When every agency can access the same video inventory through the same intermediaries, how do you create meaningful differentiation for your clients?
This question is driving a fundamental shift in how media investment leaders approach video supply paths. As fragmentation increases across online video (OLV), connected TV (CTV), and digital out-of-home (DOOH), who you buy from matters just as much as what you buy—and those with direct paths to premium inventory gain advantages their competitors can't match.
Despite economic headwinds, total U.S. digital video ad spend is projected to reach $72B in 2025. Often comprising the biggest line-item in any media budget, agency leaders face mounting pressure to maximize these investments and demonstrate value beyond efficiency. Let’s take a closer look.
The great convergence: How agency trading desks are adapting
Programmatic is undergoing a fundamental reset in how ad tech partners transact. Recent industry acquisitions are blurring the lines between buying and selling platforms, ushering in a new era of supply path optimization (SPO). Agency trading desks are also getting fed up with the risk and fraud of resold inventory, which now comprises nearly 30% of mobile app traffic and 18% of the CTV bid stream. As much as $.40 of every $1 in spend toward resellers goes to mysterious middlemen.
Rather than manage relationships with dozens of SSPs—many accessing the same inventory—top agencies are prioritizing fewer, more integrated platforms that offer direct paths to publishers and media owners. Leaders are asking deeper questions like:
- Which partners provide truly unique value that can't be accessed elsewhere?
- Which relationships deliver the best balance of scale, quality, and efficiency?
- How can direct relationships support future-proof targeting as privacy regulations evolve?
The ad server advantage: Why direct control points matter
If SPO was originally a technical exercise to eliminate bad actors and the "ad tech tax,” it now helps agencies drive strategic advantages – by establishing more direct relationships with platforms that control the ad server, rather than merely accessing it through intermediaries. Here are a few other advantages:
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Priority access to premium inventory
As competition for premium video placements intensifies, direct relationships ensure agencies can access the most valuable impressions first. This is crucial in high-demand environments like CTV, where inventory scarcity drives up prices for those without preferential access.
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Enhanced data and targeting capabilities
Direct supply paths preserve critical signals that often get lost or diluted through lengthy supply chains. Agency trading desks with direct relationships gain access to richer contextual data, first-party audience signals, and placement-specific attributes that drive targeting precision.
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Greater operational control
Direct paths give agencies more control over how they execute clients' campaigns, from creative rendering to frequency management. This control translates to improved brand safety, better user experiences, and more predictable campaign outcomes.
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Improved working media efficiency
By going direct, agencies eliminate redundant fees and intermediaries, allowing more client dollars to work directly in-market and scale across quality inventory without prohibitive CPM price inflation. These optimized paths deliver measurable improvements across key metrics, from enhanced viewability and completion rates to stronger engagement and conversion outcomes.
Optimizing deal types by campaign objective
For each video campaign, advertisers must also find the right balance of deal structures. While preferred agreements with direct-path partners may come with premium pricing, it can be economically advantageous for high-value inventory where competition is fierce.
The most sophisticated agencies are aligning deal structures with specific campaign objectives, recognizing that different goals require different approaches. For example:
- Brand awareness campaigns: Prioritizing premium placements through preferred deals and programmatic guaranteed
- Performance campaigns: Utilizing private marketplace deals with advanced audience targeting
- Reach extension: Supplementing with open exchange buying guided by strong brand safety protocols
Embracing a tiered approach to buying video helps agencies deliver better outcomes while maintaining cost efficiency—a critical differentiator in competitive pitches.
The path forward for agency investment leaders
Securing priority access to premium video inventory will only get more competitive in the years ahead. Now is the time for media and advertising leaders to take control of their video strategy.
The strategic advantages of direct path optimization translate into measurable benefits that go far beyond traditional efficiency metrics, enabling agencies to:
- Deliver superior outcomes across the full funnel
- Improve working media efficiency and eliminate fees
- Build proprietary access to premium video inventory
- Avoid the “too good to be true” risks of resold inventory
- Enable advanced creative and privacy-safe data capabilities
- Demonstrate clear, measurable value to client CMOs and procurement teams
Investment leaders who develop a sophisticated supply path strategy today will be best positioned to succeed in the increasingly complex video landscape of tomorrow.
Is your video strategy built for what's next?
Download our industry guide, "Mastering the Multiscreen Mix: Smarter Buying Strategies for Agency Decision Makers” for a detailed framework of tiered video strategies, specific questions to ask supply partners, future-proof targeting approaches, and other ways top agencies build sustainable advantages for their clients.
