Programmatic · also called full service
Managed service
Managed service is an arrangement in which an ad tech vendor's own team runs campaigns on the client's behalf, usually for a higher fee than using the platform self-serve.
With managed service, the vendor does the work. The advertiser or agency shares a brief (goals, budget, audience, dates), and the vendor's campaign managers set up, optimise and report. Many DSPs, CTV and retail media platforms, and specialist vendors offer both managed service and self-serve platform options.
Managed service suits advertisers without in-house programmatic skills, complex or new channels, and launches where the vendor's expertise matters. It is usually priced as a higher margin or a fixed CPM that bundles media, data and service.
The risk is transparency. In a managed service, the client may see only a blended price and summary reporting, without knowing what was paid for the media, which sites or apps were used, or how much was filtered as invalid traffic. Buyers commonly ask for placement-level reports and fee breakdowns, and for verification by an independent partner.
Think of it like this
Managed service is like hiring a caterer instead of cooking yourself: easier and often better, but you pay for the service and trust their shopping list.
An example
A brand pays a video vendor a US$18 all-in CPM on a managed-service basis; the vendor buys the media at an average US$11 and keeps the rest for data, service and margin.
Related terms
Self-serve platform
A self-serve platform is an ad buying or selling tool that customers operate themselves through a web interface or API, without the vendor's staff running campaigns for them.
Trading desk
A trading desk is a specialist team, usually inside an agency or advertiser, that plans and executes programmatic buying on DSPs on behalf of campaigns and clients.
DSP (demand-side platform)
A DSP (demand-side platform) is software that advertisers and agencies use to buy ad impressions automatically across many exchanges and publishers, deciding which impressions to bid on and how much.
Insertion order (IO)
An insertion order (IO) is the signed contract between an advertiser or agency and a publisher or vendor, specifying what ads run, where, when, in what volume and at what price.
Ad tech tax
The ad tech tax is the combined share of an advertiser's spend taken by intermediaries, such as agencies, DSPs, data providers, verification vendors and SSPs, before the rest reaches the publisher.