James Wilhite

Imagine you’re deep into streaming game five of the NBA playoffs. After enduring the same car commercial countless times, frustration sets in: “Not that truck ad again. I’m not in the market for a car, but even if I were, I’d never buy this now because they practically ruined the game for me.”

As supply-path optimization (SPO) becomes the rallying cry of our entire industry, the complexity of the CTV landscape is in the spotlight. Calls are growing louder for publishers to dramatically slash the number of SSPs included in their unified auctions. A more centralized approach with fewer SSPs, these folks argue, will bring clarity and efficiency that will draw buyers. But this view oversimplifies the situation.