OpenX reduces advertiser CPA by 3.4% with Amazon Ads Dynamic Traffic Engine

Goals

Advertisers expect their programmatic spend to reach the right audiences, but supply chain inefficiency means a significant share may not. The challenge isn't scale—it's ensuring that scale drives performance. Today, the limited feedback that supply-side platforms (SSPs) receive from demand-side platforms (DSPs) is whether a bid happened or didn't. Signals like no-bid responses share modest and after-the-fact data. They tell SSPs what didn't work instead of what DSPs are looking for in advance. Without visibility into forward-looking demand priorities, SSPs must rely on retrospective signals rather than clear indicators of what will perform. In that case, advertisers' campaign budgets may be allocated against inventory that does not deliver results.

Amazon Ads developed Dynamic Traffic Engine (DTE) to address this gap. DTE is a signal exchange that helps SSPs deliver more relevant inventory to Amazon DSP by sharing advance demand intelligence, so advertisers' media dollars land on higher-value inventory more consistently.

Approach

In September 2025, Amazon Ads worked with OpenX to determine how signal exchange can drive better outcomes for advertisers, DSPs, SSPs, and publishers. OpenX became one of the first SSPs to complete full DTE integration, ramping from initial touchpoint to full production within weeks.

Here's how it works: Amazon Ads shares aggregated demand signals that are derived from demand patterns. The shared signals identify OpenX's inventory patterns where Amazon's DSP historically has low or no demand. OpenX applies these signals alongside their own optimization algorithms to make more informed traffic delivery decisions. OpenX retains full control over their traffic decisions while DTE provides additional insights; OpenX decides how to act on it.

The result: Amazon’s DSP receives higher-value traffic from OpenX that better matches advertiser campaign goals through aggregated, privacy-compliant demand indicators. For advertisers, this means campaign budgets are allocated against inventory that's more likely to drive results, before a single bid is placed.

In 2026, Amazon Ads contributed DTE to the IAB Tech Lab as an open industry standard, making the same signal exchange framework available to every buyer and seller. For advertisers, the efficiency gains demonstrated here will represent a structural shift in how programmatic supply chains operate.

Results

When OpenX completed full DTE integration in September 2025, the impact was immediate, starting where it matters most: campaign performance.

• Reduced advertiser CPA by 3.4%: CPA for advertisers decreased 3.4% between August and November 2025 and remained stable through December. With more relevant inventory reaching Amazon’s DSP, bid decisions became more informed and every impression worked harder toward campaign objectives.¹
• Increased RPMA by 41.4%: Revenue per million ad requests (RPMA), a measure of how effectively inventory is matched to demand, increased 41.4% over the same period.²
• Accelerated spend growth: Overall programmatic spend grew 11.0% for OpenX within three months of full integration.³ By filtering lower-value requests and surfacing more relevant inventory to Amazon's DSP, DTE helped accelerate spend growth. It reinforces that when supply quality improves, investment follows, driving stronger results for both advertisers and SSPs.

The takeaway: When DSPs and SSPs collaborate through advance signal exchange, advertisers see stronger campaign performance, SSPs operate more efficiently, and publishers benefit from a healthier supply chain.

Results are based on early-stage product adoption. OpenX was among the first SSPs to integrate Dynamic Traffic Engine in September 2025. Individual results may vary.

Sources

^1–3 Amazon internal, Global, 2025.

OpenX was among the first SSPs to integrate Dynamic Traffic Engine in September 2025. Results represent early adopter performance and may not be typical of all integrations. Year-over-year comparisons include seasonal effects and overall industry growth in addition to DTE impact. CPA improvements represent aggregate advertiser performance across OpenX only; individual campaign results may vary.