The $200 Billion Stakes

troyosborne2102
Dec 18, 2025
3 min read

By 2026, programmatic advertisers are projected to surpass $200 billion in ad spending. Yet, as the market scales, so does its complexity. The days of "set it and forget it" are gone. Today, every media decision runs through a complex system of platforms that decide in milliseconds which impression is worth buying.

For agency leaders, the difference between a renewed contract and a lost client often comes down to one thing: execution.

Many agencies rely on partners who treat programmatic like a commodity. But poor execution leads to more than just weak performance. It drains budgets, lowers transparency, and misses out on emerging high-growth opportunities like Connected TV (CTV).

1. The Operational Pitfalls of Poor Execution

Choosing the wrong programmatic display partner can result in real operational drag that kills profitability:

The Optimization Black Box: Ineffective partners rely on outdated manual workflows. Without automation, teams lose valuable time. Sophisticated automation can reduce time spent on media operations by 43% and manual steps by 40%, according to Basis Technologies
Lack of Transparency: Weak reporting creates disconnects between spend and results. As industry watchdogs highlight, advertisers must demand transparency about fees, supply paths, and inventory quality to avoid inflated costs or “made-for-advertising” (MFA) placements
Missing the Premium Moment: Execution is not just about the lowest CPM. In the booming CTV market, it’s about buying impressions that appear in brand-safe, emotionally resonant content environments. AdExchanger has reported on the rise of attention-based metrics as a superior measure of ad effectiveness.

2. The Complexity of the 2026 Ecosystem

Why is it harder than ever to execute well?

Privacy Regulation & Signal Loss: The depreciation of third-party cookies and increased regulation have triggered widespread “signal loss.” This breaks retargeting and personalization workflows unless you have the tools to activate privacy-safe audience data.
Supply Path Optimization (SPO): Agencies are moving away from open marketplaces in favor of curated deals and Private Marketplaces (PMPs), which are projected to account for nearly twice as much spend as open auctions in 2025.
Omnichannel Fragmentation: Modern campaigns must stretch across CTV, DOOH, audio, native and display. Each channel requires specific buying expertise and technical workflow support.

3. The Solution: Team Media’s Managed Backend

For agencies that cannot afford to build out an internal trading desk, white label programmatic advertising is the operational cure.

Team Media offers:

Agility Without the Overhead

Team Media acts as a true extension of your team. Agencies can hire a dedicated buyer to run campaigns inside their own DSP seat or Team Media’s. No need to recruit, hire, or train specialized programmatic staff.

Access Without Barriers

Enterprise DSPs often require $10K–$25K minimum monthly spend commitments and long-term contracts. Team Media removes those roadblocks:

No Minimum Spend
No Long-Term Contracts

This makes it easier to serve smaller clients without hurting margin.

Tech-Agnostic, Strategy-Driven

Execution matters more than the tool, but the tool still matters. Team Media works across top-tier platforms:

Basis Technologies
Adelphic
Vistar (DOOH)
Hulu (CTV)
Spotify (Audio)

This allows for strategic, channel-agnostic planning focused on outcomes—not locked vendor deals.

Execution Is the Differentiator

In 2026, your programmatic execution is your competitive advantage.

The wrong partner leads to operational inefficiencies, lost trust, and underperforming campaigns. A partner like Team Media brings transparency, automation, and multi-channel fluency to the table, helping your agency scale, perform, and grow.

Your programmatic strategy shouldn’t just spend money. It should deliver outcomes.