After The Trade Desk’s audit row, rivals rush to pitch features and transparency chops

April 03, 2026 Every time a transparency crisis rattles programmatic, the same reflex kicks in: rivals circle, sales decks get dusted off and emails go out, it is one of ad tech's more reliable habits, and one of its more reliably ineffective ones. The Trade Deal's falling out with Publicis is the latest to trigger it. Competitors have been working phones and LinkedIn ad budgets, pitching transparency and the implicit suggestion that now might be the moment to rethink the roster. Advertisement TOP STORY The Programmatic Marketer Transparency brought down The Trade Desk's Publicis deal but it may not be enough to win its other clients Nexxen’s launching new AI features. Amazon’s broaching streaming partnerships. And Viant, Blockboard and Stackadapt are setting out their stalls. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW In a virtual event on April 14, retailers can learn from the multichannel growth playbook. Register to hear a conversation about how brands expand to TikTok Shop and Walmart without breaking operations. Sponsored by Helium10. Join us at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, May 6–8 in Palm Springs, to connect with programmatic leaders from Havas, Publicis, OMD and many others. Learn more and secure your pass. Rather than add another interface for sellers and agencies to work with, Hector Ai brought Amazon advertising intelligence to where customers were already working for a more natural agent-driven workflow. Partner insights from Amazon Ads. MARKETING Future of Marketing Briefing: Horizon Media is building a platform to orchestrate ad tech from a single command center Agency trading desks never really went away. Horizon Media wants to prove they grew up. Marketing in Sports High stakes, big budgets: How brands are navigating a massive sports year Global ad spend on sports has increased, and brands like Grey Goose, John Deere and Lavazza coffee brand are investing. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM PATHLABS Agencies are thriving in a high-tech delivery world with human-led service Tools meant to free up time for high-priority tasks require more human attention, not less, leaving no time for necessary agency work that compounds: strategic planning, senior-level guidance and new business. Navigating Economic Instability Amazon to issue 3.5% surcharge on fulfillment services as fuel, logistics costs rise The surcharge will apply to Fulfillment by Amazon in the U.S. and Canada, as well as some cross-border and Buy With Prime services. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM VIAFOURA Why participation is the new pathway to engagement for publishers In the reality of today’s media environment, scale is fragile. Traffic is rented. Content alone is no longer defensible. But participation turns audiences from passive consumers into active participants. Advertisement PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AMAZON ADS The value of understanding long-term marketing impacts The modern customer journey is extensive and nonlinear, but relying on short-term KPIs, like 14-day ROAS, means marketers may not be meaningfully evaluating full-funnel strategies. ICYM The Programmatic Marketer The Trade Desk shakes up Identity Alliance payouts, with a new focus on incrementality The Trade Desk is changing how it pays its ‘identity partners’ in a shakeup potentially worth ‘tens of millions of dollars’ a year. Generative AI What happens when agency execs negotiate against AI agents I created a game that has AI agents represent buyers and sellers in an ad deal. Then I asked Wpromote's Skyler McGill and Butler/Till’s Ryan Lammela to test it out. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy