June 17, 2025  |  SIGN UP

Ronan Shields
SENIOR REPORTER, AD TECH

At a recent Digiday virtual townhall held under the Chatham House Rule, media agency professionals discussed the growing uncertainty surrounding demand-side platforms in today’s ad tech landscape.

The session highlighted widespread frustration with platform complexity,  performance gaps, and the lack of differentiation across DSPs, fueling calls for long-overdue consolidation.

Microsoft Advertising’s decision to wind down its Xandr DSP was a key topic, with several participants framing it as one of 2025’s most consequential industry developments.

Attendees debated whether its much-publicized Netflix partnership had inadvertently limited Xandr’s broader market appeal and technical evolution.

Some argued the relationship may have done more harm than good, stalling innovation and stoking executional challenges that discouraged adoption among buyers.

As one agency participant put it, “There were also a lot of issues for those that did activate, and that ultimately reflected most negatively on Xandr, not on Netflix.”

ADVERTISEMENT

THE PROGRAMMATIC MARKETER

‘Xandr DSP took the brunt of the frustration with Netflix’: Overheard at the Digiday virtual town hall

Dynamics in ad tech, particularly within the demand-side platform sector, are in flux, causing media agency practitioners considerable head-scratching. That’s why it’s good to talk with peers. 

DIGIDAY @ CANNES

Amazon and Roku kick off Cannes Lions with DSP tie-up 

Amazon Ads and Roku have announced a partnership that makes the e-commerce giant's demand-side platform the exclusive means of accessing Roku’s CTV advertising inventory via a shared identifier from the duo. 

SPONSORED BY DUN & BRADSTREET

Why the signal crisis demands a smarter identity strategy

Marketers today are operating in the aftermath of a fundamental shift. The signals that once powered precise targeting are disappearing. Regulatory crackdowns, shifts in consumer behavior and changes among major ad platforms have all converged to create a fragmented, foggy view of the customer journey.

MARKETING ON PLATFORMS

Pinterest ramps up programmatic efforts with latest Amazon hire

Pinterest is going all-in on programmatic, and its newest hire, Chip Jessopp, is the tell.

SPONSORED BY ADSTRA

Why business-to-person marketing requires a new identity approach

Managing identity has never been more complex — customer data is fragmented across systems, privacy regulations are tightening and enterprises need different identity capabilities at various stages of their marketing and data strategies. For B2B marketers, this challenge is exacerbated by the difficulty in stitching together business and consumer identities.

Read more

EVOLVING AGENCIES

Why these five possible candidates could take over for outgoing WPP CEO Mark Read

The Mark Read era at WPP is winding down with little spectacle. The company announced he’ll exit at year’s end, closing a chapter on a tenure marked by quiet pragmatism and market erosion.

NAVIGATING ECONOMIC INSTABILITY

WPP Media cuts 2025 ad spend predictions in response to tariff uncertainty

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far, far away from the parent company, WPP Media has downgraded its forecasts for global ad spend growth by 1.7%, a consequence of clients responding en masse to U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade wars.

SPONSORED BY NEXXEN

How integration is amplifying the value of AI in ad tech

Nearly every company is racing to launch AI-powered products, from generative creative tools to predictive models and automated campaign recommendations. But amid the buzzwords and marketing decks, a more important question is overlooked: Is the industry building AI as a transformational amplifier, or is it just adding another shiny feature?