Grigoriy Misilyuk
Anna Vintsevska
Leonid VeresThe world of advertising is extremely dynamic, and publishers are constantly searching for ways of gaining a competitive advantage. With a recognizable decline of traditional advertising methods, programmatic ads have started to dominate the market. However, it is not always that transparent. ISBA found that publishers receive only about 51% of advertiser spend, while roughly 15% can’t be traced within the programmatic supply chain.
Restated the 2020 overall supply chain
This unknown delta comes from hidden fees, intermediary markups, and bid shading — inefficiencies that compound at every hop between publisher and buyer. Supply Path Optimization (SPO) involves evaluating and refining the pathways through which ad impressions are delivered. Below, we explore seven reasons for publishers to prioritize SPO and use it to maximize their advertising potential.
What is SPO for publishers?
In the traditional waterfall setup, publishers ranked SSPs in their ad servers based on past performance — usually prioritizing the partners that generated the most revenue. Header bidding changed this model by allowing publishers to connect with multiple demand partners at the same time, increasing competition for inventory. However, it also made the supply chain more complex. As more partners were added, the same buyers were often reached through multiple supply paths, creating duplication, slowing page load times, and making it harder to identify which partners were actually driving revenue.
Supply path optimization helps publishers simplify their setup by focusing on the partners that bring strong revenue, unique demand, and efficient access to buyers. Rather than adding more connections, in particular cases, it may reduce unnecessary connections, lower fees, improve performance, and increase net revenue. With SPO, publishers can sell their ad space more cleanly and efficiently.
What are the stages of an SPO?
Supply path optimization is a process involving various stages and techniques. Let's outline the key stages involved in SPO:
Audit of the current supply chain
Goal: Identify the relationships between a publisher’s inventory and potential advertisers.
KPI to Track: Number of SSPs, discrepancy rate, fill rate, viewability score, and average CPM.
Action: Map all inventory sources and intermediaries involved in ad delivery. Analyze transparency levels — check fees, inventory quality, and reporting accuracy.
Example: A mid-size publisher found 12 active SSPs in its supply chain. After reviewing buyer overlap and auction data, the publisher discovered that several SSPs were reaching the same buyers. Only 6 partners brought additional demand, while the others mainly duplicated existing supply paths.
Result: Reduced redundancy, improving operational efficiency and revenue tracking.
Identifying inefficient paths
Goal: Detect overlapping and inefficient supply paths by analyzing how inventory reaches buyers across SSPs, ad exchanges, and intermediaries, using transparency signals from ads.txt, sellers.json, and SupplyChain Object (schain).
KPI to Track: Overlapping supply paths, SSP duplication rate, performance of individual supply routes, traffic quality.
Action: Better understand auction competition and identify intermediaries operating in inefficient ways. Identify supply paths that do not perform well or regularly produce suspicious traffic.
Example: Two SSPs deliver the same demand, but show dramatically different CPMs and delivery times.
Result: Better visibility into demand competition and removal of inefficient or redundant supply paths.
Prioritizing the most efficient supply paths
Goal: To concentrate your efforts on the supply paths that provide the most value.
KPI to Track: Bid rate, win rate, fill rate, net revenue.
Action: Identify the performance of supply paths ranked by their performance data, and strategically reduce your level of exposure to low-quality supply paths or suspicious advertising.
Example: A supply path with fewer intermediaries consistently delivers better auction outcomes and higher net revenue than more complex routes.
Result: Increased traffic through your supply paths that offer the most revenue.
Implementing optimization strategies
Goal: Enhance the efficiency of supply paths by reducing the number of partners.
KPI to Track: Number of intermediaries, targeting efficiency, net revenue, supply path efficiency.
Action: Decrease the number of intermediaries and create stronger direct connections with the buyers who have the highest potential value to the publisher.
Example: Reduce SSP connections from 15 to 7 after identifying overlapping demand and underperforming supply paths.
Result: Cleaner supply path structure and improved revenue efficiency.
Monitoring the supply paths
Goal: Track performance after optimization changes.
KPI to Track: Revenue, eCPM, fill rate, bid rate, win rate.
Action: Test different supply paths and configurations to find the most effective setup. Track auction performance, buyer behavior, and SSP metrics to continuously improve results.
Example: A revised setup improves CPM but reduces fill rate, requiring further balancing.
Result: Continuous visibility into performance and iterative optimization of supply paths.
Continuous scaling and optimization
Goal: Maintain and scale SPO improvements over time.
KPI to Track: Long-term revenue growth, efficiency gains, automation coverage.
Action: Implement AI-based automation and evaluate SPO strategies.
Example: Automated routing rules continuously adjust traffic allocation across SSPs based on eCPM, bid rate, win rate, and timeout rate.
Result: Sustainable improvement in monetization efficiency and scalability.
How does an SPO help digital publishers: seven ways
With an SPO, publishers can establish more direct and transparent relationships with demand-side partners.
1. Smarter partners selection
KPI: Revenue, eCPM, RPM, net revenue
Action: Optimize the supply chain through supply path optimization
Example: Several SSPs are providing access to the same inventory, but only one consistently delivers strong CPMs and unique demand. Removing the others can simplify the setup without impacting revenue
Find the best-performing demand sources and remove duplicate partners
2. Enhanced visibility of supply paths
KPI: CPM performance, number of SSPs, revenue stability
Action: Identify best-performing demand sources and remove duplicate partners
Example: Some supply paths generate high bid activity but low revenue, while others with fewer bids deliver stronger monetization, making it harder to see where real demand value comes from
A simplified journey from publisher to advertiser
3. Quality control and safety
KPI: ads.txt coverage, schain coverage, fee visibility
Action: Remove supply paths that repeatedly deliver low-quality traffic or poor viewability
Example: Publishers maintain the integrity of their digital properties while achieving high levels of automation
Before and After SPO filtering
4. Improved operational efficiency
KPI: Operational complexity, cost of managing intermediaries
Action: Simplify programmatic ad transactions through SPO
Example: A well-organized optimization reduces the complexity and costs associated with managing multiple intermediaries so publishers can focus on creating content instead of navigating a complex ad tech stack
Complex setup VS streamlined setup
5. Data-driven decision making
KPI: CPM performance, demand partner effectiveness
Action: Use SPO reporting and analytics to make informed decisions about demand partner performance and auction efficiency
Example: Data shows that some demand partners consistently deliver higher CPMs, but when analyzed alongside fill rate, win rate, and total revenue contribution, it becomes clear which partners actually maximize overall yield. This enables publishers to prioritize partners that perform best at scale, not just in isolated auction outcomes.
Supply path optimization cycle
6. Supply chain traceability
KPI: Transparency level, traceability of impressions, fee visibility, path-level accountability
Action: Ensure each impression can be traced through the full supply chain, including all intermediaries, fees, and ownership of demand paths
Example: Publishers gain a clear view of every step an impression takes from inventory to final buyer, including all intermediaries and associated fees across the supply chain
Overview of the supply-side SPO process in programmatic
Continuous improvement and healthy competition
KPI: Supply path performance over time, efficiency of optimization cycle
Action: Identify the areas publishers need to concentrate on when looking for improvements
Example: By frequently reviewing their supply chains, publishers can remain aware of any shifts in buyer behavior, driving growth and automation across the entire domain
SPO is an ongoing cycle of optimization
Before & after SPO
The impact of the SPO toolkit becomes visible in the metrics publishers track every day. As duplicate demand paths are removed and SSP relationships are streamlined, publishers often see improvements in revenue efficiency, traffic quality, and supply chain transparency.
Metric | Before SPO | After SPO | Impact |
SSP count | 10–20+ SSPs, often with overlapping demand | 5–10 strategic SSPs with unique demand access | SPO helps identify partners that provide incremental demand |
eCPM | Lower due to fee layering and inefficient routing | Higher as more advertisers spend reaches the publisher (Results depend on the specific supply chain structure and the quality of demand) | Reducing unnecessary intermediaries minimizes revenue leakage and improves auction efficiency |
IVT rate | Higher exposure to low-quality traffic sources | Shift toward more transparent, trusted partners and supply paths | Publishers can remove supply paths associated with suspicious traffic patterns or weak quality controls |
Fee transparency | Limited visibility into intermediary fees and take rates | A clearer understanding of where fees are applied | Fewer hops between buyers and sellers make the supply chain easier to analyze and audit |
Bid duplication | The same demand enters auctions through multiple paths | Reduced duplication across the supply chain | SPO eliminates redundant routes that compete for the same demand without adding value |
Latency | Longer auction times due to multiple parallel SSP calls | Faster auction execution | Fewer supply partners reduce processing overhead and timeout risks |
Demand quality | Mixed demand quality across numerous partners | Greater share of demand from trusted buyers | Publishers can prioritize partners that deliver strong CPMs, viewability, and advertiser spend |
While results vary across publishers, successful SPO initiatives tend to follow the same pattern: fewer unnecessary intermediaries, cleaner access to demand, and a larger share of advertiser spend reaching the publisher.
ROI calculator logic
Calculating SPO ROI helps publishers quantify the financial impact of supply chain improvements and justify optimization efforts. SPO cost includes not only platform fees, but also technology, operational, integration, and resource costs to set up and run supply path optimization.
The simplest way to calculate ROI is:
SPO ROI formula
The exact impact of SPO varies from publisher to publisher. Real-world cases show that supply chain optimization can significantly affect monetization performance. The New York Post reported a 97% increase in programmatic revenue after simplifying its connection to advertiser demand and improving supply path efficiency. The publisher also achieved an 8.6x increase in inventory fill rate. A more direct route between inventory and buyers allowed the publisher to increase both demand participation and the share of advertiser spend reaching the publisher.
Tips on supply path optimization for publishers
Now, let's discuss some practical tips from our practice in TeqBlaze. These suggestions might help you avoid common challenges while working on supply path optimization.
1. Invest in advanced technology
Use advanced technology platforms designed to support SPO. For instance, a white-label SSP platform with strong analytical capabilities can help you identify high-performing demand sources and eliminate those that don’t add value. You can also employ server-side bidding and hybrid configurations to move part of the auction server-side, reduce latency, and improve bid response rates. Client-side bidding can still be used for selected partners to keep competition and transparency.
2. Center your optimization efforts around an efficient SSP
A supply-side platform allows ad publishers to efficiently manage, sell, and optimize their digital ad inventory.
With an SSP, publishers can get access to the following features:
Yield optimization features
Analytics and reporting tools
Integration with DSPs and ad exchanges.
3. Partner with trusted technology providers
Focus only on the most reputable solutions, such as white-label SSPs or DSPs. Look for partners with robust fraud detection mechanisms and a proven commitment to delivering high-quality ads. Each company has its particular SPO challenges, and a custom advertising platform can address these challenges specifically.
4. Employ the best fraud prevention practices
Make sure to analyze the threat of fraudulent activities, such as click fraud, impression fraud, and bot traffic. After that, apply relevant practices for eliminating such problems within your SPO initiative. Efficient steps might include regularly evaluating traffic quality across supply paths and reducing exposure to partners associated with suspicious or invalid traffic.
5. Rely on data
Tools with detailed reports and predictions can help you decide which demand partners and ad paths work best. Regularly reviewing your data also lets you improve over time, ensuring your supply paths work well and stay relevant in a fast-changing market. Data analytics also helps publishers come up with a more objective vision of their inventories, ensuring more tailored offers to advertisers.
Expert insight
Many publishers add new SSPs to increase competition and access more demand. However, without visibility into supply paths and control over buyer overlap, the same buyers are often reached through multiple paths, fees become harder to track, and it becomes unclear which partners are actually contributing to revenue.
Quote from TeqBlaze CEO, Anastasia-Nikita Bansal
For publishers, the challenge is to understand which partners add value and which add another layer between the inventory and the buyer. At TeqBlaze, we recognize the fact that supply path optimization has become a vital practice for digital publishers. With the right strategies, publishers can understand how demand reaches their inventory to focus their resources on the most productive partnerships for long-term revenue growth.
FAQ
How do I know if my platform actually needs supply path optimization?
If you use multiple SSPs, see overlapping demand, or can’t clearly explain where fees go, SPO is worth evaluating. Auditing your supply chain can quickly reveal inefficiencies, redundant partners, and opportunities to improve yield.
Can TeqBlaze integrate SPO into my existing SSP or ad server without replacing it?
Yes. SPO works on top of your existing stack. Platform owners can optimize supply paths within their current SSPs, ad server, and demand setup, without requiring a full replacement.
Does SPO also improve my relationships with advertisers, or is it purely a tech fix?
It improves both. Cleaner supply paths and better transparency make your inventory easier to trust and buy, leading to stronger and more stable advertiser relationships.
How long does it take for TeqBlaze to deliver a full SPO implementation — from audit to revenue growth?
An initial audit usually takes a few weeks. First improvements can appear shortly after changes are applied, while full optimization is an ongoing process based on performance data.
