Apple is looking for a senior manager for a DSP in its ads platforms business. Whoever gets the job will be asked to “drive the design of the most privacy-forward, sophisticated demand side platform possible,” per the post. Moreover, the ideal candidate would have experience building a mobile-centric DSP and know-how when it comes to optimizing “mobile campaigns using measurement and attribution.”
A DSP is a core part of an ad tech stack for any company with designs on winning more media dollars. It’s technology, or more specifically software, that lets a marketer advertise with the help of automation. The automation of the process is important because it means marketers can set up campaigns and manage them with relative ease. In turn, they’re likely to spend more.
It remains unclear if the intended DSP is geared toward serving ads solely on Apple’s owned and operated properties, such as the App Store itself or on the millions of iOS apps, or even on third-party properties such as the mobile web.
Apple would not confirm its plans to build a DSP or provide additional context as to how this would fit into the overall company’s strategy for its ad business. But the job posting is a clear signal of intent for the business that has left the impression (at least publicly) that building ad tech is the last thing it wanted to do. This is a company, after all, with a business model geared toward kneecapping advertising rather than embracing it.