You Down With DBE?
There’s a new type of DSP
But it’s hard to put a finger on what exactly distinguishes the DSP category.
It encompasses startups like Pontiac Intelligence and products like Comcast-owned Universal Ads, not to mention pureplays like Viant – all platforms that operate at dramatically lower take rates than The Trade Desk or Google DV360, which pay to scan the full universe of RTB impressions.
By that definition – low take rates and direct supply access – even Amazon DSP could fit the bill, although it’s an old-school DSP at heart, writes Pontiac CEO Keith Gooberman in an ExchangeWire editorial. He also lumps in direct-to-advertiser SSP businesses. Magnite has ClearLine, after all, PubMatic has Activate, and Index Exchange just launched Index Cloud.
And so Gooberman proposes a new three-letter acronym, direct booking engine (DBE), to describe the evolved DSP form.
“Up until recently, many agencies would not entertain calls with new DSPs,” Gooberman writes.
That’s still largely true, but the dynamic has started to change. Sophisticated buyers are now asking whether a platform built on top of another company’s infrastructure qualifies as a DSP at all.
You Just Lost The Game
Businesses have tried all sorts of cringeworthy or downright unethical practices to attract AI search traffic.
One such tactic, the self-promotional listicle, has been identified by LLMs now, which will hopefully put an end to the practice. Others include fake reviews, fake social conversations and astroturfed Reddit threads.
Lily Ray, VP of SEO and AI search at Amsive and founder of SEO & AI search consulting company Algorythmic, says the AI engines have caught on and many such crude early efforts no longer work.
The search engines are also responding. Google SEO observers have noted high search volatility over the past week or two, enough to indicate a core search update is underway. The search engine has been responding to traffic and site-ranking problems since its 2024 core updates reshaped how sites rank in the LLM era.
“People are always trying to find ways to game the system and find shortcuts,” Optimizely President Shafqat Islam tells AdExchanger, but LLMs are smart and will quickly stop surfacing that content.
Trying to “trick” the models is a “myopic game,” adds Leah Nurik, CEO and co-founder of AEO platform Brandi. The algorithms “penalize trickery,” she says. “So why would you do it?”
Hard Candy
M&M’s are an American classic. They were created during World War II as a chocolate that wouldn’t melt. Eventually, “M’s” were added to distinguish the brand from copycats. Some 50 years later, M&M’s added blue to the rotation after a big marketing campaign where people voted for their favorite new color.
Now, M&M’s are adapting to new health and regulatory regimes. Namely, the Mars-owned brand is trying to switch from artificial dyes to natural food colors – and blue is impossible, as The Wall Street Journal reports.
There are 100 people at M&M’s tasked with the natural color transition, with one-quarter of them just trying to figure out blue. (Turns out, without blue there’s no brown, and a bag of yellow, red and orange M&M’s clocks as tropical.) Meanwhile, some 300 machines must be overhauled to accommodate the algae gumming of spirulina for the blue coloring.
These overhauls really come down to two things: consumer psychology and the ability to target health-related retail media keyword searches. Which is why Amazon, where search intent and purchase behavior are tightly linked, is an obvious testing ground.
In order to test sales and collect feedback on the new M&M coatings, naturally dyed M&M’s will at first be sold exclusively on Amazon.
But Wait! There’s More!
Yahoo DSP is launching an “agent network.” [Digiday]
WPP is teaming up with big-name CTV platforms to draft agentic video standards; it’s also launching its own video-buying agent. [Adweek]
Here’s how brands took advantage of the Knicks NBA championship parade in NYC on Thursday. [Ad Age]
President Trump frequently mocked fawning text messages sent to him by tech titans Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, as they tried to curry favor with his administration. [Wired]
If AI is sentient, then so is the game “Age Of Empires II,” argues a Microsoft AI researcher. [404 Media]
What’s next for Netflix in terms of growth? [TheWrap]
You’re Hired!
Mobile marketing agency Moburst names Robert Lee, the creative director behind Capital One’s “What’s in your wallet?” campaign, as VP of branding. [release]
Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
