Reviews
Part of Reading programmatic advertising with a sceptical eye
Programmatic advertising agencies compared on incentives, not pitch decks
Programmatic agency comparisons turn on how each one earns: disclosed principal buying, seat access, curation, managed service, or undisclosed rebate structures.
What to take away
- Every programmatic advertising agency you shortlist should state in writing whether it buys as agent or principal, and what markup sits on the media. Xaxis buys as principal; Goodway Group sells managed service.
- The Trade Desk and DV360 access can be held directly or through a reseller; the reseller's fee is the difference that rarely appears in a pitch.
- Curation vendors such as DeepSee and Jounce layer data and inventory filters on top of a DSP, and they charge for it.
- A paid pilot on one channel, scored against the same brief for every finalist, tells you more than three reference calls.
- Principal buying shifts risk to the agency, and that is not automatically good for you.
The five models you are actually choosing between
Programmatic agencies differ less by service list than by where the money comes from. Five models cover most of the market, and named shops sit in each one.
Five Programmatic Agency Models
Managed service
- Where money comes from
- Media % plus platform fee
- Who runs the account
- Agency inside major DSP
- What changes
- Execution, platform access
- Named shops
- Goodway, Kinesso
Trading desk
- Where money comes from
- Margin inside media cost
- Who runs the account
- Agency through own seat
- What changes
- Principal buying, resale
- Named shops
- Xaxis, Dentsu
Curation/data
- Where money comes from
- Media % or CPM uplift
- Who runs the account
- Buyer still runs account
- What changes
- Inventory, identity, context
- Named shops
- DeepSee, Jounce
Retail/commerce
- Where money comes from
- Platform % plus retainer
- Who runs the account
- Agency around retail DSP
- What changes
- Retail signal access
- Named shops
- Tinuiti, Flywheel, Pacvue
Managed service on a major DSP. The agency runs your account inside The Trade Desk, DV360 or Amazon DSP and charges a percentage of media plus a platform fee. Public rate cards are rare; percentages are negotiated.
Typical managed service fees in the US land between 10 and 20 percent of media spend, lower at the top end of spend, and some shops charge a flat retainer instead. Ask which platform costs pass through at cost and which carry a markup.
Goodway Group works this way across those three DSPs. Kinesso, which absorbed IPG's Matterkind programmatic brand in 2023, sells the same service inside a wider data and technology contract.
Independent trading desk. The agency buys through its own seat and resells inventory to you. This is principal buying, and the margin sits inside the media cost rather than on a separate line.
Principal margin is rarely itemized, so compare the effective CPM against a managed-service quote on the same inventory.
Xaxis, WPP's GroupM trading desk, and Dentsu's principal buying teams work this way. Publicis Media Exchange negotiates supply terms on behalf of Publicis agencies instead.
Curation and data layer. DeepSee and Jounce package inventory, identity and contextual signals for buyers, typically priced as a percentage of media or a CPM uplift. They change what you can buy, not who runs the account.
Typical curation fees run about 5 to 15 percent of media, or a CPM uplift quoted in dollars per thousand impressions. The number depends on data rights and how narrow the filters are.
Retail and commerce specialist. Agencies built around Amazon DSP, Walmart Connect or Criteo sell retail signal access. Fees usually combine a platform percentage with a management retainer. Tinuiti, Flywheel Digital, which Omnicom bought in 2024, and Pacvue are common shortlist names.
In-house enablement. Some agencies license their seat, train your team and step back. The fee is a license plus setup, and the tradeoff is control against headcount. Kepler and Jellyfish both sell this mix of managed service and in-housing support.
The named shops, sorted by how each one gets paid:
The five models
| Agency | Incentive model | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
| Xaxis (GroupM, WPP) | Principal buyer; margin sits inside the media price | Written principal status, markup disclosure, audit rights |
| Kinesso (IPG) | Managed service; Matterkind folded in during 2023 | Which entity invoices media, which holds the seat |
| Publicis Media Exchange | Group trading arm that negotiates supply deals | Whether your agency or PMX holds the contract |
| Criteo | Commerce media platform, charged on clicks and conversions | Retail data permissions and exclusivity terms |
| Tinuiti | Commerce agency fee plus platform spend on Amazon, Walmart and Target | Retail media mix, fees and reporting lines |
| Flywheel Digital (Omnicom) | Amazon and Walmart commerce operations plus advertising | Split of scope between ads and retail operations |
| Pacvue | Retail media software sold with managed service on Amazon, Walmart and Instacart | Software fee against service fee |
| Goodway Group | Managed service on The Trade Desk, DV360 and Amazon DSP | Who owns the seat, the data and the logs |
| Kepler | In-housing support and managed service | Handover terms, training and exit |
Score each finalist on five incentive criteria
The Association of National Advertisers published principal media governance guidance in March 2026, drawn from 114 client-side marketer responses. It recommends explicit contract treatment and internal approval when an agency resells inventory. The survey does not rank agencies.
Five incentive criteria
| Criterion | Evidence to request | Pilot test |
|---|---|---|
| Buying status | Written confirmation of agent or principal status, markup disclosure and audit rights | Price the same inventory with a principal desk and a managed service shop |
| Fee structure | Fee schedule showing media percentage, platform costs and any retainer | Compare effective CPM after fee against your current vendor |
| Data and seat ownership | Contract clause naming who holds the DSP seat, the logs and the audience data | Ask for a full log export on the last day of the pilot |
| Named team | Trader names, escalation path, backup coverage | Interview the trader who would run the account |
| Exit terms | Notice period, data portability, migration and termination fees | Run a tabletop exit test with your own team |
Score Agency Incentives
- Commercial modelagent or principal status, fees, markups, rebates, taxes
- Supplypublishers, sellers, curation, remediation
- Datasources, permissions, identity, retention, deletion
- Measurementdefinitions, vendors, experiments, limits
- Ownershipaccounts, contracts, IDs, logs, exports
Use one brief, one data room and one scoring sheet for every finalist. Separate pass or fail gates from weighted preferences. A polished deck does not show you the traders who will run the account.
Put the terms in the contract
The 4A's commentary covers the ANA media buying agreement. It addresses these areas:
Contract Terms to Verify
- Supply-chain parties
- Data
- Reporting
- Conflicts
- Principal status
- Rebates
- Audit rights
- Liability
It is agency-association guidance, not a binding standard or legal advice, so route the final wording through your own counsel.
The contract also decides how paid media attribution credit rules get applied when platform numbers and finance numbers disagree.
- Verify the assigned team and its backup coverage
- Call current and former clients on comparable spend
- Inspect sample reports, logs, invoices and incident notes
- Price media, technology, data, creative, labor, migration and exit
- Require correction, credit, audit and termination procedures
Test agency claims before you repeat them
An agency performance number needs a reasonable basis before you repeat it: see the FTC advertising substantiation policy and the FTC guidance on soliciting and paying for reviews. Ask how the agency handles the common programmatic advertising questions on fees and supply paths, and read programmatic advertising with a sceptical eye rather than accept a claim without a method.
Common questions
Is the largest agency the safest choice?
No. Scale can buy access and resilience, but fit still turns on incentives, controls, the named team and the exit terms. A mid-size desk with a clear agent model can beat a large principal buyer on total cost. Run a managed-service shop and a principal desk against the same brief first.
Should an agency buy media as principal?
Sometimes. It can shift inventory risk to the agency and simplify billing. Require status, rationale, approval and disclosure in writing, and review it with counsel. Xaxis and other principal desks sell on exactly those terms.
How long should a pilot run?
A typical pilot runs 60 to 90 days, with media and fee budget of about $25,000 to $75,000 per finalist. Long enough to see representative delivery and a mature conversion window, short enough to cap cost and dependency.
Set the end date and the success measures before launch, and hold the agency to the same brief your other finalists got.
