Solving for the SSP Curation Dilemma: Why Transparency, Control, and Quality Must Come First

In his recent AdMonsters article, “SSP Curation: The Fix That Could Break the System,” Tom Wolfe, Viant’s SVP of Business Development, raises valid concerns about the growing reliance on supply-side platform (SSP) curation. While this model is often positioned as a win for both advertisers and publishers, the reality is more complicated. Curation can blur the line between premium and long-tail inventory, creating confusion for buyers, friction for sellers, and ultimately weakening trust across the supply chain.

At Viant, we believe that transparency, data fidelity, and direct collaboration between buyers and sellers are the foundation of programmatic success. That’s why our Direct Access Program and Certified Partner Program (CPP) are designed to address the very challenges Tom highlights—without falling into the traps of the legacy ad network model dressed in programmatic clothing.

The Problem with SSP Curation: Aggregation Without Alignment

SSP curation often means bundling premium inventory with lower-tier placements—leading to uneven performance, pricing confusion, and a lack of control for both advertisers and publishers. As Tom notes, curation creates “a hierarchy of publishers,” where premium content is diluted by less desirable inventory in an attempt to scale.

Worse, this setup creates a black box for advertisers, who increasingly demand clear insights into where their dollars are going and how their campaigns are performing. Publishers, on the other hand, risk losing autonomy over how their inventory is packaged, priced, and represented.

Viant’s Direct Access Program: Reducing Complexity, Elevating Quality

Viant’s Direct Access Program was built specifically to counteract these inefficiencies. Instead of aggregating inventory behind SSP-curated bundles, Direct Access connects advertisers directly with premium media owners and their first-party data.

With Direct Access, advertisers gain:

• Streamlined access to premium inventory at scale
• Pricing transparency and improved working media efficiency
• Enhanced data operability to inform targeting and measurement
• Reduced carbon impact through a cleaner supply path

Rather than relying on bundled deals, Viant helps advertisers build direct, trusted relationships with media owners, empowering both sides to align on performance, data sharing, and attribution—without unnecessary intermediaries or opaque value chains.

Data Match: Privacy-First Identity Without the Guesswork

A key extension of Direct Access is Data Match, which enhances targeting and measurement through privacy-minded, first-party data integrations. As more walled gardens limit advertiser insight, Data Match enables CTV, Streaming Audio, and cookieless environments to be fully measurable—without relying on cookies or outdated identifiers.

With Viant’s Shared ID, advertisers can link CRM data to publisher-side identifiers at scale, enabling:

• Improved audience reach and frequency control
• Seamless cross-channel activation
• Better conversion attribution across touchpoints

By enabling addressable advertising within a privacy-compliant framework, Data Match gives advertisers and publishers the tools to collaborate meaningfully without sacrificing control or insight.

Certified Partner Program: Quality Over Quantity in the Data Marketplace

Where curation often leads to “more inventory, less quality,” Viant’s Certified Partner Program (CPP) flips the model. CPP helps advertisers discover pre-vetted, high-fidelity data partners that meet Viant’s strict standards for performance, transparency, and privacy.

By integrating leading partners like Adstra, Circana, Experian, TransUnion, and Wiland, the program empowers advertisers to activate identity-matched audiences across all channels—including CTV—with greater confidence. These partnerships enhance Viant’s Household ID™ technology and can help drive  improved conversion rates and ROAS

CPP ensures that data onboarding, matching methodologies, and privacy compliance are held to the highest standards—helping advertisers avoid the “garbage in, garbage out” problem that often plagues data buying.

The Future Isn’t More Bundles—It’s Smarter Alignment

Tom Wolfe is right to question the long-term viability of SSP curation. In a landscape where advertisers expect accountability, clarity, and efficiency, quick fixes won’t cut it.

Viant’s Direct Access and Certified Partner Program offer a path forward—one where advertisers and publishers collaborate directly, data is connected with purpose, and quality trumps quantity. These programs are designed not just to solve today’s problems but to build a future-ready foundation for privacy-safe, performance-driven advertising.

Because in the end, it’s not about creating more bundles. It’s about building better connections.