Lately, you can’t talk about digital advertising without hearing the word “curation.” It’s everywhere, but what does curation actually mean? And why has it become such a hot topic?
Curation has gained traction as the advertising world grapples with wasted ad spend, stricter privacy regulations and growing concerns about brand safety. Curation promises a more refined, targeted approach to programmatic advertising — one that works better for advertisers, publishers and platforms alike.
So, what’s driving this shift, and how does curation fit into the picture? Let’s break it down.
What is Curation and How Did It Evolve?
At its core, curation in AdTech is the process of carefully selecting and organizing ad inventory, data and targeting strategies to deliver more precise, relevant and effective advertising. Think of it as filtering out the noise and focusing on high-quality opportunities that benefit advertisers, publishers and platforms.
But curation isn’t just a new buzzword — it’s the result of a long evolution in digital advertising. Let’s take a look at how it all started and how we got here.
From Ad Networks to Curated Marketplaces
In the early days, ad networks were the go-to solution for digital advertising. These networks bundled publishers together, offering advertisers pre-packaged groups of inventory. While this approach worked for a while, it lacked the data-driven precision we see today.
Then came programmatic advertising, which promised scale and automation. Advertisers could target audiences across the web in real time, but this approach wasn’t without its flaws. Inefficiencies like made-for-advertising (MFA) sites and concerns about inventory quality started to surface, leading to billions in wasted ad spend.
In response, Private Marketplaces (PMPs) emerged. These PMPs gave advertisers more control by allowing them to work directly with premium publishers. From there, curated marketplaces took things a step further by combining the best of both worlds: the scale of programmatic and the quality of direct deals.
The Role of Header Bidding and Signal Loss
The rise of header bidding also played a key role in the evolution of curation. Header bidding leveled the playing field for publishers by increasing competition among demand sources, but it also made the programmatic ecosystem more complex. Advertisers and DSPs (demand-side platforms) had to sift through an overwhelming number of bid requests to find quality inventory.
At the same time, signal loss — a result of privacy regulations and the deprecation of third-party cookies — made it harder to rely on traditional programmatic targeting methods. This created a demand for more precise and privacy-compliant alternatives to reach audiences, naturally pushing the industry toward curation as a solution.
How Curation Works in Programmatic Advertising
Curation in programmatic advertising is about refining the process of buying and selling ad inventory to make it more targeted, efficient and high-quality. Instead of throwing ads across the open web indiscriminately, curation focuses on carefully selecting where and how ads appear.
Core Elements of Curation
Curation relies on a few key components to deliver better results for advertisers and publishers.
Curation relies on a few key components to deliver better results for advertisers and publishers.
- Audience data: Curation uses first-party, privacy-compliant data to target audiences effectively. This ensures that ads reach the right people without violating privacy regulations.
- Contextual targeting: Ads are aligned with the content of the page and the interests of the audience. For example, showing fitness ads on a health blog creates a more relevant and engaging experience.
- Supply chain integrity: Curation eliminates low-quality inventory like made-for-advertising (MFA) sites and removes unnecessary middlemen, ensuring that advertisers get what they pay for.
Key Players in Curation
To make curation work and succeed, there are a couple of key players who work behind the scenes.
- SSPs (Supply-side platforms): Platforms like Xandr, OpenX and Index Exchange help publishers sell curated ad inventory by organizing and filtering supply.
- Specialized curators: Companies like Audigent and Multilocal create curated packages by combining audience data, contextual insights and supply quality.
The Mechanics of Curation
So, how, you may ask, does curation work?
- Bundling impressions: Curators package high-quality ad impressions into deal IDs. These packages are tailored to meet specific advertiser needs, like reaching a certain audience or avoiding unsafe content.
- Collaboration: Curators work closely with advertisers and publishers to ensure the curated packages align with campaign goals. Publishers provide premium inventory, while advertisers gain access to a more reliable and targeted pool of impressions.
What Are the Benefits of Curation?
We’ve talked about what curation is and how it works, but let’s get to the real question: why does it matter? What specific advantages does it bring to advertisers, publishers and the entire ad ecosystem?
For advertisers:
- Enhanced transparency and brand safety: Curation ensures that ads appear only on high-quality, trusted websites, eliminating risks like brand-damaging placements on MFA (made-for-advertising) sites or controversial content. Advertisers gain peace of mind knowing their campaigns align with their values.
- Higher ROI through targeted inventory: By focusing on premium inventory and relevant audiences, curation increases engagement and conversions. Advertisers spend less on wasted impressions and more on reaching users who are likely to convert.
- Future-proofing against privacy regulations: With privacy laws tightening and third-party cookies on the way out, curation relies on privacy-compliant, first-party data. This ensures campaigns remain effective while respecting user privacy and abiding by regulatory requirements like GDPR and CCPA.
For publishers:
- Monetization of niche and premium inventory: Publishers with smaller or niche audiences benefit from curation by making their inventory more visible to advertisers who value quality over quantity. This creates new revenue streams and opportunities.
- Greater control over data and pricing: With curation, publishers decide how their inventory is packaged and sold, maintaining control over pricing and data sharing. This ensures they’re fairly compensated and their data isn’t exploited.
For the advertising ecosystem:
- Streamlined operations and increased efficiency: Curation reduces clutter in the programmatic landscape by pre-filtering inventory. This makes ad buying and selling smoother, saving time and resources for all players involved.
- Improved trust and collaboration: Transparency is at the heart of curation. Advertisers know where their ads are running, publishers can protect their brand integrity and platforms facilitate trust between both sides. This collaboration creates a healthier, more efficient ecosystem.
Challenges and Myths Surrounding Curation
Curation may offer significant advantages, but it’s not without its challenges and misconceptions. Like any evolving strategy, there are hurdles to overcome and myths to debunk. The good news? Once you understand these upfront, you’ll be better prepared to navigate the challenges and make the most of what curation offers.
Challenges of Curation
Potential Exclusion of Smaller Publishers
While curated marketplaces prioritize high-quality inventory, there’s a risk that smaller or niche publishers may be left out of curated lists. This can limit their access to ad budgets and reduce diversity in available inventory.
The solution: Focus on audience-based curation rather than publisher size. Platforms and curators that prioritize advertiser outcomes rather than scale can include smaller publishers that meet brand safety and performance criteria. Publishers should also highlight their unique audiences to curators and actively engage in partnerships to be part of curated packages.
Higher Costs for Advertisers
The tailored nature of curation often comes with additional fees, whether from specialized curators or premium inventory pricing.
The solution: Advertisers need to evaluate the ROI of curated campaigns. While the upfront cost may be higher, the improved targeting and reduced waste can ultimately save money and improve performance. Using platforms that offer transparent pricing and avoid unnecessary fees can also help.
Lack of Alignment Between SSPs and DSPs
Curation often relies on supply-side platforms (SSPs) to pre-filter inventory, but demand-side platforms (DSPs) remain critical for buying decisions. Without seamless integration, there’s a risk of inefficiency or misalignment between what advertisers need and what curators offer.
The solution: Advertisers should prioritize platforms that offer seamless integration between SSPs and DSPs, ensuring curated packages are optimized for campaign goals. Collaboration between supply- and demand-side players can further align curation efforts and minimize misalignment.
Common Myths About Curation
Curation is Just Another Tax on Media Owners
Some see curation as a superfluous layer in the supply chain, adding unnecessary fees. In reality, curation often streamlines operations, eliminates waste and increases revenue for publishers by focusing on quality inventory that attracts higher bids.
Curation Only Benefits Large Publishers
While it’s true that premium publishers often feature prominently in curated lists, curation is not exclusive to them. Smaller publishers with niche or high-performing audiences can benefit by being included in curated packages that align with specific advertiser goals.
SPO Achieves the Same Outcomes
SPO and curation are not interchangeable. SPO focuses on consolidating supply paths to reduce fees, while curation goes further by enhancing inventory quality, targeting precision and audience relevance.
Curation is Just a Premium Ad Network
While curation may resemble ad networks in bundling inventory, it goes beyond by leveraging advanced technology like AI and first-party data. It’s not just about access to inventory — it’s about optimizing every impression to drive better results.
Emerging Categories of Curation
Curation is not a one-size-fits-all approach: it’s evolving to meet the diverse needs of advertisers and publishers. Depending on goals, budgets and target audiences, curation can take different forms. These emerging categories highlight how a person can apply the concept in unique and impactful ways.
- The Premium Web: This category focuses on hand-picked, elite publishers that are bought through Programmatic Guaranteed (PG) or Private Marketplace (PMP) deals. Think of it as a highly selective approach to inventory, prioritizing premium content and exclusivity.
- The Open Web: The open web remains a liquid supply source through open exchanges, providing broad access to a wide range of inventory. However, it often lacks the refined targeting and quality controls that curated approaches offer.
- The Curated Web: The curated web sits between the premium and open web, offering aggregated inventory tailored to specific advertiser needs. Using dynamic inclusion lists, this approach combines elements of the open web’s scale with the premium web’s quality, delivering a balance of reach and relevance.
These categories illustrate how curation can adapt to fit different strategies, offering advertisers flexibility while ensuring transparency, quality and effectiveness.
Curation in Practice: Real-World Examples
Now that we’ve explored what curation is and why it matters, let’s take a closer look at how it’s being implemented in the real world. From innovative initiatives to new categories of curated inventory, these examples show how curation is transforming programmatic advertising.
The Trade Desk’s SP500+
The Trade Desk has introduced SP500+, a curated list of 500 premium publishers, including trusted names like The New York Times. This initiative gives advertisers a focused, high-quality inventory, ensuring their ads appear alongside reputable content.
OpenX’s "Zero MFA" Packages
OpenX offers curated packages designed to eliminate low-quality, made-for-advertising (MFA) sites. These packages feature carefully vetted domains, guaranteeing advertisers inventory that meets strict brand safety and quality standards.
Coca-Cola’s Programmatic Focus on Curated Inventory
Coca-Cola has leaned into curated programmatic advertising to ensure its media buys meet high-quality standards. By prioritizing curated inventory, Coca-Cola reduces the risk of quality loss and aligns its brand with premium content that resonates with its audience.
The Future of Curation in AdTech
By now, it’s clear that curation is more than just a passing trend or another buzzword in the AdTech world. It’s a strategic shift reshaping how advertisers, publishers and platforms work together. But what does the future hold for curation? Let’s explore the innovations, dynamics and collaborations that are set to define its next chapter.
Innovation and Market Potential
Curation is poised to benefit from continuous advancements in technology.
- New tools: Innovations like Chalice PMPs and media scoring systems are making curation smarter and more precise. These tools evaluate attention metrics, ethical intelligence and even data compliance, ensuring curated packages deliver higher-quality results.
- The role of AI and machine learning: AI and machine learning are refining curated packages by analyzing vast datasets in real time. These technologies enable faster, more accurate audience segmentation and improve targeting precision, making curated campaigns more impactful.
DSP and SSP Dynamics
The relationship between DSPs and SSPs is evolving as curation gains traction.
- Shifting targeting logic: Traditionally, targeting logic has been the domain of DSPs. However, curation is shifting more of this responsibility to SSPs and curators, as they have deeper access to supply-side data and insights.
- Long-term implications for DSPs: While DSPs remain central to buying ad impressions efficiently, their role may change. If SSPs and curators continue to enhance targeting capabilities, DSPs could become more focused on workflow management rather than audience targeting.
Collaboration Across the Ecosystem
The success of curation relies on seamless collaboration between key players.
- Advertisers and publishers: Curation fosters stronger relationships between advertisers and publishers by creating packages that align with both parties’ goals. Advertisers get high-quality inventory, while publishers maximize their revenue.
- Curators as connectors: Curators act as the bridge between advertisers and publishers, using data and insights to optimize campaigns and drive results.
- Shared outcomes: As advertisers, publishers and curators align, the entire ecosystem becomes more efficient, transparent and effective.
Takeaway: Curation’s future is bright, with its potential extending far beyond its current applications. With advancements in AI, shifts in platform dynamics and stronger collaboration across the ecosystem, curation is set to become a cornerstone of modern AdTech, delivering smarter, more sustainable advertising solutions for everyone involved.
Best Practices for Implementing Curation
So, you’re ready to embrace curation — what’s next? Here’s a clear, actionable guide for advertisers, publishers and curators to make the most of it.
For advertisers:
- Align curation with campaign objectives: Choose curated packages that match your specific goals, whether it’s driving conversions, increasing brand awareness or reaching niche audiences.
- Leverage first-party data: Use your own data to inform curated campaigns and ensure precision in targeting while staying privacy compliant.
- Monitor and adjust in real-time: Keep an eye on performance metrics and adjust curated strategies based on real-time insights to maximize ROI.
For publishers:
- Boost CPMs with quality inventory: Highlight your premium, brand-safe inventory to attract curated demand and higher bids.
- Maintain transparency: Be clear about your data practices and inventory quality to build trust with curators and advertisers.
- Position niche offerings: Showcase unique audiences or specialized content to stand out in curated packages.
For curators:
- Focus on transparency: Clearly communicate how curated packages are built, what data is used and the value they deliver.
- Use data-driven refinement: Regularly analyze performance data and audience insights to optimize your curated offerings.
- Deliver measurable ROI: Provide clear metrics and case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of curated campaigns to advertisers and publishers.
MGID’s Role in Curation: Bridging Advertisers and Publishers
As a leading advertising platform, MGID aligns perfectly with the growing trend of curation in AdTech. By leveraging first-party data, contextual targeting and AI-driven tools, MGID connects advertisers with high-quality, brand-safe inventory while helping publishers maximize their revenue.
- For advertisers: MGID offers curated, MFA-free inventory and tailored campaign solutions, ensuring privacy compliance and optimized ROI.
- For publishers: The platform helps smaller and niche publishers attract demand, monetize effectively and maintain full control over their inventory.
With its focus on transparency, premium native advertising and data-driven insights, MGID is shaping the future of programmatic curation by simplifying the ad buying process and enhancing collaboration between advertisers and publishers.
Why Curation is the Future
Curation is quickly becoming a cornerstone of modern advertising. Ash privacy tightens, ad spend falls under scrutiny and audiences demand relevance, curation delivers precision, transparency and better results for everyone.
If you’re serious about smarter campaigns, higher ROI and unlocking new opportunities, it’s time to embrace curation. The future of advertising is curated — don’t get left behind
