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Programmatic Influencer Supply: How SSPs Can Standardize Creator Assets for Open Market Liquidity

An expert analysis on bridging the gap between the creator economy and programmatic advertising. Learn how SSPs can standardize assets for open market liquidity.

Programmatic Influencer Supply: How SSPs Can Standardize Creator Assets for Open Market Liquidity

The Uncomfortable Truth About the "Creator Economy" and Programmatic

Let’s be honest about the current state of influencer marketing. For all its hype, its billion-dollar valuations, and its dominance of consumer attention, from an operational standpoint, it is stuck in 2010. We are looking at a landscape that is overwhelmingly manual, largely direct-sold, and perilously dependent on walled gardens. If you are a Supply Side Platform (SSP) or a publisher technology vendor, you have likely looked at the exploding "Creator Economy" with a mix of envy and frustration. Envy, because that is where the eyeballs are. Frustration, because the pipes of the Open Web—the standardized, efficient, algorithmic trading rails we have spent 15 years building—don't seem to fit. But the winds are shifting. The "Direct-IO-and-a-Handshake" model for influencers is hitting a scalability ceiling. Brands want the authenticity of creators but the efficiency of programmatic. Creators want revenue stability beyond the capricious algorithm changes of TikTok or Instagram. This creates a massive, untapped opportunity for the supply side of ad tech. The next frontier isn't just about optimizing display or CTV; it is about commoditizing the unique asset class of creator content. To do this, we must solve the liquidity problem. And to solve liquidity, we must solve standardization.

The Liquidity Trap: Why Creators Are Hard to Buy

In financial markets and ad tech alike, liquidity requires standardization. You cannot have a high-frequency trading market if every asset is a unique snowflake with no common spec. Currently, a "creator campaign" is a bespoke product. It involves:

  • Negotiation: Lengthy back-and-forth on usage rights, whitelisting, and deliverables.
  • Format Chaos: A 9:16 video on TikTok is technically different from a Reel, which is different from a YouTube Short, which is entirely different from a standard IAB vertical video placement on a news site.
  • Measurement Black Holes: Reporting is often a screenshot of a dashboard sent via email.

This lack of standardization prevents "Creator Supply" from entering the Open Market (OM). DSPs operate on predictability. They need to know that if they bid on a video request, it complies with VAST specs, has a predictable duration, and comes with specific content signals. For SSPs, the mission is clear: We must act as the translation layer. We need to ingest the "chaos" of creator content and output "order" that the programmatic ecosystem can digest.

The Asset Decoupling Strategy

The first step in this revolution is a philosophical shift. We need to stop thinking about "Influencer Marketing" (paying a person to post on their profile) and start thinking about "Creator Supply" (using the creator's assets as high-performing creative units across the Open Web). This is where SSPs can shine. By decoupling the asset (the video, the image, the copy) from the distribution platform (the social network), SSPs can turn creator content into a standardized ad unit.

The Technical "How-To": Mapping Creator Assets to OpenRTB

To make this work, SSPs need to map the unstructured data of a creator post into the structured world of OpenRTB. This isn't just about resizing a video; it is about metadata enrichment. When an SSP ingests a creator asset to bid it out, the bid request needs to look like premium video supply, not a user-generated accident. Here is what that standardization looks like in practice:

  • The Video Object: The raw video file from a creator is likely high-quality but poorly encoded for ad serving. The SSP must transcode this into standard bitrates and wrap it in VAST 4.x. Crucially, the player size must be signaled correctly. If it is vertical video (9:16), the SSP must explicitly signal `w:1080, h:1920` (or scalable equivalent) to DSPs that can handle interstitial or vertical mobile formats.
  • Content Object Signaling: This is where most supply sources fail. In OpenRTB 2.6, the `content` object is robust. We should be using the `content.producer` object to identify the creator.

Consider the following simplified OpenRTB snippet. This is how we should be representing a creator asset to a DSP to ensure they understand the value of what they are buying:

{
"id": "123456789",
"imp": [
{
"video": {
"mimes": ["video/mp4"],
"w": 1080,
"h": 1920,
"startdelay": 0,
"placement": 5, // Interstitial/Slider
"ext": {
"videotype": "creator_generated"
}
}
}
],
"site": {
"content": {
"genre": "Tech Review",
"producer": {
"id": "creator_8821",
"name": "TechGuyRichard",
"cat": ["IAB19-6"] // Technology & Computing
},
"data": [
{
"name": "Social_Engagement_Score",
"value": "High"
}
]
}
}
}

By standardizing the producer field and utilizing content.data extensions to pass engagement metrics (which are usually absent in standard web setups), we allow buyers to target "High Engagement Creators" across thousands of sites, rather than negotiating with one creator for one post.

The Discovery Challenge: Intelligence Over Inventory

At Red Volcano, we spend a lot of time analyzing the technology stacks of publishers. One trend is glaringly obvious: The line between a "Publisher" and a "Creator" is blurring. Major creators are launching their own O&O (Owned and Operated) websites and apps to escape the algorithm tax. They are installing Prebid. They are adopting ads.txt. However, the vast majority of creator supply still lives "off-grid" in terms of standard discovery.

How SSPs Can Win on Discovery

SSPs need to build or integrate "Creator Graphs." Just as we currently crawl ads.txt files to understand who is authorized to sell inventory, SSPs need to crawl social engagement data to authorize creator supply. The workflow for an SSP entering this space should look like this:

  • Ingest & Verify: Connect to social APIs to verify the creator's identity and engagement metrics. This acts as the "KYC" (Know Your Customer) for supply.
  • Asset Management System (AMS): Provide a portal where creators upload raw assets. The SSP then "wraps" these assets.
  • Curation & PMPs: This is the immediate revenue opportunity. Don't dump this into the open exchange immediately. Bundle it. "Top Tier Tech Reviewers - Vertical Video - 90% Viewability."

Solving the "Creative" Problem via Ad Tech

One of the biggest friction points in programmatic is creative fatigue. Brands run the same 30-second TV spot until users hate them. Creator supply solves this. Creators are content machines. They can produce ten variations of a product endorsement in a day. SSPs should position themselves not just as pipes for media, but as pipes for creative. By utilizing the creative_id and dynamic creative optimization (DCO) integrations, an SSP can rotate through dozens of creator-led assets for a single campaign ID. This requires a shift in how we think about the "Publisher." In this model, the "Publisher" is the entity displaying the ad (e.g., a news site, a mobile gaming app), but the "Content" and the "Creative" are fused. The creator is the ad.

The Rise of "Extension Networks"

We are seeing a resurgence of the Extension Network model, but powered by creator assets. Here is the play:

  • Step 1: An SSP aggregates 1,000 beauty influencers.
  • Step 2: The SSP secures rights to their video assets.
  • Step 3: The SSP strikes deals with premium lifestyle publishers (Cosmopolitan, Vogue, etc.) to run a "Social Stories" widget on their O&O mobile web pages.
  • Step 4: The SSP fills that widget with the influencer video assets.

This is the holy grail. The advertiser gets the safety and context of a premium publisher (Brand Safety) with the engagement and human connection of an influencer (Performance). And it is all transacted via a Deal ID or Open Auction.

Standardization Barriers (and How to Break Them)

If it were easy, it would be done already. There are significant hurdles that we need to be realistic about.

1. The Aspect Ratio War

The open web is still largely built for 16:9 (horizontal) or 1:1 (square) slots. The creator economy is native 9:16 (vertical). Placing a vertical video in a horizontal player looks terrible. It has black bars (pillarboxing) and wastes space. The Fix: SSPs must enforce player restrictions. We need widespread adoption of "Interscroller" or "Miniscroller" formats that adapt to the viewport. The IAB's SafeFrame and newer MRAID standards allow for this, but publisher adoption is lagging. SSPs must make responsive players a requirement for onboarding this type of demand.

2. The Identity Crisis

Who is the user? On Instagram, identity is deterministic (logged in). On the Open Web, with the cookie crumbling, it is probabilistic. The Fix: Context is king. If we can't target the user perfectly, we target the context of the creator. If a user is watching a creator review a specific car model, the intent signal is stronger than any third-party cookie. SSPs must pass rich contextual signals (using IAB content taxonomy) derived from the video's audio/visual data.

3. Rights Management

This is the legal minefield. If a creator uses a copyrighted song in their video, it can't run as an ad on the New York Times. The Fix: Automated content moderation. SSPs need to integrate with tools that strip unlicensed audio or flag copyright risks before the bid request is sent. This is value-add tech that justifies the SSP's take rate.

The Economics of Programmatic Creator Supply

How do we price this? Traditional programmatic is CPM (Cost Per Mille). Influencer marketing is largely Flat Fee. The friction arises when a creator wants \$500 for a post, but the programmatic market values the 10,000 impressions that post generates at a \$5 CPM (\$50 total). This gap is closing, but SSPs need to innovate on pricing models.

  • Guaranteed Deals (PG): This is the bridge. The SSP guarantees a fixed revenue to the creator based on a committed volume of impressions across their network.
  • Performance Uplift: We need to move to vCPM (viewable CPM) or CPE (Cost Per Engagement). Creator assets have higher CTRs. If an SSP can prove that a Creator Ad has a 3x higher CTR than a standard banner, they can justify a 3x higher floor price in the auction.

Future Outlook: The "Headless" Creator

We are moving toward a "Headless Creator" model. The creator produces the raw materials—the voice, the face, the endorsement, the B-roll. The technology layer (the SSPs and DSPs) assembles, targets, and delivers that content to the right user at the right time. This removes the dependency on the creator's audience size and focuses on the creator's content quality. A micro-influencer with 500 followers who makes incredible video ads becomes just as valuable as a mega-star, because the SSP provides the distribution scale that the creator lacks.

Guidance for Ad Tech Leadership

If you are leading product or strategy at an SSP or an Ad Tech intermediary, here is your roadmap:

Phase 1: Ingestion & Standardization (Months 1-6)

Build the pipes to ingest video files directly from creators. Automate the transcoding to VAST 4.x. Build the "Creator" metadata object in your bid requests.

Phase 2: The Distribution Network (Months 6-12)

Recruit a network of publishers willing to install a "Vertical Video" unit. Pitch it as incremental revenue that doesn't cannibalize their existing banner inventory.

Phase 3: The Data Layer (Year 2+)

Start scoring creators based on programmatic performance (Viewability, CTR, Conversions) rather than social vanity metrics (Likes, Followers). Create the "Red Volcano Score" for creator liquidity.

Conclusion

The convergence of the Creator Economy and Programmatic Advertising is inevitable. The money is too big, and the inefficiencies are too glaring for it to remain separated. SSPs have a choice. They can remain pipes for traditional banner ads and fight over shrinking margins, or they can step up and become the infrastructure for the next generation of digital media. By standardizing the chaos of creator content, SSPs provide the liquidity that the market desperately craves. It is time to turn "Influencers" into "Inventory." Let’s get to work.