Bits and Bobs from around the industry:
In a shrinking marketplace, Magnite explores media trading without DSPs | Digiday
The article reports on Magnite’s efforts to explore media trading without using demand-side platforms (DSPs), which have been a dominant force in programmatic advertising. Magnite, an independent sell-side advertising platform, is developing its own “supply-path optimization” (SPO) tool to help publishers better control the flow of their inventory and reduce reliance on DSPs. This move comes as the programmatic advertising market faces challenges such as ad fraud and increased regulations, causing some advertisers to question the value of DSPs. However, some industry experts believe that completely bypassing DSPs may not be feasible or desirable for all publishers and advertisers.
Publishers Call Out Ad-Tech Firms’ Sale of Contextual Data as IP Theft | AdWeek
The article reports that some publishers are accusing ad tech firms of stealing their contextual data and selling it as proprietary information. Contextual data is information about the content on a publisher’s site, which can be used to target ads to relevant audiences. Publishers argue that this data is their intellectual property and that ad tech firms are taking advantage of their hard work in creating high-quality content. Some ad tech firms defend their actions, saying that they are not stealing anything, but rather collecting data that is publicly available. However, publishers are pushing back and calling for greater transparency and control over how their data is being used.
UK publishers sue Google for $4.2 billion in lost ad revenue | Search Engine Land
The article reports that a group of UK publishers are suing Google for allegedly abusing its market dominance to reduce competition and drive down ad prices, resulting in lost ad revenue for the publishers. The lawsuit, which is seeking up to £3.2 billion (approximately $4.2 billion) in damages, alleges that Google violated UK competition law by controlling the technology used to buy and sell ads and using its power to favor its own ad exchange. The lawsuit is being supported by the News Media Association, which represents many of the UK’s major news publishers. Google has denied the allegations and plans to defend itself against the lawsuit.
