Last month, media buyers participating in the Digiday programmatic marketing summit expressed the desire to assess their DSP partnerships and to explore opportunities to move more expenses to more favorable platforms, that is to say transparent, which align better with customer needs.

Many wanted to explore the impact of trends, such as the rise of Amazon DSP in the advertising technology market (in particular its potential to undermine market leaders, including trade and Google DV 360), if with fervor that a virtual monitoring session was requested.

You will find below direct quotes of the participants in the media agency of a virtual town hall carried out under the rule of Chatham House on June 6, where discussions included the analysis of the risk of leaders of the market leaders, as well as the potential consolidation (well necessary) on the DSP market.

Why Microsoft closes Xandr’s DSP

The closure pending Microsoft Advertising of its Xandr DSP was undoubtedly one of the THE Top Ad Tech Stories of 2025, offering expansion opportunities for small players while the giant of software recalibbs its wider media offer. Participants in Townhall shared information on how Microsoft Advertising’s flagship relationship with Netflix may have hampered its advertising technology more than it has helped.

“I recently talked with someone to Xandr, and they told me that the whole initiative was a massive failure for various reasons,” noted a participant, observing how many advertisers believed that the Netflix inventory was “emerging and expensive”, which led to a low competition at the launch.

“There have also been many problems for those who activated, and who ultimately reflected the most negatively on Xandr, not on Netflix,” added the source, noting how much selected waiting on the streaming service to “become cheaper” and offer more measurement capacities. “Xandr gained the weight of frustration, so finally, it was a big loss for them.”

The climb of Amazon ads is healthy, but ultimately frightening

A more subtle story of recent years has been the constant rise in Amazon DSP, the electronic commerce giant is now classified as the third DSP behind Google and trade.

According to the participants, the services of supply platforms on the side of the Amazon for publishers are a large competitive advantage, in particular in the event of a number two link of the Trade Desk on the market, even if it is “still a little stuck with gum and glue”.

“They haven’t really marketed their open market capacities, and they are still trying to solve it, but they give you the Amazon Marketing Cloud data with which to play,” said the offer at Google DV 360. “These data will be always more precise because it is declared data in the first parts compared to these third -party additions that you must synchronize with UID2.”

Separate participants noted how Amazon advertisements “are always a work in progress”. However, he has the resources to evolve quickly once he organizes his operational problems. However, many are wary of creating “another Google”, that is to say an inflexible giant who knows that advertisers cannot really afford to omit from advertising campaigns. “Amazon is not on our side,” observed a source. “They are only for themselves, and they will do absolutely everyone as much as they can, the time has come.”

Google The market manager is late in customer satisfaction

The extent of customer dissatisfaction with Google was highlighted in evidence broadcast during the antitrust trial last year. Although many testimonies came from the sale of industry, participants in the virtual town hall demonstrated that it was reflected from the purchase.

“You do not get much support unless you spend millions, millions and millions of dollars a month,” said a source, “even if you spend 100 million dollars for Google, they still send you center items when you raise a problem of assistance.”

Several participants have expressed their hope that Amazon’s customer’s client’s obsession (in his consumer -oriented business) will be reflected in his pursuit of first place on Madison Avenue, such as a way to differentiate himself from Google.

A participant noted the perceived lack of customer support for advertisers, saying: “Google expired everything [support] The team a few years ago, now, you have to go through supporter or post -e -mail dealers to one place – God knows where – and that never works. When you reach someone, he just read the same articles in the help center and repeat it.

However, in many cases, media buyers will support pain because Google has the operating inventory. However, some monitor the developments in its antitrust ad tech procedure, because potential divestment could change this tolerance. “If they should be severe DV 360, it could really shake the DSP market, because if it is cut off from Google data, then what is its real value?” asked for an executive.

The Trade Desk is the most sophisticated, but these prices …

Participants at the Town Hall at the Town Hall of last month called the “Spirit Airlines of the DSP World” commercial office, relieving the campaign accusations to its spiral list.

“I think that the Trade Desk is always the most sophisticated DSP in the context of the tool set, but the fact is that they nickel and disclose you using any element of the tools they have,” said a source, comparing it to the AMZON offer, calling it “The most naked DSP there.”

In addition, an additional participant described the current deployment of Kokai, which was recently blurred with the start of his Deal Desk experiment, such as “a nightmare”, adding that the documentation of his API is often difficult to find. “At least with Google’s API, you know what you get, you know where it will break and what are the problems,” added the source. “But with trade, it is something different every day.”

Another participant then evacuated his frustration with the cost structure. “This is the lack of transparency or investigation mathematics that you need to understand the costs,” they noted. “They do everything possible to make it difficult to understand the total cost.”