Ask any agency or brand leader what they want from a curation partner, and you’ll hear similar things: better data, cleaner deals, and measurable outcomes. At the same time, most teams are also managing a media strategy that spans dozens of platforms, partners, and environments. Your strategy shouldn’t be constrained by any one of them.
While those things matter, there’s a question underneath all of them that rarely gets asked directly.
Is your curation partner structured to serve you, or to serve their own position in the ecosystem?
That question matters more today than it did two years ago. The programmatic ecosystem has consolidated. Platforms have gotten larger, partnerships have become more entangled, and the line between trusted partner and another stakeholder with an agenda has gotten harder to see.
At Experian, we think about neutrality as the structural question curation has to answer first. Before data quality. Before deal performance. Before scale.
What neutral actually means
Neutral isn’t the same as passive. It means being structured to serve both sides of a transaction without benefiting from pushing either side in a particular direction. That’s the definition of a trusted intermediary: sitting in the middle of the ecosystem to create better outcomes, not to capture a larger share of it.
For curation, that means a few things we take seriously. We are demand-side platform (DSP) agnostic. We don’t route buyers toward certain platforms because we have a financial stake in their success. We honor existing supply-side platform (SSP) relationships and build integrations that work across the agencies, brands, publishers, and technology platforms our clients already use. Our goal is to work inside your ecosystem, not compete with it.
Why neutrality is harder to find than it should be
Most players in the programmatic supply chain have built their business models around a specific position. DSPs optimize for platform retention, SSPs want a larger share of available supply, and walled gardens are designed to keep signal inside their environment.
Those are understandable business decisions. But they create conflicting incentives for anyone inside those structures who is also being positioned as a neutral curation partner.
Experian’s position is different. Our value grows when the ecosystem stays open and connected. That alignment shapes how we build, price, and go to market. It’s what makes genuine neutrality possible at scale.
Neutrality is what makes everything else trustworthy
Data quality, interoperability, and performance all matter in a curation partner. But none of those capabilities deliver their full value when the partner providing them has a stake in steering outcomes toward their own infrastructure.
Neutrality is the condition that makes the rest of the evaluation trustworthy.
For teams assessing curation partners right now, I’d start there. Ask how the partner makes money. Ask who benefits when you stay inside their ecosystem. Those answers will tell you a great deal about whether the relationship is actually built in your interest.
About the author
Kevin Dunn
Chief Revenue Officer, Experian
Kevin Dunn joins Experian Marketing Services with more than 20 years of leadership experience across marketing and advertising technology, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Brands and Agencies at LiveRamp. In that role, he led growth across retail, CPG, travel, hospitality, financial services, and healthcare, overseeing new business, account expansion, and channel partnerships.
Kevin is known for building cohesive, accountable teams and leading with optimism, clarity, and a strong sense of shared purpose. His leadership philosophy centers on empowering people, driving positive outcomes for clients and fostering a culture where teams can grow, take smart risks, and succeed together.
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NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES / BUSINESS WIRE / Jan. 30, 2017– Tapad, part of Experian, and Rubicon Project (NYSE: RUBI) announced today a new global partnership offering a unified, cross-device campaign delivery solution within an automated advertising marketplace. Tapad is the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and Rubicon Projectoperates one of the largest advertising marketplaces in the world. The Tapad Device Graph™, which enables buyers to expand their high-value display data signals to associated mobile devices, will be integrated across Rubicon Project’s leading advertising exchange and Orders platform, significantly improving consumer mobile reach. The new global partnership will empower Buyers within Rubicon Project’s exchange to find and engage audiences across their entire digital experience. Rubicon Project operates one of the world’s largest mobile exchanges connecting to approximately 1 billion unique mobile devices globally. “We’re excited to partner with Tapad to continue to provide our customers the very best data for managing their advertising businesses,” said Harry Patz, Chief Revenue Officer, Rubicon Project. “Cross-device delivery is crucial for buyers today with more than 81% of internet users currently relying on more than one device for digital access[1]. Through our partnership, buyers will be able to extend their desktop private marketplace campaigns to mobile, allowing them to find and engage their audience across devices, anywhere in the world. The net result will also benefit sellers; the increase in mobile reach will better position publishers and app developers to strategically capitalize on their inventory, ultimately increasing bid rates and mobile revenue across the board.” “Our partnership with Rubicon Project marks the first time advertisers and publishers alike are able to use cross-device solutions at significant scale outside of Google and Facebook,” said Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad’s Data Division and APAC. “Our Device Graph will help Rubicon Project’s advertisers make more informed buying decisions and find the audiences who matter most.” Barry Adams, VP of Commercial Development at Bidswitch, said, “As digital advertising moves away from desktop and increasingly toward a mobile-first model, cross device data becomes critical to finding consumers. The rich data buyers will now be able to leverage at scale through the Tapad and Rubicon Project integration will enable us to provide a state-of-the-art cross-screen solution for the 150+ buying platforms that use our service, and the tens of thousands of advertisers they represent.” For more information about Rubicon Project’s inventory, please visit www.rubiconproject.com. For more information about Tapad’s cross-platform advertising solutions, please visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync. Contact us today
Tapad expands linear TV analytics solution, enabling optimal reach and frequency across TV and digital platforms NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Tapad, now a part of Experian, has partnered with WideOrbit, the leading provider of advertising management software for media companies, to develop the industry’s first programmatic TV-buying platform powered by a device graph. Tapad is the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and was first to market with a device graph, the Tapad Device Graph™. WideOrbit’s robust supply platform and industry-leading footprint offers access to premium TV inventory on top networks, reaching more than 99 million households across local affiliates. The partnership pairs Tapad’s demand-side technology with WideOrbit’s supply-side inventory. As a result, marketers can leverage cross-device audiences in their TV buys for the first time. Additionally, integrating the Tapad Device Graph™ with digital feedback loops and audiences both accelerates optimization and enables precise audience discovery for TV marketers. “The integration of WideOrbit’s quality TV supply takes orchestrated cross-screen media buys to the next level,” said Marshall Wong, Tapad’s SVP of TV market development. “Marketers can now optimize TV campaigns within days instead of weeks. This also untethers them from buying against generic demographics like age and gender. By allowing brands to employ their own CRM or third-party data, we can move them much closer to audiences who will take action.” “Integrating Tapad’s device graph with WideOrbit’s programmatic marketplace delivers enormous value to marketers looking to add TV to cross-device campaigns,” said Ian Ferreira, EVP of programmatic at WideOrbit. “Television still delivers the most efficient reach of any medium, and Tapad’s platform now allows marketers to purchase premium broadcast inventory that extends the power of cross-screen campaigns to TV with a single, unified solution.” “Our clients build lasting relationships with consumers through thoughtful and pioneering marketing,” said Jeff Giacchetti, VP of digital at Mediavest Spark. “The strategic partnership of demand-side technology and supply-side inventory makes it easier for brands to find efficient, incremental reach and are critical in this endeavor.” For more information about Tapad’s cross-platform advertising solutions, please visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync. Contact us today