Commentary argues programmatic incentives favor middlemen over advertisers and publishers
· 4h ago · Originally reported by InPublishing
An opinion piece contends that the incentive structures in programmatic advertising reward the intermediaries who run the pipeline rather than the advertisers and publishers it is meant to serve. It frames this as a persistent alignment problem in the supply chain and asks why no participant has pushed seriously to change it.
Why it matters
If intermediaries earn more as more money flows through the system, they have little reason to cut costs or waste. That can leave advertisers and publishers quietly absorbing the difference.
Explain it like I’m new here
It's like a lemonade stand where the person pouring the drinks keeps a cut of every cup — so don't expect them to encourage anyone to buy less.
Read the original at InPublishing
Terms in this story
Programmatic advertising
Programmatic advertising is buying and selling ad space through automated software, usually one impression at a time, instead of through manual negotiations, phone calls and paper contracts.
Advertiser
An advertiser is the company, organisation or person that pays to place ads in order to sell products, build a brand, recruit, or spread a message.
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.
Ad inventory
Ad inventory is the total amount of advertising space a publisher has available to sell, usually counted in impressions across its ad slots, pages, apps or screens.
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