A leaked Adweek-reviewed file details how The Trade Desk partners with 49 retailers worldwide to sell ad placements built on shopper data. The document reveals steep markups and inconsistent rules: Albertsons charges up to 45% of media costs, Best Buy limits custom audiences, Costco sets $100K minimums, and Walmart imposes fees capped at $3.50 CPMs plus measurement charges. Other retailers add restrictions around ad categories or approvals. The leak highlights both the value and complexity of retail media as brands chase audience targeting tied directly to transactions. Transparency remains a challenge, with costs and conditions varying widely by partner.

The news: Despite the shift toward programmatic advertising, a study from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) identified a lingering issue with the trend: The growth of wasted ad spending. The amount of wasted ad spend in programmatic advertising has risen 34% in two years, up to $26.8 billion from $20 billion in June 2023. Our take: The efficiency and growing relevance of programmatic comes with brand safety trade-offs, making transparency and stronger verification a prerequisite for sustained investment.

The Trade Desk will join the S&P 500 on July 18, a milestone that highlights the company’s growing importance in the ad tech space. TTD has recently introduced tools like Deal Desk and AI-powered video placements via Kokai and Rembrand, all while vocally criticizing Amazon’s bundling practices. Despite a 30% YTD decline in stock price, the company’s Q1 revenue rose 25%, and retention remained above 95%. With Ventura OS on the horizon and renewed leadership in place, TTD is positioning itself as a transparent, open-web alternative to Big Tech’s walled gardens—just as it prepares to enter a new phase of institutional visibility.

The news: Amazon will bring inventory from Roku to its demand-side platform (DSP), the two announced at Cannes Lions, starting in Q4 2025. Our take: Amazon’s Roku partnership is a well-timed announcement to convince advertisers to stick with their CTV ecosystems even amid tightening budgets.

Programmatic ad buying is undergoing a sea change: Microsoft’s DSP closure signals a smaller role for Big Tech in managing third-party ad inventory—so who will take its place?

The news: Quality control is a growing fear for advertisers as an Adweek investigation found ads from major brands appeared near offensive and inappropriate content. Ads from brands like Amazon and Verizon were found near sexual or racially offensive content on the Android short-form video app XShorts. Our take: Advertisers are increasingly faced with a digital landscape where programmatic ad buying lacks the quality control required to keep up with rapid innovation and demand for ad space—prompting renewed calls for transparency, verification, and human oversight in automated systems.

Amazon’s retail media ad revenues will exceed $60 billion, per WARC: The change represents its steady growth despite broader economic setbacks.

Lawmakers pressure Amazon into improving ad transparency: A bipartisan letter stemming from Adalytics highlighted quality issues with DSPs.

The Trade Desk misses big in Q4: Results landed far below expectations, but a busy 2025 lies ahead.

The Trade Desk bolsters its data by acquiring Sincera: The deal hints at a future for DSPs, which face increased competition from sellers.

The Trade Desk unveils a CTV operating system: The move thrusts the DSP provider into direct competition with leading CTV device manufacturers.

Google and the DOJ go to court for a second time: Another antitrust lawsuit alleges that Google runs a programmatic display ad monopoly.

Kroger Precision Marketing, Kroger’s retail media network, has partnered with Yahoo Advertising to enable advertisers using Yahoo’s DSP to leverage Kroger’s first-party data to reach a more targeted audience.

Disney and NBCU signal a major shift in CTV ad buys: Both are working with The Trade Desk to make inventory available programmatically.

Amazon to shutter Amazon Ad Server by 2024, focusing on growing other ad services: Reflects a strategic shift towards more promising advertising technologies.

Advertisers say Google is underselling its ad inflation: The DOJ’s suit against Google revealed that the company quietly raised prices as much as 10%.

With some legacy identifiers already in the history books and the rest on the chopping block, the digital ad industry is finally getting serious about adopting targeting and measurement practices that don’t rely on cookies and mobile IDs.

Apple will use its gains from AppTrackingTransparency to launch a demand-side platform, and QR-launched augmented reality will help rejuvenate out-of-home advertising. Find out what else our analysts predict will impact mobile advertising this year.

Latin America’s digital economy is proving resilient despite macroeconomic headwinds. In 2023, marketers and advertisers will focus on reaching consumers across retail media, livestreaming ecommerce, and ad-supported video streaming.

Smartphones will play an even bigger role in 2023, connecting devices and experiences while advertisers adjust to a world with less user data.