Definition & Explanation

Supply Path Optimization (SPO) is the strategy of buying ads through the most direct and transparent sources to reduce fraud and costs. It works by identifying and eliminating unnecessary intermediaries in the programmatic supply chain between advertisers and publishers. DSPs use real-time algorithms to find the shortest, most cost-effective path to the impressions they want to buy. SPO emerged around 2017 in response to the complexity that header bidding introduced into programmatic advertising.