Concerns Raised Over Agentic Buying Repeating Programmatic Ad Tech Tax Issues
· 2h ago · Originally reported by Digital Content Next
A new article highlights worries that agentic buying—using AI agents to purchase ads—could replicate the high fees and lack of transparency seen in programmatic advertising. The discussion references a 2020 study by ISBA and PwC that quantified how much advertiser spend actually reaches publishers.
Why it matters
This matters because if agentic buying inherits the same inefficiencies as programmatic, publishers and advertisers may continue to lose significant value to intermediaries, undermining trust and profitability in digital advertising.
Explain it like I’m new here
It's like using a robot to buy snacks for you, but most of your money goes to middlemen instead of getting you more snacks.
Read the original at Digital Content Next
Terms in this story
Creative
A creative is the actual ad content a person sees or hears, such as an image, video, audio spot, HTML5 animation or native text, delivered into an ad slot.
Ad tech
Ad tech is the software and infrastructure that decides which ad appears where, buys and sells that ad space, delivers the ad, and measures what happened afterwards.
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.
Publisher
A publisher is any owner of content or a digital property, such as a website, app, streaming service, podcast or screen network, that earns money by selling ad space to advertisers.
Go deeper
Related stories
ZEE5 Introduces Audience Platform to Enhance Ad Targeting Capabilities
ZEE5 has launched a new audience platform designed to improve how advertisers target viewers on its streaming service. The platform aims to provide more precise audience segmentation for digital ad campaigns.
Zee5 and Saptharushi Partner to Enhance Digital Advertising Offerings
Zee5 and Saptharushi have announced a collaboration aimed at boosting their digital advertising capabilities. The partnership is expected to improve ad delivery and targeting across Zee5's digital platforms.
X Expands Lead-Generation Ad Format Access to All Advertisers
X has announced that its lead-generation ad products are now available to all advertisers on its platform. This move broadens access beyond select partners, enabling more businesses to collect customer information directly within X ads.
AlikeAudience and Index Exchange Partner to Expand Audience Activation in North America and APAC
AlikeAudience has formed a partnership with Index Exchange to enhance audience activation capabilities across North America and the Asia-Pacific region. This collaboration aims to improve how advertisers reach and engage specific audiences…
Microsoft Audience Ads Add Targeting by Specific LinkedIn Job Roles
Microsoft Audience Ads now allow advertisers to target their campaigns exclusively to selected LinkedIn job roles. This update does not affect Search, Shopping, or Dynamic Search Ads, which remain bid-only for B2B targeting using LinkedIn…
US Pop-Under Ad Rates on PPCmate Far Exceed Pakistan's, Mobile Tops Desktop
A recent analysis of PPCmate's pop-under ad rates shows that US traffic costs 28 times more than Pakistan's, with mobile impressions averaging $2.09 CPM compared to $1.34 on desktop. The data is based on a one-month sample from a single ad…