By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/09/2026The highest bidder gets to show you an ad, and the fee is remitted to the exchange, which takes a cut and passes the remainder on to the sell-side platform, which *also* takes a cut and gives the balance to the website publisher. 190
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/09/2026So the ad-tech stack has three main components: the "sell-side platform" (SSP), which lets web publishers announce auctions for the right to advertise to their visitors and the "demand-side platform" (DSP) that lets advertisers bid to show those visitors ads. 180
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 05/09/2026Then there's the "ad exchange" - the marketplace where the sell-side and demand-side agents meet to collect bids, finalize the sale, and exchange ads for money. 190
