A buyer's practice of reducing the number of routes through which it buys the same inventory, favoring the most direct, transparent, and cheapest path and cutting resellers. SPO became necessary once Header Bidding let one impression reach a DSP through many SSPs. The seller-side counterpart, demand path optimization, is publishers cutting DSPs.
Related terms
Used in The Signal
Cite this entry:
Agency Echelon. "Supply Path Optimization." Agency Echelon Reference, reviewed September 2026. https://agencyechelon.com/reference/glossary/supply-path-optimization/