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Programmatic media is a $500+ billion marketplace, growing at over 20% annually. Canada is no exception with spending projected to increase from $13 billion in 2023 to over $17 billion within fi ve years. Amazingly, this rapid pace continues even though programmatic is often called a “Lemon Market” – where advertisers struggle to differentiate between high-performing ad placements (“Cherries”) and low-quality ones (“Lemons”) due to the complexity and opacity of the ecosystem.

The result? Advertisers are buying far too many underperforming media lemons. The 2023 ANA Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study estimated global waste at over $20 billion annually – and growing. Whether due to fraud, MFA, viewability issues, brand safety concerns, supply chain ineffi ciencies, or simply non-performing media, too many programmatic ads fail to deliver on campaign KPIs.

Why Do Advertisers Keep Buying Lemons?

It’s not their fault. Really!

Unfortunately, the programmatic ecosystem is designed in a way that perpetuates the buying of Lemons over Cherries. This problem, which we call the Programmatic Supply Paradox, ensures that buying Lemons today leads to buying more Lemons tomorrow.

Here’s why: The DSPs (Demand-Side Platforms) and SSPs (Supply-Side Platforms) that facilitate programmatic transactions lack a mechanism to distinguish high-performing placements from low-performing ones. While DSPs can identify which ads drive campaign success, SSPs – the sources of ad inventory – lack access to this critical performance data. Without this performance signal, SSPs remain blind to which bid requests deliver value, perpetuating ineffi ciencies and waste in programmatic media buying.

The Solution: SWYM SmartCurate

At SWYM, we recognized that the root cause of programmatic waste lies on the supply side. That’s why we created SmartCurate, the industry’s first algorithmic curation engine that learns from both buy-side (DSP) and sell-side (SSP) signals to identify and prioritize high-performing Cherries in real time. With SmartCurate, advertisers break free from the Programmatic Supply Paradox. SSPs receive active guidance on which bid requests to supply based on real-time performance learnings. These insights can also be enriched with valuable conversion and attribution signals, further refi ning the supply selection process.

More Cherries = Big Impact!

By taking active control of supply and curating high-quality inventory, advertisers see dramatic improvements in campaign performance. In 2024, SWYM delivered an average 31%+ boost in campaign KPIs. Beyond performance, brand safety improved – with a 52%+ reduction in domains – and the supply chain was simplifi ed, with an 85%+ reduction in SSPs/suppliers used.

Here are a few recent client results:

• Financial Services | -37% Cost per Conversion (Display)
• Footwear | +27% RoAS (Display)
• Education | -23% Cost per Completed View (CTV)
• Telecom | -39% CPM (CTV)
• CPG Health | -33% Viewable CPM (OLV)
• Home Services | -21% Cost per Conversion (Display)

It’s Simple to Activate

SWYMs SmartCurate requires no changes to process or new integrations. It works with any DSP and is fully compatible with all existing targeting, optimization, and bidding strategies. It also complements buy-side Supply Path Optimization (SPO) efforts and in-house or third-party custom bidding solutions.

Recognized for Innovation

SWYM’s innovative approach to programmatic effi ciency earned us the 2024 Best Industry Startup Award by AdExchanger. Ready to stop buying lemons and start amassing Cherries? Contact us to learn more!

Andrew Altersohn
Co-Founder & President
SWYM.ai

Andrew is the Co-founder and President of SWYM.ai, a leader in AI-driven media curation and decisioning. With over 25 years of experience in media, data, and adtech, he has built and led organizations that drive innovation and results.

Previously, Andrew served as EVP/GM at Feedvisor (retail media SaaS), CEO of AD/FIN (digital media intelligence), and President of Havas Digital (global media agency). He has also held leadership roles at Publicis, Ogilvy, Digitas, and Oliver Wyman.

Throughout his career, Andrew has worked with Fortune 500 brands, agencies, and industry groups to drive growth and accountability. His expertise spans B2B and B2C marketing across consumer electronics, CPG, fi nancial services, and healthcare.

He holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Sources
Statista Research Department, 2024
Grand View Research, 2024