Ten Questions to Ask Your DSP Before You Spend a Dollar
The ten questions app growth teams should ask a demand-side platform (DSP) before they spend a dollar, what a strong answer sounds like and when to keep asking.
Ask a demand-side platform (DSP) what it optimizes to, where your ads will run, how it handles invalid traffic, how fast it moves spend when performance drops and who owns your account. A strong partner answers each one in a sentence with a number, a timeframe or a name. If an answer needs a slide deck, keep asking.
I spent several years on the monetization side of mobile before joining Playdigo, watching where advertiser budgets end up once they leave the IO. These are the questions I'd want answered before signing one. Bring them to your next evaluation and hold every partner to them, us included.
The ten questions at a glance
- Which event do you optimize to and does it come from my MMP? A strong answer names your MMP event.
- How long is the learning period and what do you need from me? A strong answer gives a number of days and a weekly volume of events.
- When performance drops, where does my spend go and how fast do you move it? A strong answer gives a timeframe, the signal they watch and the person who decides.
- Where will my ads run? A strong answer includes reporting by app or publisher.
- How do you filter invalid traffic and who verifies it? A strong answer covers filtering before and after the bid, plus an independent certification.
- Who builds the creative and how is it tested? A strong answer includes variations per placement, tested against your KPI.
- Will your numbers reconcile with my MMP? A strong answer is yes, plus the name of the person who fixes it when they drift.
- What's in the weekly report? A strong answer covers spend, your KPI, source and creative mix, what changed and what's next.
- Who is my day-to-day contact and what do they own? A strong answer is a named person who knows your KPIs.
- How do you run and measure CTV for app campaigns? A strong answer judges CTV on the same MMP events as mobile.
Questions about optimization
1. Which event do you optimize to and does it come from my MMP?
Start here. A DSP that optimizes to its own clicks or installs while your business runs on purchases or trials will get very good at finding the wrong users. A strong answer names your MMP event, such as a first purchase, a trial start or a D7 revenue threshold. It also confirms the postbacks flow straight from your MMP.
2. How long is the learning period and what do you need from me?
Every algorithm needs conversion data before it can optimize. A strong answer gives you a number of days and the weekly volume of events it needs to get there. For reference, Meta puts its own learning phase at roughly 50 optimization events a week per ad set. A strong answer also tells you what to send on day one, from events and creative to any first-party audiences you're comfortable sharing. A vague answer here usually means the budget gets spent on learning.
3. When performance drops, where does my spend go and how fast do you move it?
If I could only ask one question, it would be this one. Curves bend and sources that worked last week stop working. A strong answer has a timeframe in it, names the signal they watch and names the person on their team who makes the call. The signal should be your MMP events. "The algorithm optimizes automatically" describes a feature. Someone still has to notice when the curve bends and decide what happens next.
Questions about where your ads run
4. Where will my ads run?
You should see performance by app or publisher, not only by campaign. Source-level reporting is how you and your partner decide together which supply earns more budget and how you question a result that looks off.
5. How do you filter invalid traffic and who verifies it?
Invalid traffic is still a big share of mobile supply. Pixalate measured it at 24% of US programmatic mobile app impressions in Q3 2025, compared with 18% on CTV. On the install side, AppsFlyer found Android install fraud held between 14% and 15% through 2025. iOS fell from 17.5% to 11.7% between Q1 2025 and Q1 2026.
Ask what gets filtered before the bid, what gets caught after it and which independent body certifies the process. TAG certification is one standard to look for. Then ask how invalid traffic is credited back to you when something slips through.
6. Who builds the creative and how is it tested?
In-app placements reward creative made for them. A strong partner builds variations for every format from banners to playables and tests them against your KPI so each round beats the last. Ask how many variations they launch with and how often they refresh.
Questions about reporting
7. Will your numbers reconcile with my MMP?
They should, within a margin you agree up front. Ask who on their team reconciles source-level reporting against your MMP and what happens when the numbers drift. Two sets of numbers turn every weekly call into an audit.
8. What's in the weekly report?
A good weekly report covers spend, your KPI against target, the source and creative mix, what changed this week and why, plus the plan for next week. Ask to see a real one, anonymized, before you sign.
Questions about the people
9. Who is my day-to-day contact and what do they own?
Software runs the bidding. People decide what to test, what to cut and when to scale. A strong answer is a named person who knows your KPIs, reviews your account with you every week and picks up the phone. Ask to meet them before the IO.
10. How do you run and measure CTV for app campaigns?
CTV drives installs and revenue for apps when it's measured like every other channel. A strong answer ties CTV exposure back to your MMP events so you judge it on the same KPI as mobile. Ask for a CTV result from an app advertiser rather than a brand campaign.
How Playdigo answers them
We optimize PlayDSP campaigns on your MMP events through full integrations with AppsFlyer, Adjust, Singular, Branch and Kochava. We're TAG certified and our team reconciles source-level reporting against your MMP. Every advertiser works with a named account lead and our Performance Lab, the strategists, creatives and analysts who review your account with you each week and move spend toward what converts.
Here's how Alyssa Griffith, Director of Account Management at Consumable, describes working with our team.
“Playdigo has been a great partner to work with over the past couple years. The team is highly responsive, easy to collaborate with, and consistently focused on driving results. We’ve seen strong performance growth together.”
You can see the results in our case studies and the full test plan in Is There an Alternative to Meta Ads for App Installs?
FAQ
What is the most important question to ask a DSP?
Ask where your spend goes when performance drops and how fast they move it. The answer tells you whether anyone is watching your account and whether optimization runs on your numbers.
What is demand-side platform advertising?
A demand-side platform lets advertisers buy ad placements across many apps and publishers through real-time auctions. For app marketers, a DSP extends reach beyond the walled gardens and optimizes bids toward installs, purchases or revenue measured by an MMP.
What should a DSP report to an advertiser each week?
Spend, the KPI against target, performance by source and creative, what changed and why, plus the plan for the following week. Every number should reconcile with your MMP.
How do you compare DSPs during an evaluation?
Ask every DSP the same ten questions. Run the strongest two through a 30-day test on the same KPI and MMP events, then compare cohort quality and incremental lift rather than install volume.
Bring these to your next call
If you're picking partners for 2027, bring these questions to us first. Message me on LinkedIn or reach the team at playdigo.com/contact.
