AI agents and so-called “super signal aggregators” are being framed as the saviors of premium publishers and advertisers who prioritize high-quality media. But these technologies could perpetuate programmatic’s worst practices.
If we’re to leave behind the third-party cookie era, the rest of the ecosystem must reassert the role it plays in setting the agenda.
The programmatic open marketplace is designed to sustain the business models of ad tech, agencies and consultancies, rather than serving the interests of advertisers, audiences and media owners. It cannot be fixed. It must be rebuilt.
Google is keeping third-party cookies in Chrome, and here’s what ad tech Twitter (X, whatever), has to say about it.
Many in the digital advertising industry truly want to do better. But there are imminent obstacles that need to be tackled if we want to move from words to deeds.
If advertisers feel like they need to go out of their way to support journalism, that is proof the programmatic open marketplace is broken. Yet we can’t place all the responsibility on the buy-side; media owners need to develop effective strategies to support themselves.
For both premium publishers and MFA, monetization boils down to an endless quest for scale and shallow insights into their audiences that can be turned into ad revenue.
How retailers and ad tech interact will determine whether retail media can avoid the same predatory practices that have led to traditional media becoming commoditized.
Rather than allowing an ecosystem in which all media is interchangeable to remain the default, media owners must differentiate themselves to maximize their value to readers and advertisers.
Yahoo pulling the plug on its SSP demonstrates how difficult it’s become for supply-side platforms to prove their value in a commoditized marketplace.
