Fee opacity, hidden markups, and auto-enrolled tools aren’t new to programmatic. They’re structural. Here’s what’s actually happening — and what to do about it.
By now you’ve probably seen the headlines. A leaked Publicis memo advised clients to stop using The Trade Desk. Dentsu and WPP separately exited OpenPath. The reason in each case: audit failures, improperly applied fees, clients auto-enrolled in tools they never approved, and supply chain costs that couldn’t be independently validated.
The media coverage has treated this as a Trade Desk story. It isn’t. It’s a programmatic story and it’s one the industry has been avoiding for years.
When you cannot clearly trace how much of your budget reaches working media, performance becomes harder to trust and optimize.
What’s actually happening
The mechanics of programmatic advertising create structural conditions for opacity. Dollars flow through multiple layers DSP, SSP, data providers, ad verification, ad serving before reaching a publisher. Each layer takes a cut. Some of those cuts are disclosed. Many are not. And the further you are from the transaction, the harder it is to audit.
Large agency holding companies compounded this problem by centralizing DSP relationships. When an agency negotiates a volume deal with a single DSP, that relationship creates incentives. The platform benefits from more spend. The agency benefits from better rates or rebates. The advertiser benefits from neither of those things, necessarily.
The specific allegations against The Trade Desk fees misapplied across line items, tools activated without client approval, audit results that couldn’t be verified are the predictable output of a model that lacks adequate checks. The platform didn’t invent these problems. But the holding company model made them easy to hide.
This is not a vendor problem. It’s a discipline problem.
The programmatic industry has known about fee opacity for a long time. The ANA’s landmark 2016 media transparency report documented it in detail. The ISBA / PwC programmatic supply chain study in 2020 found that 15% of advertiser spend was “unattributable” meaning no one in the supply chain could explain where it went. These are not new findings. They are recurring ones.
The current headlines are not a revelation. They are a reminder that the structural incentives haven’t changed and that many advertisers still don’t know what they don’t know about where their media dollars go.
The specific issues that keep surfacing look like this:
- Hidden or bundled fees across DSPs and SSPs that make it impossible to know the true cost per impression
- Supply paths with unnecessary intermediaries that add cost without adding value
- Auto-enabled features that increase platform revenue without a corresponding increase in advertiser outcomes
- Centralized buying models that prioritize holding company volume commitments over individual advertiser performance
In most cases, advertisers aren’t lacking access to better tools. They’re lacking control and visibility over the tools they already have.
What a different model looks like
At Level, we’ve built our programmatic practice around a few key principles. Not as a response to the current headlines, but because we started from the premise that opacity is never acceptable, and that our clients should be able to see exactly where every dollar goes.
Radical transparency, no black boxes. Every fee, markup, and data cost is disclosed in plain language. Clients see how dollars flow through the ecosystem which DSP, which SSP, which data provider, and what each costs. No bundled rates. No hidden take rates. No audit surprises.
Controlled supply paths, not open marketplace sprawl. Open exchange inventory is where fee stacking is highest and inventory quality is most variable. We minimize exposure to it. Instead, we prioritize direct SSP relationships, curated deal IDs, and sell-side targeting — fewer intermediaries, lower cost layers, more accountable supply chains.
Multi-DSP flexibility, no platform allegiances. We are not tied to any single DSP. The Trade Desk, DV360, and Amazon DSP all have legitimate roles depending on the client’s goals and the inventory being targeted. Platform selection is based on performance and fit not on volume commitments or holding company agreements. If The Trade Desk is the right tool, we’ll tell you why. If it isn’t, we’ll tell you that too.
What advertisers should demand right now
The current moment is a useful forcing function — not to abandon programmatic, but to demand the discipline it requires. A few specific things worth pressing on:
- Ask for a full fee breakdown across the stack. DSP fees, SSP fees, data costs, ad serving, verification, every layer. If your agency can’t produce this, that is the answer.
- Understand your supply path, not just your CPM. A low CPM on open exchange can be far less efficient than a higher CPM through a curated deal with fewer intermediaries.
- Audit what’s been auto-enabled in your DSP. Log into your platform and look at what features are active. If you didn’t approve them explicitly, ask why they’re running.
- Confirm you own your platform contracts and data. If your agency controls the seats and you don’t have direct access, you are more exposed than you realize.
- Ask for an independent supply chain review. Not a report from your agency. An independent audit that traces where your dollars actually go.
If you cannot clearly explain where your media dollars go, you have a problem. If you can, you have an advantage. Most advertisers don’t actually know which side of that line they’re on.
Bottom line
Programmatic works. It remains one of the most efficient ways to reach the right audience at the right time, when it’s managed with rigor. The issue isn’t the channel. The issue is the operating model behind it.
The headlines about The Trade Desk will pass. Another vendor will eventually surface similar issues. The underlying dynamics, fee opacity, misaligned incentives, centralized buying relationships won’t change on their own. They change when advertisers demand visibility and hold their partners accountable to it.
The holding company model created the conditions for this problem. Independent, performance-accountable agencies built to operate differently didn’t. But every advertiser still needs to ask the question: do I actually know where my media dollars go?
If the honest answer is no, that’s the problem worth solving.
Want a clear view of your programmatic efficiency?
We map your current programmatic spend, trace the supply path, and quantify how much reaches working media versus fees. If there’s nothing to fix, we’ll tell you that. If there is, you’ll know exactly what it is.
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