Vector Database
PLATFORM OR PRODUCT
DATA ENGINEERING
Vector databases index embeddings for fast approximate nearest neighbor search, combining similarity queries with metadata filters for AI and search apps.
PLATFORM OR PRODUCT
PERFORMANCE ADVERTISING
Supply-Side Platform (SSP)
A platform used by publishers to manage, offer and optimize digital advertising inventory across buyers and exchanges.
BUSINESS RELEVANCE
An SSP lets publishers sell inventory to many demand sources at once, set price floors and rules, and control which advertisers appear, which directly affects ad revenue and brand safety.
IMPLEMENTATION EXAMPLE
A news publisher connects its ad server to two SSPs, sets a $2.50 CPM floor on homepage leaderboard units, blocks gambling advertisers and compares fill rate and effective CPM per SSP each month.
LIMITATIONS
Each SSP and reseller in the chain takes a fee, and duplicate paths to the same impression add cost and confusion for buyers. Publishers have limited visibility into how exchanges run auctions and apply discounts.
TECHNICAL EXPLANATION
An SSP receives ad requests from the publisher's ad server or a header bidding wrapper, packages them as OpenRTB bid requests, sends them to connected exchanges and DSPs, runs the auction against floors and deal rules, and returns the winning creative. Publishers list authorized SSPs in ads.txt, and SSPs publish sellers.json and pass the SupplyChain object so buyers can trace each seller.
Secondary Topics
Data Engineering, Systems Architecture
Sources
Amazon Ads — DSP vs SSP: What is the difference? — https://advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/dsp-ssp-dmp-difference; IAB Tech Lab — sellers.json Supply Chain Transparency — https://iabtechlab.com/sellers-json/
Related terms
Ad Server
PLATFORM OR PRODUCT
PERFORMANCE ADVERTISING
A centralized advertising technology platform that stores, delivers, targets, and tracks digital ad creatives across channels.
Google Tag Manager (GTM)
PLATFORM OR PRODUCT
DATA ENGINEERING
Google Tag Manager organizes tags, triggers and variables in a container so analytics and ad tags can be deployed, versioned and tested without code releases.
Consent Management Platform (CMP)
PLATFORM OR PRODUCT
PERFORMANCE ADVERTISING
A consent management platform runs cookie banners, records visitor consent choices and passes them to analytics and ad tools through standards like IAB TCF.
Content Management System (CMS)
PLATFORM OR PRODUCT
SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE
A content management system stores and publishes web content through an admin interface, with platforms like WordPress handling pages, media and users.