQ Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
  • Twitter: @nt_programmatic
    32 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    162 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising
  • Company Size: 64% Small, 36% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About NT Technology?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users value the exceptional algorithmic optimization of NT Technology, ensuring high-quality traffic and competitive market advantage.
  • Users value the algorithmic optimization of NT Technology for delivering high-quality traffic and maintaining market competitiveness.
  • Users commend the exceptional support and analytics from NT Technology, enhancing campaign performance and insights.
  • Users value the intuitive platform of NT Technology, appreciating its ease of use and exceptional support team.
  • Users value the exceptional innovation of NT Technology, enhancing stability and optimizing performance across various formats.
Cons
  • Users desire more real-time visualization features on the dashboard for improved reporting and user experience.
  • Users desire a broader library of reporting templates to enhance data visualization and reduce manual efforts.
  • Users desire a broader selection of limited templates to enhance automated reporting and streamline data visualization.
  • Users desire a wider range of automated reporting templates to enhance data visualization without manual intervention.
  • Users note the slow reporting but appreciate the team’s responsiveness and willingness to provide manual reports when needed.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of NT Technology?

Google Marketing Platform

Google's DoubleClick™ provides ad management and ad serving solutions to companies that buy, create, or sell digital advertising. The world's top marketers, publishers, ad networks, and agencies use DoubleClick platforms as the foundation for their digital marketing. With deep expertise in ad serving, media planning, search management, rich media, video, and mobile, DoubleClick platforms help customers execute digital media strategies more effectively.

Average Rating: 4.1/5.0

Total Reviews: 278

How Do G2 Users Rate Google Marketing Platform?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 7.6/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 7.2/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.4/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 7.6/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Google Marketing Platform?

  • Seller: Google
  • Year Founded: 1998
  • HQ Location: Mountain View, CA
  • Twitter: @google
    31,899,995 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    301,144 employees on LinkedIn®
  • Ownership: NASDAQ:GOOG

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Account Manager
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Internet
  • Company Size: 47% Medium, 27% Large

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Google Marketing Platform?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users value the integrated management of marketing tools within Google Marketing Platform, streamlining campaign tracking and performance analysis.
  • Users appreciate the unified campaign management of Google Marketing Platform, enabling smarter decisions and performance tracking in one place.
  • Users appreciate the ease of use of Google Marketing Platform, streamlining data and campaign management in one place.
  • Users value the efficiency of Google Marketing Platform, seamlessly integrating data, ads, and reporting for smarter decision-making.
  • Users appreciate the comprehensive performance tracking of Google Marketing Platform, enabling smarter marketing decisions through unified data.
Cons
  • Users find the complexity of the interface daunting, especially for beginners unfamiliar with marketing tools.
  • Users find the learning curve challenging, especially for beginners, making initial setup and navigation overwhelming.
  • Users find the complex setup of Google Marketing Platform challenging, particularly for those new to analytics tools.
  • Users find the difficult setup of Google Marketing Platform challenging, particularly for those new to analytics and ad tech.
  • Users find the cost of Google Marketing Platform to be high, especially for smaller businesses with limited technical support.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Google Marketing Platform?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About Google Marketing Platform?

Vistar Media

Vistar Media is the home of out-of-home – providing brands, marketers and media owners with the world’s first truly intelligent platform for buying and selling OOH. Vistar hosts the world’s most extensive digital out-of-home inventory globally, offering the scale, data and expertise that allow brands to capture a better kind of attention. With a full suite of platforms to choose from – demand-side platform, supply-side platform, ad server and Cortex CMS system – Vistar has built the world’s largest marketplace for OOH transactions. Headquartered in New York, Vistar has a presence in more than 20 countries, working with hundreds of brand marketers and media owner networks to power an OOH that’s both timeless and future-proof. DSP: Vistar’s DSP connects marketers to the largest network of ad space in DOOH. Built to power a programmatic DOOH ecosystem when Vistar first launched, today it’s used by marketers to plan campaigns that leverage hyper-contextual storytelling to capture a better kind of attention. SSP: Vistar’s SSP brings automation to physical ad space in order to make DOOH bidding and buying more efficient to marketers at scale. DOOH thrives on breadth and the ability to make a campaign part of the physical world; with Vistar, brands and organizations can focus on generating moments of serendipity and discovery that don’t just create a positive impression, but genuinely lead to action. Ad Server: The Vistar ad server integrates loop-based and programmatic campaigns so media owners choreography inventory with one smart management platform for OOH. The ad server is engineered for media owners who are looking for a single solution to automate manual tasks and increase inventory value, so more marketers can take advantage of the most human channel in advertising. Cortex: Cortex is designed as an intuitive CMS for the world of digital out-of-home. It’s a highly flexible tool for remote deployment, troubleshooting, performance alerts and app development. In an industry that is constantly innovating and improving, media owners need solutions engineered to help them provide new and seamless opportunities for marketers.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 17

How Do G2 Users Rate Vistar Media?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.2/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 9.7/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Vistar Media?

Who Uses This Product?

  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising
  • Company Size: 59% Small, 24% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Vistar Media?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users praise the exceptional customer support of Vistar Media, ensuring seamless service and quick problem resolution.
  • Users praise the ease of use of Vistar Media, highlighting its intuitive interface and strong customer support.
  • Users appreciate the extensive audience targeting capabilities of Vistar Media, enhancing marketing effectiveness through data-driven strategies.
  • Users appreciate the easy implementation of Vistar Media, noting its user-friendly interface and helpful customer support.
  • Users value the flexibility of advertising customization with Vistar Media, enhancing targeted outreach and effectiveness.
Cons
  • Users find the complexity in planning tools and reports hampers effective scheduling and optimization efforts.
  • Users experience lagging performance, particularly with the interface and delayed data updates impacting real-time optimization.
  • Users note layout issues with Vistar Media's dashboard, indicating a need for a more intuitive and responsive design.
  • Users find Vistar Media has limited creativity options, hindering their ability to efficiently manage multiple creatives.
  • Users report frustrating rebooting issues with Vistar Media, particularly with the planning tool resetting views.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Vistar Media?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About Vistar Media?

AdRoll

AdRoll is a connected advertising platform designed to assist growth-oriented marketers in navigating the complexities of digital advertising. This comprehensive solution provides users with powerful artificial intelligence capabilities, flexible campaign management tools, and seamless integrations, all aimed at converting clicks into customers. By offering a full-funnel performance approach, AdRoll empowers mid-sized businesses to streamline their marketing efforts and achieve measurable results across various channels. Targeting a diverse audience, AdRoll serves industries such as ecommerce, technology, financial services, and education. The platform is particularly beneficial for marketers who seek to enhance their advertising strategies through multi-channel advertising and audience insights. With its robust analytics and reporting features, users can gain a deeper understanding of their target demographics, enabling them to tailor their campaigns for maximum impact. This data-driven approach allows businesses to make informed decisions that drive engagement and conversion rates. One of the standout features of AdRoll is its ability to provide cross-channel attribution, which helps marketers track the effectiveness of their campaigns across different platforms. This means that users can see how their advertising efforts on social media, search engines, and display networks contribute to overall performance. Additionally, for B2B teams, AdRoll offers Account-Based Marketing (ABM) capabilities, allowing for account-specific targeting and multi-touch campaigns that cater to the unique needs of individual buyers. This level of precision ensures that marketing efforts are not only broad-reaching but also highly relevant to potential customers. AdRoll's nearly two decades of data and award-winning support further enhance its value proposition. The platform is designed to help marketing teams operate more efficiently, enabling them to advertise smarter and move faster in a competitive landscape. By consolidating various marketing functions into one platform, AdRoll allows users to manage their advertising strategies with greater ease, ultimately leading to improved outcomes and business growth. The combination of advanced technology, user-friendly tools, and comprehensive support makes AdRoll a valuable resource for marketers looking to optimize their advertising efforts and drive success.

Average Rating: 4.1/5.0

Total Reviews: 765

How Do G2 Users Rate AdRoll?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 7.7/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind AdRoll?

  • Seller: NextRoll
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2018
  • HQ Location: San Francisco, California
  • Twitter: @NextRoll_Inc
    274 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    146 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Marketing Manager, Digital Marketing Manager
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Computer Software
  • Company Size: 56% Small, 35% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About AdRoll?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users find AdRoll's platform to be easy to use, making campaign setup accessible for beginners and experts alike.
  • Users appreciate the ease of cross-channel retargeting with AdRoll, enhancing engagement and simplifying campaign management.
  • Users value the ease of campaign management with AdRoll, praising its user-friendly platform and effective integrations.
  • Users appreciate the easy setup of AdRoll, allowing quick campaign creation and efficient brand visibility.
  • Users commend the responsive customer support team, always ready to assist with resolutions and enhance user experience.
Cons
  • Users find AdRoll has limited features, especially in video integration and support for various advertising platforms.
  • Users find campaign setup confusing and navigation cluttered due to limited management tools and broad targeting options.
  • Users find the reporting limitations of AdRoll overwhelming, desiring a more streamlined and simplified overview of metrics.
  • Users find AdRoll expensive due to costs associated with frequent campaign edits and unclear reporting.
  • Users find reporting to be overly complex, making it challenging to quickly derive key insights from data.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of AdRoll?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About AdRoll?

AdLib DSP

Scale your programmatic media buying smarter, faster, and more profitably Independent agencies and marketers in growth-mode use the AdLib platform to deliver premium programmatic performance without the complexity, cost, or overhead of traditional DSPs. The AdLib platform provides the tools, data, and automation to run enterprise-quality campaigns — from CTV and Audio to Geofencing and YouTube — all under one roof, with zero trafficking headaches. We've helped independent agencies grow their client base five times over while keeping costs steady. Wellness brands have tripled their return on ad spend. Gaming apps have cut their user acquisition costs by 40%. Self-Service Buying Platform An easy to use DSP-agnostic platform where campaigns launch in minutes across every channel, screen stype, and stage of the funnel. Managed Service Buying Fully managed trafficking & optimization allows your team to focus on core business functions rather than the complexities of ad placement, bidding, and optimization. Programmatic APIs Build your own applications, workflows, and products on top of the AdLib platform to save time and make more revenue. White Labeled DSP Instantly launch your own branded programmatic offering without investing in development or specialized resources for support and campaign management. Automated Client Billing Improve cash flow and reduce the risk of nonpayment by automatically invoicing and collecting payments on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis via credit card, wire transfer, or ACH payment. Infinitely Customizable Reduce setup time with customized workflows and automated ad operations at a massive scale TEAM: Early & Long Term MediaMath & HudsonMX Employees. Programmatic marketing pioneers, engineers, and thought leaders with decades of experience New York | London | Los Angeles | San Francisco | Scottsdale | Detroit | Berlin | Bengaluru | São Paulo | Buenos Aires | Querétaro

Average Rating: 4.7/5.0

Total Reviews: 85

How Do G2 Users Rate AdLib DSP?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.7/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.9/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 9.0/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind AdLib DSP?

  • Seller: AdLib Media Group
  • Company Website:
  • Year Founded: 2016
  • HQ Location: New York, New York
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    30 employees on LinkedIn®

Who Uses This Product?

  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Online Media
  • Company Size: 85% Small, 15% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About AdLib DSP?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users praise AdLib DSP for its ease of use, highlighting the team's responsiveness and helpful support in customizations.
  • Users value the intuitive campaign management features of AdLib, facilitating effortless execution across multiple DSPs.
  • Users value the outstanding customer support from AdLib DSP, noting its attentiveness and helpful guidance for campaigns.
  • Users value the easy setup of AdLib DSP, enabling effortless management of ad campaigns for all skill levels.
  • Users commend the user-friendly features of AdLib DSP, highlighting its ease of use and flexibility in customization.
Cons
  • Users find the lack of guidance on audience segmentation challenging, especially for those new to the platform.
  • Users find the difficult usability of AdLib DSP frustrating, particularly with clunky reporting and audience building challenges.
  • Users find a lack of clarity in audience segmentation and feature visibility, complicating effective utilization of AdLib DSP.
  • Users experience upload issues with asset bulk uploads and custom audience lists, leading to challenges in functionality.
  • Users experience approval process delays for creative content, affecting their timelines and expectations with AdLib DSP.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of AdLib DSP?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About AdLib DSP?

Basis

Basis is everything you need to plan, buy, analyze and streamline your best-performing digital media campaigns. Basis is more than just streamlined media buying—Basis is a comprehensive and automated digital media platform. Using Basis means you can manage direct, programmatic, search & social through a single interface. With robust business intelligence, workflow automation, search & social integrations, and a top-rated DSP powered by artificial intelligence, it's a platform you can run your entire digital business on top of. At the core of Basis' AI capabilities is Compass, a connected intelligence layer that thinks across your entire media mix rather than any single channel in isolation. Compass translates media briefs into full omnichannel strategies in minutes, pulls in past performance data to sharpen every recommendation, and exports presentation-ready plans without the manual build—taking teams from brief to activation faster than ever before. At the heart of Basis is our award-winning, omnichannel DSP built for speed and performance so your programmatic campaigns thrive. With optimizations supported by artificial intelligence, hyper-local targeting, an expansive PMP library, and easy to implement cross-device targeting - Basis was built to make you better. An AdExchanger Awards multi-winner for best education program and best account support, our on-boarding and training curriculum enable teams to quickly improve their digital advertising knowledge and skill sets. Robust fraud and brand protection prevent wasted investments and ensure confidence in your campaign performance, while workflow automation continues to reduce manual effort across every stage of the media lifecycle.

Average Rating: 4.5/5.0

Total Reviews: 263

How Do G2 Users Rate Basis?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 9.4/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.6/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Basis?

  • Seller: Basis Technologies
  • Year Founded: 2001
  • HQ Location: Chicago, IL
  • Twitter: @basisglobaltech
    4,732 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    1,504 employees on LinkedIn®
  • Phone: 844-637-0321

Who Uses This Product?

  • Who Uses This: Digital Marketing Manager, Digital Media Planner
  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Newspapers
  • Company Size: 64% Small, 28% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Basis?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users appreciate the ease of use of Basis, enjoying its intuitive navigation and helpful support for seamless integration.
  • Users appreciate the user-friendly interface of Basis, complemented by supportive account reps and helpful integrations.
  • Users appreciate the excellent reporting metrics and dimensions, promoting a clear understanding of the marketplace inventory.
  • Users value the exceptional customer support and extensive features offered by Basis, enhancing their overall experience.
  • Users highlight the exceptional customer support and valuable product offerings of Basis, enhancing their overall experience.
Cons
  • Users find the complex user interface of Basis outdated and challenging, making report generation inconvenient.
  • Users find the product complex, noting it isn't user-friendly for everyone, making it challenging to navigate.
  • Users find the system complex and not user-friendly, making it challenging for everyone to navigate effectively.
  • Users find the complex reporting process inconvenient, along with an outdated UI affecting overall usability.
  • Users find the complex usability of Basis challenging, making it difficult for a broader audience to navigate.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Basis?

Opera Ads

Opera Ads, the advertising platform by global web innovator Opera, powers advertising with extensive reach, user-centric engagement, and dedicated global support. It fuels monetization and user engagement through a comprehensive suite of products that includes Premium Ad Solutions, offering premium placements specific to Opera browsers, a demand-side platform (DSP) and a supply-side platform (SSP). The platform allows advertisers to leverage a vast audience across various channels, all within a brand-safe environment. By prioritizing trust, Opera Ads ensures impactful and transparent advertising experiences. Learn more at http://opera.com/ads.

Average Rating: 4.0/5.0

Total Reviews: 16

How Do G2 Users Rate Opera Ads?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 8.3/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.2/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 7.5/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Opera Ads?

  • Seller: Opera
  • Year Founded: 1995
  • HQ Location: Oslo, Norway
  • Twitter: @opera
    570,990 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    2,453 employees on LinkedIn®
  • Ownership: Opera Limited (NASDAQ: OPRA)

Who Uses This Product?

  • Company Size: 63% Small, 25% Medium

What Do G2 Reviewers Say About Opera Ads?

AI-generated summary from verified user reviews

Pros
  • Users appreciate the ease of use of Opera Ads, enabling quick setup and effective results with minimal complications.
  • Users appreciate the effective audience targeting of Opera Ads, enabling straightforward campaigns with genuine engagement and results.
  • Users value the wide audience reach of Opera Ads, appreciating the ease of targeting engaged users effectively.
  • Users appreciate how easy and straightforward Opera Ads is, allowing for quick setup and effective campaign management.
  • Users appreciate the easy setup of Opera Ads, allowing for straightforward integration and effective campaign management.
Cons
  • Users find the limited reporting in Opera Ads hinders detailed insights into audience behavior and campaign performance.
  • Users find the reporting in Opera Ads lacking, desiring more detailed insights into performance and user behavior.
  • Users find inefficient targeting in Opera Ads limits optimization and affects reporting and user tracking capabilities.
  • Users find the limited features of Opera Ads restrict meaningful optimization and detailed reporting capabilities.
  • Users find the targeting options limited, hindering deeper optimization and detailed insights in their ad campaigns.

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Opera Ads?

Roku OneView (formerly Dataxu)

A single platform for marketers and content owners to reach more cord-cutters of any platform and measure performance using TV identity data from the No. 1 TV streaming platform in the US to manage to advertise. Advertisers can manage their entire campaigns – including OTT, linear TV, omnichannel, and more – all in one place, and can reach four in five homes in America with OneView Ad Platform.

Average Rating: 3.8/5.0

Total Reviews: 85

How Do G2 Users Rate Roku OneView (formerly Dataxu)?

  • Has the product been a good partner in doing business?: 8.1/10 (Category avg: 8.5/10)
  • Cross Channel Capabilities : 5.0/10 (Category avg: 8.3/10)
  • Performance and Reliability: 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.4/10)
  • Cross-Device Capabilities: 8.0/10 (Category avg: 8.1/10)

Who Is the Company Behind Roku OneView (formerly Dataxu)?

  • Seller: Roku
  • Year Founded: 2002
  • HQ Location: San Jose, CA
  • Twitter: @Roku
    247,565 Twitter followers
  • LinkedIn® Page: www.linkedin.com
    4,493 employees on LinkedIn®
  • Ownership: NASDAQ:ROKU

Who Uses This Product?

  • Top Industries: Marketing and Advertising, Hospital & Health Care
  • Company Size: 41% Medium, 31% Small

What Are Recent G2 Reviews of Roku OneView (formerly Dataxu)?

What Are G2 Users Discussing About Roku OneView (formerly Dataxu)?

Yukta Rustagi
YR
Researched and written by Yukta Rustagi
Updated October 1, 2025

Demand Side Platform (DSP) Topics

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Learn More About Demand Side Platform (DSP)

What is a Demand Side Platform (DSP)?

Demand side platforms (DSPs) act as a central hub to manage all the data related to advertising campaigns. A DSP is used by advertisers to buy different types of ads (mobile, social, video, etc.) from a marketplace where publishers list advertising inventory. To be efficient, advertising teams need to target the right audience, at the right time, on the right channel. Since many companies compete to get their ads on the same channels, they have to bid on impressions to ensure they can reach their goals. 

DSPs enable automated ad buying or programmatic ad buying. This type of software is integrated into multiple ad exchanges to enable advertisers to automate buying ads that may include banner ads on websites or mobile ads on apps. The automated bidding process, where ad placements are auctioned off within microseconds, is called real-time bidding (RTB). While DSPs help companies with all media-buying activities, it is also important to have personnel with advanced expertise in this field or work with external consultants or agencies. 

What Does DSP Stand For?

DSP stands for demand side platform, and the term “demand” can be seen as synonymous with “buying”. These platforms help companies identify advertising opportunities across multiple ad networks and helps find the best prices for the targeted audience. 

What Types of Demand Side Platform (DSP) Exists?

Mobile DSP

When searching for a DSP, some companies may want a specific DSP for mobile ad-buying capabilities. A mobile DSP is not a standalone product, but is part of and integrated with any robust DSP and is responsible for buying mobile ad inventory. A mobile DSP is focused on buying ads across varying apps, browsers, locations, and devices and also ensures that the advertiser’s creatives are displayed correctly and are optimized for mobile screens. These types of DSPs assist app publishers and app developers in offering available mobile impressions. That being said, buyers don’t need to purchase a separate DSP for desktop and mobile programmatic ad-buying.

Omnichannel DSP

Omnichannel DSPs enable companies to manage ads across multiple channels, like desktop, video, audio, OTT, etc. These types of DSPs help companies manage ad campaigns without having to switch between platforms. 

Single-channel or niche DSP

These types of DSPs can serve the needs of businesses that only want to send ads on a specific channel. Single-channel DSPs can help small businesses that may have a lower budget or a more focused advertising strategy. 

What are the Common Features of Demand Side Platform (DSP)?

The following are some core features within DSPs that can help users in a variety of ways:

  1. Campaign management: Omnichannel campaign management is used to target audiences across multiple channels, from traditional media such as TV and newspapers to online and social media channels.
  2. Ad retargeting: Retargeting allows companies to resume media assets for new campaigns and to target different audiences without starting from scratch. 
  3. Buy management: DSPs help manage different types of programmatic buys such as preferred deal, programmatic guaranteed, or private marketplace. 
  4. Ad variety: This feature provides different types of advertising such as native ads and mobile or cross-device promotions to target broader audiences.
  5. Audience segmentation: Audience segmentation allows media companies to choose whom to target based on multiple types of criteria (demographics, technology platforms used, etc.).
  6. Asset management: Asset management helps manage creative assets to allocate them to each campaign, based on the audience and its characteristics such as region, language, age, and so on.
  7. Bidding: Bidding allows companies to acquire advertising inventory or impressions that are used to place ads on various channels. DSP software usually provides access to multiple sources of inventory.
  8. Reporting: Reporting and analytics features assist in tracking key performance indicators such as effective cost per click (eCPC) and effective cost per action (eCPA).
  9. Brand safety: The software integrates with or provides brand protection or brand safety features to monitor and block fraudulent ad-buying activity. 

Other features of demand side platforms: API / Integrations, Contextual Targeting, Creative Optimization, Fraud Protection, In App Ads, Machine Learning Optimization, and User, Role, & Access Management.

What are the Benefits of Demand Side Platform (DSP)?

Key benefits of DSPs include accelerating the process of buying online advertisements through direct interaction with web publishers, reducing spend on impressions that are not part of a target audience, gaining transparency in the advertisements that are purchased by knowing the demographics of every impression, and increasing ad conversion rates by putting ads in front of people who are more likely to click on ads, in turn increasing the return on ad spend (ROAS). 

Some of the challenges advertisers face nowadays that can be addressed by DSP software are:

Omnichannel: Omnichannel is both a challenge and an opportunity for media companies. On the bright side, they now have more options than ever to target audiences, but this also makes it harder for them to find the right audience segments and promote content on their preferred channels. Companies cannot afford to invest in advertising on all possible channels and need to focus on the ones that are the most efficient.

Real-time tracking: Real-time performance tracking is critical to determine what content works on which channels. It also helps companies adjust their campaigns to make them more efficient or cancel advertising that is costly and brings little or no revenue. Since companies invest a lot of time and money in advertising, it is difficult for them to cancel campaigns even when they don’t seem to be very successful. Real-time data is therefore essential to determining when campaigns can be considered successful; it also enables companies to quickly react to any changes that may jeopardize their advertising efforts.

Brand safety: Brand safety is more challenging than ever, mostly due to technologies like social media which can disseminate information very quickly. Individuals and institutions also scrutinize brands, and it is very common that controversial advertising becomes viral and has a negative impact on the brand. The challenge with brand safety is that advertising content can be shared outside of the channels used by the company, which makes it almost impossible to retract.

Who Uses Demand Side Platform (DSP)?

DSP is used by advertisers employed by a company to help with its advertising strategy or agencies that manage advertising activities on behalf of the customer.

Marketing departments: Advertising teams or departments use DSP software to create advertising campaigns and implement them to target or retarget different types of audiences. They also need to track the performance of each advertising campaign and address any issues that may impact their performance.

Advertising agencies: Advertising agencies use DSP software to implement strategies defined with the customer. Agencies usually manage most advertising activities but may also collaborate with customers on some operations. They also provide customers with reports on the performance and costs of advertising campaigns.

What’s the best DSP platform for mobile ad campaigns?

For mobile ad campaigns focused on reaching audiences at scale with precise targeting and strong performance, leading DSP platforms include:

  • StackAdapt offers a versatile, user-friendly platform with advanced targeting capabilities. It supports mobile display, video, and in-app ads, enabling advertisers to efficiently run rich, multi-channel campaigns.
  • The Trade Desk provides enterprise-grade programmatic buying with granular targeting, cross-device reach, and powerful analytics. It’s a go-to solution for brands aiming to maximize mobile campaign precision and performance.
  • AdLib DSP makes programmatic buying accessible through an intuitive interface and flexible budget management. It enables mobile advertisers to access premium inventory while optimizing cost and reach.
  • Viant delivers omnichannel programmatic capabilities with strong mobile, connected TV, and digital audio support. It’s ideal for brands that combine mobile ad efforts with broader digital marketing strategies.

What’s the most reliable DSP for advertising agencies?

For advertising agencies managing diverse campaigns and clients, the most reliable DSP platforms combine scalability, precision targeting, and strong analytics. Top solutions include:

  • Basis streamlines the campaign lifecycle by integrating planning, buying, and analytics. Agencies value its automation, reporting, and cross-channel support for running efficient and scalable ad operations.
  • Simpli.fi delivers hyperlocal and behavioral targeting, making it ideal for agencies running localized and audience-specific campaigns. Its flexible platform allows precise control over budget and audience segmentation.
  • AdLib DSP offers easy-to-use programmatic buying with access to premium inventory. Agencies appreciate its intuitive interface and flexibility in handling campaigns for clients of all sizes.

What’s the best demand-side platform for e-commerce marketing?

For e-commerce brands aiming to scale performance marketing, drive conversions, and reach high-intent shoppers across channels, leading DSP platforms based on G2 reviews include:

  • Amazon DSP offers unparalleled access to Amazon’s shopper data, enabling e-commerce brands to target audiences on and off Amazon. Its deep integration with the Amazon ecosystem makes it ideal for product-focused campaigns.
  • Criteo specializes in retargeting and dynamic ad personalization, helping e-commerce brands re-engage visitors and drive conversions. Its machine learning algorithms deliver relevant ads across devices.
  • MediaMath delivers omnichannel programmatic capabilities with strong mobile, connected TV, and digital audio support. It’s ideal for brands aiming to unify e-commerce ad efforts with broader digital marketing strategies.

Software Related to Demand Side Platform (DSP)

Related solutions that can be used together with DSPs include:

Supply side platform (SSP): SSP allows publishers to make money from their websites by creating and selling ad inventory to marketers on an impression-by-impression or visitor-by-visitor basis. SSPs are used in conjunction with publisher ad servers—either as a single product or two separate integrated products—that provide the functionality to manage ad inventory and traffic incoming ads. SSPs, in turn, give publisher ad servers the ability to sell their advertising inventory in real time through advertising exchanges or directly to advertisers’ DSPs.

Ad network software: Ad networks aggregate ad inventory from websites and apps and match it with advertiser demand to facilitate the digital advertising buying process. For advertisers, ad networks show them the inventory that is available to buy. For publishers, ad networks package together inventory to be useful to advertisers and yield the highest profit. Ad networks serve as a bridge between advertiser campaign management and publisher ad management software, with both sets of software needing to integrate with ad networks.

Creative management platforms: A creative management platform (CMP) combines a variety of display advertising tools utilized by marketing and advertising professionals into one cohesive, cloud-based platform. These tools include ad design builders capable of making dynamic creative in bulk, cross-channel publishing, and marketing data collection and analysis. While most CMPs can be used to create and deploy full marketing campaigns on their own, many provide functionality or integrations that allow users to concurrently utilize another DSP to provide extra channel coverage.

Challenges with Demand Side Platform (DSP)

DSP can be complicated and expensive to implement and maintain. The structure of this type of software can vary from one vendor to another, as well as the way products are sold. Furthermore, vendors provide services to increase DSP adoption and integrations with other software solutions, which can make their offerings even more complicated.

Bid duplication: DSPs are starting to work against bid duplication, but this takes place when SSPs send more than one bid request for a single impression. This represents a single user as two separate users and removes the ability for DSPs to set a capacity for ads served at the requests of the advertiser. In short, bid duplication results in advertisers unknowingly bidding against themselves, driving up the price they pay.

Data privacy: As more and more data privacy regulations are created, DSPs are under more pressure to adapt as this type of software relies on audience data to target ads. Due to privacy regulations, personal data can only be collected and used with explicit permission from consumers. 

How to Buy Demand Side Platform (DSP)

The first step in evaluating DSPs, like a lot of software, is to determine the particular company goals and what outcomes are expected to be achieved. 

Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Demand Side Platform (DSP)

When evaluating DSP software options, it’s important to ask a few qualifying questions that may be important to the business and end goals. Some of these questions can include:

  • How does the DSP maintain data privacy? Does it comply with the CCPA and GDPR?
  • What software does the DSP integrate with (e.g., CDP software, ERP systems, etc.)
  • How is the data collected for targeting ads?
  • Can the DSP buy ads across a variety of channels (i.e., is it an omnichannel DSP)?
  • Does the DSP offer artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for ad bidding?

Compare Demand Side Platform (DSP) Products

When comparing DSPs, businesses should compare targeting capabilities, available inventory types, data privacy maintenance, anti-fraud measures, pricing, available integrations i.e., with a data management platform (DMP), and ad reporting capabilities. 

Conduct demos

When conducting demos, buyers must make sure to narrow it down to only a few DSP options, the ones that align with the specific company goals. For example, if the company only wants to advertise on one channel, it may not be necessary to evaluate and demo omnichannel DSPs. Also, it is important to ensure all internal stakeholders are involved in the demos to provide feedback. 

Implementation of Demand Side Platform (DSP)

Who is Responsible for Demand Side Platform (DSP) Implementation?

Internal marketing or advertising teams can work with the software vendor they have selected to implement a DSP to start programmatically buying ads. If a company doesn’t have an internal advertising team, or marketing team that oversees digital advertising, it can hire a digital advertising agency to implement, and also manage, a DSP. 

What Does the Implementation Process Look Like for Demand Side Platform (DSP)?

For a DSP to start working, it must integrate with varying supply sources (i.e., SSPs and ad exchanges). The internal teams or ad agency implementing this software must ensure that the DSP can natively integrate with all desired ad exchanges and SSPs to serve ads on the channels that the company has identified.