The news: Acxiom integrated its audience data within demand-side platform (DSP) Hawk to power consumer targeting across Hawk’s omnichannel ad inventory, per a press release. The partnership gives brands and agencies access to Acxiom’s trove of third-party audience data to enrich their media strategies using Hawk inventory.

Hawk, owned by digital ad platform Azerion, serves ad inventory across audio, digital out-of-home (DOOH), gaming, connected TV (CTV), and other digital channels. Its clients include OMD, Dentsu, Ikea, and Jeep.

Hawk promotes itself as a less-expensive DSP partner, “offering curation at a fifth of the cost of other DSPs,” per a LinkedIn post. Its supply-side partners include Spotify Ad Exchange, Magnite, and FreeWheel.

Why it matters: Competition from alternative DSPs is growing as advertisers face cost, control, and trust issues from bigger demand-side partners.

• Regulators have accused both Google’s and Amazon’s DSPs of exerting excessive control over advertisers.
• Meanwhile, The Trade Desk (TTD) has lost some industry confidence following poor earnings and a rocky rollout of its Kokai programmatic interface.

The fluctuating ecosystem has emboldened alternative DSPs to try to capitalize on advertisers’ interest in options, per Adweek. With a lower-cost model and a new audience data partner in Acxiom, Hawk could draw more interest from advertisers, but it has a steep road ahead.

Advertisers are still largely partnering with walled gardens versus the open web. We expect US spending for walled garden programmatic digital display ads will climb to $226.68 billion in 2028, greatly overshadowing open web spending’s $52.11 billion.

Recommendations for advertisers: As alternative DSPs ramp up, see where their inventory can address gaps by vetting them against trusted partners.

• Request quotes to verify DSP offerings that are billed as cost-effective. Even TTD is adjusting fees, which could make alternatives less appealing.
• Determine whether inventory from alternative DSPs can help reach quality audiences, and approach these providers as experiments in optionality, not as wholesale replacements to current partners.