Google Advert Supervisor remains to be the dominant supply-side platform – however the race for second place is tighter than ever.

Forty-six % of publishers say they use Amazon Writer Providers, Amazon’s supply-side platform, in accordance with Advertiser Perceptions’ SSP report for the second half of 2021, which was sufficient for Amazon to keep up its grip on the No. 2 spot. However, at 42%, PubMatic got here in not too far behind.

The remainder of the pack, nevertheless, was very tightly clustered, with OpenX at 35%, Magnite at 33%, Yahoo SSP (the previous Verizon Media Advert Platform) and Magnite’s SpotX at 29% apiece and Xandr Monetize (which now belongs to Microsoft) and Index Trade at 28%.

(It’s price noting that the outcomes for Yahoo SSP might have been skewed by its current rebranding. And FWIW, Google is so dominant, it makes two appearances within the Advertiser Notion survey: 36% of publishers say they use Google AdMob for app monetization.)

Fierce competitors down the chain is a promising signal for all non-Google SSPs, as a result of it’s proof publishers choose to work with a number of SSP companions. Advertiser Perceptions discovered that publishers use 5.4 SSP companions on common, which means an SSP doesn’t should be a writer’s first, second and even third option to do an honest quantity of enterprise.

“There may be nonetheless very a lot wholesome competitors for that third, fourth and fifth spot,” mentioned Lauren Fisher, EVP of enterprise intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions. “Before everything, publishers are working with SSPs which can be making them cash, they’re working with SSPs which can be good companions and serving to to handle their enterprise – and so they’re additionally in search of SSPs which can be specialists in the kind of stock that they’ll monetize.”

Not so quick

Even so, the variety of SSP companions publishers might be utilizing this yr is anticipated to develop extra slowly than beforehand anticipated.

Advertiser Perceptions is projecting that publishers will use a mean of 5.8 SSPs in 2022, down from its earlier projection of seven SSPs on common.

Nonetheless, with hot-button points like identification and knowledge privateness remaining high of thoughts, publishers of all sizes expressed curiosity in working with and exploring quite a lot of ID options.

“Publishers proceed to work with a number of companions, and so they’re persevering with to lean on their SSPs fairly closely for assist and recommendation as we’re navigating a really completely different and ever-changing panorama with regard to identification,” Fisher mentioned.

Google to the moon

However that accomplice listing nearly at all times contains Google.

In the newest report, Google maintained its dominant place as essentially the most used and most most popular SSP among the many publishers surveyed, with 73% saying they use Google Advert Supervisor and 43% rating it as their most popular supply-side accomplice.

As a result of Advertiser Perceptions performed its research in August and September, the outcomes don’t replicate current reviews detailing Google’s Undertaking Bernanke and Jedi Blue initiatives. A New York district court docket submitting unsealed paperwork that make clear Google’s alleged efforts to mislead publishers and advertisers about how its advert public sale really works and its partnership with Fb to restrict the viability of header bidding.

However, previous to the discharge of those paperwork, not less than, advert business hypothesis about Google operating third-price auctions did little to dampen writer enthusiasm for Google as an SSP accomplice. It stays to be seen whether or not the most recent spherical of Undertaking Bernanke and Jedi Blue revelations will knock Google off its perch because the sell-side’s most-used, most-preferred SSP (nevertheless it’s unlikely).

“On the promote aspect, it’s Google’s present,” mentioned Kevin Mannion, president and chief technique officer at Advertiser Perceptions. “Each writer must be with them – and generally that’s not a contented factor for the writer. However Google does actually take note of what a writer must become profitable, have safety and be privateness protected. These are more and more vital, particularly as we’re heading towards a cookieless world.”

Massive vs. small

Past Google’s unsurprising dominance, Advertiser Perceptions famous important variations in SSP utilization between bigger publishers (these with 20 million or extra distinctive month-to-month guests) and smaller publishers (these with fewer than 20 million distinctive month-to-month guests).

OpenX, Magnite and Xandr Monetize, for instance, have been much more standard with bigger publishers than with smaller publishers. Forty-five % of bigger publishers – however solely 22% of smaller publishers – mentioned they use OpenX.

The distinction was even starker for Magnite, which is utilized by 49% of bigger publishers however solely 12% of smaller publishers. Xandr Monetize, in the meantime, is utilized by 38% of bigger publishers and 14% of smaller publishers.

Google Advert Supervisor, Amazon’s SSP and PubMatic additionally noticed utilization splits between bigger and smaller publishers, albeit far much less dramatic, with 75% vs. 71% for Google; 45% vs. 49% for Amazon; and 43% vs. 40% for PubMatic. Among the many most-used SSPs for bigger publishers, solely Amazon’s SSP was extra standard with smaller publishers than it was with bigger ones.

Advertiser Perceptions polled 150 US-based publishers on their present and future plans for SSP utilization and their perceptions of the highest gamers. To qualify for participation, publishers needed to have an viewers of not less than three million month-to-month distinctive guests, promote adverts programmatically and be at present utilizing or planning to make use of an SSP.