target audience: TECH BUYER Publication date: Nov 2023 - Document type: IDC MarketScape - Doc Document number: # US50403823
IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Demand-Side Platforms 2023 Vendor Assessment
Content
List of Tables
List of Figures
Get More
When you purchase this document, the purchase price can be applied to the cost of an annual subscription, giving you access to more research for your investment.
Related Links
Abstract
This IDC study assesses demand-side platform (DSP) vendors. In the digital advertising universe where brands increasingly emphasize data-driven decision making, DSPs play a major role for advertisers as part of the ongoing shift to programmatic strategies. Modern brands increasingly draw from a plethora of first-party and third-party data, leveraging real-time customer data platforms (CDPs) and, to a lesser extent, data management platforms (DMPs) to refine advertising audience targeting. Against this data backdrop, DSP vendors offer brands an exciting tool to engage customers in a compliant manner, while meeting customers' preferences for when, where, and how they wish to be engaged.
Challenges abound, however, as advertisers (and society at large) grapple with the complexities of "walled garden" platforms. While DSPs can serve as bridges for marketers navigating walled garden and open web options, in practice, brands often find themselves juggling multiple separate tools across these spheres, suggesting the potential for consolidation.
Excitingly though, on the horizon, DSPs are seizing new channel opportunities, particularly in emerging platforms such as connected TV (CTV) and retail media networks (RMNs), which offer precise targeting and the promise of immersive experiences.
Furthermore, with the increasing popularity of artificial intelligence (AI), DSP suppliers are intensifying their focus on generative and predictive capabilities. This new technology holds great promise, and as DSPs embed this functionality, it will empower advertisers to optimize real-time bidding, enhance audience segmentation, deliver personalized ad content, and ultimately maximize their ROAS.
As brands seek to achieve challenging growth objectives, they should incorporate DSP suppliers as part of their standard advertising/marketing technology (adtech/martech) stack. Organizations should carefully evaluate supplier options and seek out partners that have demonstrated the ability to keep pace with the ever-changing advertising landscape while meeting specific use-case requirements.
In the dynamic realm of advertising technology, DSPs are essential for navigating the complexities of modern digital advertising.
"With AI, retail media, connected TV, walled gardens, and cookieless targeting all in the mix, DSPs are an increasingly critical must-have tool for marketing organizations. As the compass guiding brands through a unified omni-channel world, organizations must find long-term DSP partners that embrace the future and can evolve to address the dynamic advertising landscape." — Roger Beharry Lall, research director, Advertising Technologies and SMB Marketing Applications