Publishers and buyers are rethinking how to create connections that drive performance in the AI era

“The industry continues to shift toward more direct supply paths,” said Scott Sheffer, vp of global partnerships on Google’s sell-side monetization team. “Delivering on performance requires stronger connections between the publishers creating unique, authoritative content and advertisers looking to reach their audiences. Maximizing value for our partners begins with establishing the most transparent path between advertiser demand and publisher supply. ”

Why buyers and sellers are choosing more efficient, direct supply paths

As the digital ecosystem rapidly scaled, it became increasingly complex. Programmatic advertising inefficiencies result in $26.8 billion in wasted annual spend. Meanwhile, the average publisher connects to 24.5 SSPs, and more than half of those partners are authorized to initiate resold auctions. 

Now, as ad tech is entering an era of efficiency, both buyers and sellers are prioritizing direct, transparent supply paths to reduce intermediate friction, such as cost inefficiencies. This shift comes as AI raises stakeholders’ expectations for how campaigns deliver, with more impactful ads that drive clear business outcomes. 

According to analysis from the consulting firm Madison and Wall, this trend is actively playing out across the ecosystem through supply path optimization, curation and even SSPs and DSPs adjusting their offerings in response. And the direct pathways that emerge reduce signal loss, giving agencies the clearer insights they need to run effective, relevant campaigns while driving maximum revenue to publishers. 

Efficient supply paths help buyers reach the right audiences and contexts

At the same time, consumers’ bar for content and advertising is sky-high, making ad quality and context matter more than ever. Focusing on high-yield audience-and-content matches has become a top priority for publishers and buyers alike.  

Quality ad experiences are about more than the creative itself, with audience signals, contextual information, inventory and optimization working together to create the ad experience the user sees onscreen. Efficient, transparent supply paths can help buyers deliver more relevant, engaging ad experiences — often by simply preventing signal loss across fragmented transaction chains. 

Google’s Buyer Direct offers agencies this kind of direct supply path to reach audiences while also giving them the ability to manage cross-publisher ad frequencies. For instance, Japan’s Hakuhodo DY ONE used Buyer Direct to centralize frequency optimization in Google Ad Manager for a luxury auto dealer across three premium publishers. This helped eliminate cookie sync loss, prevented impression overlap and optimized user exposure to ads. This more efficient path didn’t just streamline delivery — it also helped create a better ad experience, increasing average site visitor engagement time by 34%.

In the AI era, strong partnerships are more critical than ever

However, connections today aren’t only about the transaction mechanics. 

“Whom you partner with also matters,” Sheffer said. “Our mission to maximize revenue for our partners hasn’t changed. What’s changed is the speed at which we must deliver. Consumers today are making faster, yet more informed and confident decisions. 

“Publishers are navigating this shift in consumer behavior, while marketers are demanding more reach, relevance and measurement to reach those consumers,” he said. “To succeed in this highly dynamic environment, you need reliable, trusted partners who are willing to innovate, test and iterate to grow your business for the long haul.”

As publishers evaluate their monetization strategies and the industry as a whole moves away from complexity, buyers and sellers must seek trusted partners that connect innovative offerings to measurable outcomes.

“Publishers and buyers must look beyond short-term results and ask the critical questions: Can this solution withstand long-term pressure?” Sheffer said. “Is the data that’s powering my insights dependable? And can I verify these results drive toward my end objectives?” 

Recently, Google’s sell side launched Publisher Connections, a new unified identity rolling out across their channels to bring the latest research, product updates and best practices together on one site. By providing a unified hub to access these resources, Google’s sell-side team aims to help partners build closer connections, navigate industry shifts with confidence and deliver measurable business value. 

Partner insights from Google Publisher Connections