Supply-Side Decisioning
Containers, Explained

Supply-side decisioning applies data, models, and business logic before a bid request reaches the DSP. It helps determine which impressions should be enriched, prioritized, or shaped before bidding begins.

Containers let buyers and partners run their own models and logic securely, privately, and with low latency directly against supply. They can use audience, inventory, and auction signals nearest supply to shape requests, improve performance, reduce waste, and gain more control over outcomes.

DSPs can only make decisions after receiving a bid request. Containerized supply-side decisioning happens earlier, with additional auction and inventory signals that may not be available downstream, so buyers can shape opportunities before they enter bidding.

The earlier an impression can be evaluated, the more supply-side signal is available and the easier it is to reduce waste. Moving selected logic upstream helps send buyers the opportunities most likely to perform.

No. The DSP remains responsible for bidding, budgets, pacing, creative, measurement, frequency management, and campaign execution. The SSP focuses on shaping bid requests before bidding begins and curating targeted deals.

Campaign controls, bidding, pacing, attribution, and measurement should remain in the DSP. Inventory evaluation, audience prioritization, and pre-auction decisioning can move upstream to the SSP when they benefit from earlier signal access – and this ultimately benefits the DSP with a more efficient and valuable bidstream.

In many ways, yes — except supply-side decisioning containers securely activate intelligence in real time at auction rather than relying on slower, more complex offline data collaboration.

At OpenX, supply-side decisioning is typically activated through a dedicated deal ID, making attribution straightforward: every impression, bid, and outcome associated with that deal can be directly attributed to the containerized decisioning model, and its comparative impact can be easily measured through A/B testing against a standard deal in DSP reporting.