Google’s AdX unit has begun striking deals with media agencies

Beginning this past spring, AdX reps have been offering media agencies access to a program that unlocks discounts on media investment once certain spending thresholds have been met. “They’re engaging with buyers more than they ever have before,” said one agency media buyer, who exchanged candor for anonymity.

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“Like the rest of the industry, our sell-side products are expanding relationships with agencies to deliver value to publishers and agency partners in new ways,” said a Google spokesperson in an emailed statement.

AdX is a programmatic marketplace operated by Google that connects brands with ad inventory from third-party publishers. Media buyers access its inventory through a demand-side platform (DSP), typically Google’s own DV360.

Despite the amount of ad spend that flows through the exchange and the increase in deals between media agencies and other supply-side platforms (SSPs) in recent years, AdX has been a closed book as far as agencies are concerned.

“I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years now, and the first time I spoke with a human being at AdX was March of this year,” said Scott Ensign, chief strategy officer at indie media agency Butler/Till. 

In fact, evidence given by Luke Lambert, partner, head of reputation marketing and insights at Omnicom’s Amazon-dedicated Confluence unit during the recent remedies phase of Google’s antitrust trial suggested the specifics of AdX’s rates weren’t outlined in the holding company’s contracts with the firm. The implication was that even major media agencies aren’t able to calculate the exact percentage they end up paying Google on AdX investments, putting the exchange effectively out of scope when it comes to SPO efforts.

Beginning in the second quarter of 2025, AdX’s icy facade started to thaw. “A rep approached me after I was speaking at an event in the spring and informed me, much to my surprise, that they’re going to be doing direct agreements, discounts, potentially other rebates and commercial arrangements,” said Ensign.

Other media buyers, speaking anonymously, said Google staffers had been approaching agency executives to gauge their interest in a pilot post-auction discount program as far back as January.

According to one, the company offered their agency access to a “beta” discount scheme between January and April. Following that trial period, they said they signed up to an annual agreement with AdX with more extensive post-auction discounts. They did not discuss specific pricing.

The buyers didn’t share the exact percentage discounts Google offered their agencies, but each confirmed they were organized in three tiers. The first tier applied a minor discount to any investments made, while higher tiers offered more extensive savings reserved for agencies spending at least $50 million-$100 million with AdX.

AdX execs had also sought out agency advice on new features, the first buyer said. “Now [when] they want to launch some new products, they will invite buyers to [offer] feedback with the product teams way earlier in the process,” they told Digiday. 

Though the discounts were welcome, they don’t appear to have prompted agencies to increase their (already considerable) spending with AdX.  Prior agreements with other SSPs, often involving more generous incentives, remain the focus. “[The AdX program is] not as competitive as the other SSPs’ post-auction discounts, but it’s better than nothing,” said the first buyer. 

“We were already doing quite a bit with them. We have other SSP relationships that we want to nurture more, so we’re putting more time and energy into those versus Google,” the second buyer said.

Butler/Till had not taken up the AdX offer so far because its client mix — the agency works with many pharmaceutical advertisers — means it doesn’t currently make use of the exchange’s inventory, Ensign said. When taking into account pre-existing arrangements with other SSPs, he said that “it’s unclear to me the gap that AdX would fill in our supply strategy.”

The post-auction discount program appears to be part of a broader hearts-and-minds campaign waged by Google executives. 

In September, Judge Leonie Brinkema found that Google violated U.S. antitrust laws by monopolizing the markets for publisher ad servers with DoubleClick for Publishers, and ad exchanges, via AdX, by tying the pair together. A 2024 ruling also branded its search business a monopoly.

Against that backdrop, execs within its Google Ad Manager (GAM) unit have been working to court agencies with sweeteners including post-auction discounts, while its other businesses have moved to offer more transparency and better reporting features for products like the now-ubiquitous Performance Max. 

“Google is smart to be tentatively exploring paths to strengthen its ad tech offering in the eyes of agencies by offering a little bit more wiggle room on pricing than it has historically,” said Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, senior analyst, adtech, at Forrester.

Allowing media shops to strike discount deals with AdX would be another way for Google to shore up buyer and brand confidence and ensure that, in the event of a break-up, its supply-side businesses could better fend for themselves.

There’s also the competition to consider. “Google’s ad tech competitors aren’t going to just stand idly by and let an opportunity to potentially gain market share slip through their fingers,” said Mitchell-Wolf. While Google’s ad revenues far exceed those of its closest programmatic peers, it’s spent this year playing catch-up on its ad tech offering for CTV and streaming inventory.

“They told me [that] they’d just listened to the market. They thought they’d fallen behind versus their competitors and that had frustrated some people,” said the first buyer. “Whether there’s other reasons behind that, I’m not sure, but they definitely have shifted.”