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Programmatic media buying isn’t getting any easier.
Buyers face rising signal loss, shrinking margins, and growing pressure to perform in a privacy-first world. Add in fragmented tech, shifting privacy regulations, and inconsistent identity signals, and reaching the right audience at scale has never been more complex (or costly).
Meanwhile, advertisers demand more transparency, publishers want control, and consumers expect relevance without feeling watched. Open exchanges, legacy data management platforms (DMPs), and spray-and-pray strategies just aren’t cutting it.
That’s why curation has become a trending topic in the AdTech space. In programmatic advertising, curation refers to the strategic integration of enriched data and quality inventory into a single package — often executed as a private marketplace (PMP) deal. This approach reshapes how campaigns are built, activated, and optimized by enabling performance-ready buys that reduce waste, increase relevance, and give marketers greater control over outcomes.
It’s no wonder then that curation investments are accelerating, PMPs are gaining traction, and buyers are shifting budgets accordingly. Over 66% of the $150 billion+ open exchange programmatic market now flows through curated PMPs, with industry giants like Google publicly backing curation as a core strategy.
So what exactly is programmatic curation, and why is it becoming essential for privacy-conscious, performance-driven marketers? Let’s break it down.
What does programmatic curation mean in AdTech?
Programmatic curation is the process of filtering, structuring, and packaging enriched data with high-quality programmatic inventory — enhanced by real-time optimization to create more targeted, efficient, and transparent media buys. Instead of buying at scale and hoping for the best, curation prioritizes accuracy and value over volume, resulting in more targeted, efficient, and transparent media buys.
As privacy regulations reshape targeting, curation is becoming a key differentiator in an increasingly crowded AdTech space. It connects robust data with quality supply, helping marketers stay effective while giving publishers new ways to monetize with control.
But not all curation is created equal. Programmatic curation requires three core elements:
1. Unique data
Unique, privacy-compliant, and valuable.
2. Strong supply connections
Access to quality inventory from publishers at scale.
3. Optimization tools
To measure, refine, and improve performance during a campaign and improve performance throughout the campaign lifecycle.
Without all of these elements, a so-called “curator” may simply be repackaging inventory without delivering the full value of a curated approach.
Why does curation still matter with cookies sticking around?
While third-party cookies and mobile IDs like IDFA haven’t gone away, the industry has already pivoted in anticipation of their decline.
Even without Google flipping the switch, signal loss is here thanks to Apple’s ATT, tighter compliance rules, and new tracking restrictions. Marketers are dealing with less data, more fragmentation, and fewer reliable IDs. So if you want to run an effective, scalable media campaign today, you need tools that go beyond third-party cookies.
That’s why programmatic curation is gaining ground as a better, more sustainable way to buy media. Investments in programmatic curation are growing, and not just for identity resolution. Marketers are leaning in because it:
- Combines verified audience data with premium inventory
- Supports ID-free or context-aware targeting
- Enables scalable, identity-agnostic strategies
- Improves data quality through enrichment
- Creates more controlled, pre-approved media paths via PMPs
Experts anticipate that, at some point, publishers will have to lean into this method.
“Curation will be bigger than header bidding and as big as programmatic or RTB — that’s our bet.”
Index ExchangeAndrew Casale, CEO
Whether cookies stay or go in the future, curation works for an ecosystem that demands smarter, cleaner, and adaptable media buying.
What are the benefits of curation and who wins?
Curation is one of the few innovations in AdTech delivering meaningful wins across the ecosystem. By bringing better data, cleaner supply, and more intentional targeting into programmatic advertising, it helps brands, agencies, and media buyers drive stronger performance, gives publishers more control, and creates a more respectful experience for consumers.
And unlike traditional approaches, curation is built for what’s now and what’s next. Here’s how each group benefits and why it matters.
Brands and agencies
Curation helps brands and agencies run smarter, more efficient campaigns by connecting high-quality data with premium supply. It delivers:
- More efficient supply paths with less waste and better performance
- Lower costs than DMP segments and open exchange buys
- Cleaner, pre-vetted inventory that aligns with audience and brand goals
- Future-proofed buying via cookieless and log-level data integrations
- Stronger targeting and measurement driven by enriched data and actual usage signals instead of modeled assumptions
- Better outcomes through real-time supply and data optimization
Publishers
For publishers, curation makes inventory more addressable without giving up control. It enables:
- Smarter packaging that aligns with buyer needs and campaign goals
- Higher CPMs by curating inventory above open exchange floors
- More control over how audiences are accessed and how inventory is monetized
- Access to higher-value demand through curated, data-backed deals
- Better protection of proprietary audience in a privacy-conscious environment
Consumers
At the end of the chain, curation improves the ad experience for those who matter most: your audience. It supports:
- Higher-quality content alignment for more natural, less disruptive ad experiences tailored to their interests
- Less invasive tracking, as targeting becomes more data-smart and privacy-aware, with reduced reliance on legacy identifiers and personally identifiable information (PII).
Curation is setting a new standard for how data, inventory, and experience come together across the ad ecosystem. When media is smarter, cleaner, and more intentional, everyone wins.
What’s Experian’s role in powering curation?
With the acquisition of Audigent, Experian is now more than just a premier data provider. We’re also a full-service curation partner. Together, we deliver end-to-end programmatic curation across data, inventory, and optimization, helping brands and publishers unlock smarter, more scalable media strategies.
What Experian + Audigent enable
Whether you need speed-to-market with pre-curated deals or white-glove custom deals, Experian and Audigent make it easier to activate high-performing, privacy-compliant campaigns at scale with:
- End-to-end curation across data, inventory, and real-time optimization
- Pre-packaged and custom PMP deals with built-in performance signals
- Scalable, privacy-first media solutions aligned to brand objectives, verticals, and KPIs
These aren’t just theoretical; curated marketplace deals are already delivering measurable gains. In OpenX, Audigent-curated campaigns increased bid competition by 20% and drove a 118% spike in impressions won over a two-month period.
Key benefits for partners
By bringing together our data depth and Audigent’s curation technology, we offer our partners a full suite of value-added capabilities, including:
- High-quality, verified data ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset and powered by Experian’s identity graph and deep programmatic data insights
- Data enrichment layers that boost addressability, accuracy, and contextual relevance
- Privacy-compliant infrastructure built for secure, cookieless data use at scale
- Platform integration across leading demand-side platforms (DSPs) and supply-side platforms (SSPs) for seamless activation and optimization
How Boiron achieved smarter reach with Audigent’s curated PMP strategy
A leading homeopathic brand partnered with Audigent to scale customer acquisition for its flu relief product without increasing media investment. They wanted to reach new, privacy-compliant audiences while improving CPA across display and video.
Using Audigent’s curated SmartPMPs and CognitivePMPs, the campaign delivered measurable performance improvements:
- 80% lower CPA on display than historical benchmarks
- 40% lower CPA on video
- 30% reduction in data costs
- Significant media efficiency gains through real-time supply and data optimization
- Fully future-proof targeting with zero reliance on cookies or MAIDs
Boiron’s success story is just one example of how curated deals backed by Experian identity and Audigent’s optimization technology can deliver efficiency and impact in a privacy-conscious environment.
Our curation capabilities
Together with Audigent, our curated solutions go beyond basic packaging. Every deal is designed for performance, privacy, and relevance, so you can activate smarter media with greater confidence:
- Deal ID-ready audiences for fast, turnkey activation
- Performance-specific curation, including viewability, CTR, and outcome-based targeting
- Custom audience + inventory packages tailored to campaign goals
- Vertical-specific curation for industries like auto, retail, CPG, and financial services
- Real-time optimization signals embedded into every curated deal
Don’t wait: Curate today
The future of programmatic advertising won’t be won by those waiting for perfect signals, clean cookies, or simplified tech stacks. It’ll be won by marketers and publishers who embrace smarter, cleaner ways to activate their data, inventory, and strategy now.
With Experian and Audigent, you’re not just getting better data but also a partner that helps you activate it with accuracy, privacy, and performance at scale. Whether you’re trying to reduce media waste, gain supply path control, or future-proof your campaigns, curated deals can get you there faster.
Let’s build a curation strategy that gives you control in a chaotic ecosystem.
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The advertising ecosystem has seen significant transformation over the past few years, with increased privacy regulation, changes in available signals, and the rise of channels like connected TV and retail media. These changes are impacting the way that consumers interact with brands and how brands understand and continue to deliver relevant messages to consumers with precision. Experian has been helping marketers navigate these changes, and as a result, our marketing data and identity solutions underpin much of today’s advertising industry. We’re committed to empowering marketers and agencies to understand and reach their target audiences, across all channels. Today, we are excited to announce our acquisition of Audigent—a leading data and activation platform in the advertising industry. With Audigent’s combination of first-party publisher data, inventory and deep supply-side distribution relationships, publishers, big and small, can empower marketers to better understand their customers, expand the reach of their target audiences and activate those audiences across the most impactful inventory. I am excited to bring together Audigent’s supply-side network as a natural extension to our existing demand-side capabilities. Audigent’s ability to combine inventory with targeted audiences using first-party, third-party and contextual signals provides the best of all worlds, allowing marketers to deliver campaigns centered on consumer choices, preferences, and behaviors. The addition of Audigent further strengthens our strategy to be the premier independent provider of marketing data and identity, ultimately creating more relevant experiences for consumers. To learn more about Experian and Audigent, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/ and https://audigent.com/. Contact us
Retail media has been on everyone’s radar for a while. Commerce media has also established itself as a significant player in the AdTech industry over the past few years. While retail media focuses on engaging customers within a retailer’s ecosystem, commerce media goes beyond these boundaries to capture the entire shopping journey, spanning multiple touchpoints, channels, and platforms.But what is commerce media, and why should we care? Commerce media is here to stay Estimated to hit $33.86 billion this year and more than double by 2028, the hunt is on to capture as much of retail media’s projected ad spend as possible. However, given the numerous verticals expanding their retail media strategy to include any touchpoint within the commerce channel, it might be time to lower the retail media flag and hoist the LUMA dubbed "commerce media flag." So why are Travel, Financial Services, and other verticals focusing on the commerce media ship? Authenticated and digital users (usually app-driven) Consented data that provides unique insight into the household’s or consumer’s intent/purchase behavior Emerging focus on advertising as an important revenue stream for the future With all this “data” at their disposal — why is it not smooth sailing for commerce media to build an ad-supported business? What’s missing for them to acquire the lucrative billions efficiently and effectively? Why retail media networks are important Retail media networks (RMNs) are now a major tool for brands to connect with shoppers. These networks gather valuable data from customers who browse and shop on e-commerce sites and apps. What makes RMNs so powerful is that they allow brands to advertise directly to people who are already interested in buying, leading to more successful sales. For marketers, RMNs offer a clear way to reach potential customers and ensure their advertising dollars are well spent. But as competition grows and consumer habits change, these networks must keep improving. To stay ahead, brands will have to find new ways to use RMNs effectively, linking them with other parts of the commerce media world to unlock even greater results. Differences between building a loyalty program and developing ad products Loyalty programs are the backbone of commerce media networks; however, creating a loyalty program is much different than building an advertising product. It requires commerce companies to bring on additional people, technology, and partners to execute flawlessly. There are four areas to consider: 1. Organizing your data at scale To successfully build an ad-supported business at scale, data must be organized to initiate action (targeting and/or measurement). However, this requires changes in company culture. Both the business and technology infrastructure must be updated. Additionally, commerce media companies must update their mindset around creating and selling products. 2. People We have seen this story before, with large opportunities comes the requirement for new talent. Where are we seeing commerce media companies recruit from? AdTech and MarTech. Whether it’s engineers or data scientists, business development and partnership leads, or even your direct sales team, the poaching has begun. To build a successful business around advertising, experts are needed who can navigate the waters. 3. Partner vs. build The Requests for Information (RFIs) and Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for any combination of agency, demand-side platform, supply-side platform, customer data platform, identity graph, clean room, and beyond are piling up. One trend is clear: commerce media companies are looking for collaborative partners to provide a true strategic partnership to take on the complexities of the transition away from retail media. 4. Identity will remain the keystone to success All commerce media companies have some identity data that reveals a slice of their customers’ viewpoint. Yet, unlocking the broad view of these audiences is crucial to success. These companies need to use the “full pie” to see well-rounded profiles, gain the reach required to access them across many channels, and turn opportunities into revenue. Advertisers can finally close the loop with commerce media networks Commerce media companies with real-time transaction data enable advertisers to see true ROI on their ad spend when products move off the shelves. Measuring real product lift/sale touch points across multiple channels will put performance and measurement front and center. Programmatic was the promise of performance advertising. Well, commerce media may finally fulfill that vow, creating enough value for companies to make it a real competitor to social channels. While retail media will always exist, the transition to commerce media has become increasingly popular and is here to stay. The journey might not be a straight shot to perfect results, but the data, partnerships, and resources are out there and ready to hop aboard to help guide commerce media companies to success. The future of commerce media Commerce media shows no signs of slowing down. More industries are seeing the benefit of making every customer touchpoint an opportunity to drive sales. Whether through social media shopping or in-app purchases, commerce media pushes businesses to create smoother, more connected shopping experiences for consumers. In the future, brands won’t just compete on prices or products — they’ll stand out by offering simple, seamless shopping experiences across all devices. With better data and tools to track consumer behavior, brands will be able to personalize their ads and measure their success in real time. Commerce media allows brands to see a direct link between their ads and sales. Those who can adapt and keep up with these changes will come out on top. Create a connected customer view with Experian At Experian, we empower RMNs to unlock the full potential of their first-party data through comprehensive identity and audience solutions. Our data-driven capabilities enable RMNs to build a deeper understanding of their customers, optimize audience targeting across channels, and create enriched, actionable segments that drive measurable outcomes. By seamlessly connecting our offline and digital data, we help RMNs organize identities into households, device IDs, and more. Each household is enriched with valuable marketing insights, allowing you to gain better customer understanding, create targeted advertising, and reach the right customers across different devices. Additionally, you’ll be able to measure the effectiveness of your advertising efforts. With our support, RMNs can maximize revenue opportunities, extend reach, and confidently demonstrate the value of the network to advertisers. Contact us today to find out how Experian can help you succeed in commerce media. Contact us Latest posts
Originally appeared on MarTech Series Marketing’s understanding of identity has evolved rapidly over the past decade, much like the shifting media landscape itself. From the early days of basic direct mail targeting to today's complex omnichannel environment, identity has become both more powerful and more fragmented. Each era has brought new tools, challenges, and opportunities, shaping how brands interact with their customers. We’ve moved from traditional media like mail, newspapers, and linear/network TV, to cable TV, the internet, mobile devices, and apps. Now, multiple streaming platforms dominate, creating a far more complex media landscape. As a result, understanding the customer journey and reaching consumers across these various touchpoints has become increasingly difficult. Managing frequency and ensuring effective communication across channels is now more challenging than ever. This development has led to a fragmented view of the consumer, making it harder for marketers to ensure that they are reaching the right audience at the right time while also avoiding oversaturation. Marketers must now navigate a fragmented customer journey across multiple channels, each with its own identity signals, to stitch together a cohesive view of the customer. Let’s break down this evolution, era by era, to understand how identity has progressed—and where it’s headed. 2010-2015: The rise of digital identity – Cookies and MAIDs Between 2010 and 2015, the digital era fundamentally changed how marketers approached identity. Mobile usage surged during this time, and programmatic advertising emerged as the dominant method for reaching consumers across the internet. The introduction of cookies and mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs) became the foundation for tracking users across the web and mobile apps. With these identifiers, marketers gained new capabilities to deliver targeted, personalized messages and drive efficiency through programmatic advertising. This era gave birth to powerful tools for targeting. Marketers could now follow users’ digital footprints, regardless of whether they were browsing on desktop or mobile. This leap in precision allowed brands to optimize spend and performance at scale, but it came with its limitations. Identity was still tied to specific browsers or devices, leaving gaps when users switched platforms. The fragmentation across different devices and the reliance on cookies and MAIDs meant that a seamless, unified view of the customer was still out of reach. 2015-2020: The age of walled gardens From 2015 to 2020, the identity landscape grew more complex with the rise of walled gardens. Platforms like Facebook, Google, and Amazon created closed ecosystems of first-party data, offering rich, self-declared insights about consumers. These platforms built massive advertising businesses on the strength of their user data, giving marketers unprecedented targeting precision within their environments. However, the rise of walled gardens also marked the start of new challenges. While these platforms provided detailed identity solutions within their walls, they didn’t communicate with one another. Marketers could target users with pinpoint accuracy inside Facebook or Google, but they couldn’t connect those identities across different ecosystems. This siloed approach to identity left marketers with an incomplete picture of the customer journey, and brands struggled to piece together a cohesive understanding of their audience across platforms. The promise of detailed targeting was tempered by the fragmentation of the landscape. Marketers were dealing with disparate identity solutions, making it difficult to track users as they moved between these closed environments and the open web. 2020-2025: The multi-ID landscape – CTV, retail media, signal loss, and privacy By 2020, the identity landscape had splintered further, with the rise of connected TV (CTV) and retail media adding even more complexity to the mix. Consumers now engaged with brands across an increasing number of channels—CTV, mobile, desktop, and even in-store—and each of these channels had its own identifiers and systems for tracking. Simultaneously, privacy regulations are tightening the rules around data collection and usage. This, coupled with the planned deprecation of third-party cookies and MAIDs has thrown marketers into a state of flux. The tools they had relied on for years were disappearing, and new solutions had yet to fully emerge. The multi-ID landscape was born, where brands had to navigate multiple identity systems across different platforms, devices, and environments. Retail media networks became another significant player in the identity game. As large retailers like Amazon and Walmart built their own advertising ecosystems, they added yet another layer of first-party data to the mix. While these platforms offer robust insights into consumer behavior, they also operate within their own walled gardens, further fragmenting the identity landscape. With cookies and MAIDs being phased out, the industry began to experiment with alternatives like first-party data, contextual targeting, and new universal identity solutions. The challenge and opportunity for marketers lies in unifying these fragmented identity signals to create a consistent and actionable view of the customer. 2025: The omnichannel imperative Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, the identity landscape will continue to evolve, but the focus remains the same: activating and measuring across an increasingly fragmented and complex media environment. Consumers now expect seamless, personalized experiences across every channel—from CTV to digital to mobile—and marketers need to keep up. The future of identity lies in interoperability, scale, and availability. Marketers need solutions that can connect the dots across different platforms and devices, allowing them to follow their customers through every stage of the journey. Identity must be actionable in real-time, allowing for personalization and relevance across every touchpoint, so that media can be measurable and attributable. Brands that succeed in 2025 and beyond will be those that invest in scalable, omnichannel identity solutions. They’ll need to embrace privacy-friendly approaches like first-party data, while also ensuring their systems can adapt to an ever-changing landscape. Adapting to the future of identity The evolution of identity has been marked by increasing complexity, but also by growing opportunity. As marketers adapt to a world without third-party cookies and MAIDs, the need for unified identity solutions has never been more urgent. Brands that can navigate the multi-ID landscape will unlock new levels of efficiency and personalization, while those that fail to adapt risk falling behind. The path forward is clear: invest in identity solutions that bridge the gaps between devices, platforms, and channels, providing a full view of the customer. The future of marketing belongs to those who can manage identity in a fragmented world—and those who can’t will struggle to stay relevant. 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