The open internet is at a turning point.
Our ecosystem needs transparency, accountability and collaboration from the buy side and the sell side if we are to truly thrive.
Industry leaders recognize this reality, including The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green and JWX (formerly JWP Connatix) CEO John Nardone. Both have weighed in on how the open web got to this point and how to fix it. And neither has been shy about pointing out where they disagree. It’s part of an ongoing exchange between thought leaders ever since The Trade Desk made the change to classify all SSPs as resellers.
But the real challenge for anyone whose business depends on a healthy open web isn’t internal disagreement; it’s competing with the walled gardens and other advertising mediums. The path forward is not about choosing sides; it is about aligning around a shared vision for the open web that is clean, direct, verifiable and built for sustainability.
Unauthorized ID stuffing, rampant reselling and misaligned signals inflict incredible damage on the trust and performance of the ecosystem. If open web publishers want to compete with the $100+ billion that the walled gardens attract (because of aspects like clarity of environment, precision targeting and relatively simple performance measurement), we must raise our standards.
Facebook does not have higher-quality content than any reputable publisher on the open internet. Yet Facebook continues to attract buyers because they know exactly what they’re bidding on, and the experience is far simpler than dealing with the complexities of the open internet. If we are going to thrive, we have to provide a superior, alternative offering that is rooted in that same transparency and accountability.
Our north star: radical transparency
The buy side, the supply side and our technology partners need to work in concert to build an infrastructure that allows for granular targeting and accurate measurement, while preserving the diversity and innovation that define the open internet. That requires collective action.
1. Champion greater auction integrity. We must collaborate on industrywide solutions that include:
- Auction code attestation: a method to prove that the auction code being executed is unaltered and authentic.
- Auction integrity signature: a mechanism to provide evidence of tampering with a bid request, such as modifying a Transaction ID (TID).
- TID compatibility: A commitment to ensuring TIDs are properly aligned with the OpenRTB specification to ensure end-to-end trackability.
These basic guardrails will help us eliminate inefficiencies and create a more transparent and equitable marketplace.
2. Establish reciprocal, demand-side transparency. Transparency is a two-way street. To allow for end-to-end visibility, we need:
- A standardized mechanism to confirm the bid prices submitted by DSPs, regardless of the path they take to reach the publisher.
- The universal adoption of a persistent buyer ID in bid requests to empower the supply side to partner with DSPs to finally eradicate malvertising and ensure that only legitimate, trusted advertisers are participating in auctions on our publishers’ sites.
The supply side alone will not fix the system. There must be a reciprocal commitment to transparency from the buy side.
3. Unite on the future of identity and targeting. Our partially cookied world requires a collaborative approach. We must accelerate our support for open-source and interoperable identity and contextual frameworks that allow for effective targeting and measurement across the open internet, providing a real alternative to the data advantages of walled gardens.
A more collaborative path forward
Bad actors have no place in our ecosystem. Rooting them out is essential. By working together on these concrete steps, we can build the direct, clean and accountable supply paths that benefit everyone.
Rather than assigning blame, we should focus our collective energy on collaboration and progress. The future of the open internet depends on it.
“The Sell Sider” is a column written by the sell side of the digital media community.
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