In today’s digital ad ecosystem, complexity has become the norm.
What was once a tool for clearing unsold inventory has evolved into a vast programmatic infrastructure filled with algorithms, intermediaries and inefficiencies. Across the UK, buyers and sellers ask the same question: Where’s the value – and where is the control?
Enter programmatic curation: a fast-emerging strategy reshaping how brands, agencies, and media owners engage with data, inventory and audiences. It's not a rebrand of old ad networks or a workaround for fading cookies. It's a structural rethink of how premium media is packaged, traded and activated — and its time has come.
Curation: More than just a buzzword
Curation is the process of building premium media packages on the sell side, enriched with first- or third-party data, and made accessible to buyers via deal IDs across any DSP. It shifts targeting logic closer to the source of inventory, creating a more controlled, transparent and performant pathway from publisher to advertiser.
And it couldn’t be more relevant to the UK market. With rising scrutiny from organisations such as ISBA, signal loss on the horizon, and brands demanding more sustainable and effective media investments, curation answers a growing call for supply path clarity and audience precision.
Platforms like Criteo Commerce Grid now allow agencies and media owners to create bespoke packages and even seasonal or audience-specific themes, activating them via any major DSP – from DV360 to The Trade Desk. The result? ±±¾©Èü³µpk10s that are as transparent as they are effective.
Why it matters for brands and agencies
The benefits are both strategic and operational for agencies. In an age where brands increasingly bring programmatic in-house, curation allows agencies to deliver distinctive value: custom pipelines, tighter control over media quality and private access to high-performing inventory.
From a campaign planning perspective, curated deals provide predictable outcomes and richer insights. Buyers can activate audience-first strategies while sidestepping the bloat and risk of open exchanges. “Desperately Seeking Simplicity", over 59% of programmatic spend now flows through private deals, and curation only deepens this trend.
In other words: fewer pipes, better plumbing, clearer water.
A new chapter for media owners and publishers
Perhaps curation's most transformative impact is on the sell side. UK publishers, many of whom have invested heavily in quality environments and direct relationships, can now reclaim control over how their inventory is packaged, priced, and perceived.
Rather than exposing impressions to volatile open auctions, media owners can use curation to segment and augment their offering through commerce intent signals, contextual layers, or brand-safe environments.
This opens up access to new budgets. For example, a curated inventory deal enriched with retail audience data can attract brands that might otherwise bypass traditional publisher paths in favour of walled gardens. Thanks to the privacy-first architecture of curated trading, all of this can happen without compromising data ownership.
Curation vs. SPO: What’s the difference?
It’s tempting to see curation as just another version of Supply Path Optimisation (SPO) – but there’s a clear distinction. SPO clears out waste, whereas curation builds something better on top.
If SPO is about plugging leaks in the programmatic pipework, curation is about choosing exactly where those pipes go, and what flows through them. It’s about active selection, not just elimination.
For DSPs, this also means receiving fewer, but more valuable impressions. Everyone wins – including consumers, who benefit from better ad experiences aligned to their interests and context.
A ready path to value — without the tech overhaul
Critically, curation doesn’t require building new infrastructure.
With platforms such as Criteo’s Commerce Grid, agencies, brands, and media owners already have the tools to start creating deal IDs that can plug straight into existing DSP workflows. Best of all, they can do it right now – today.
This accessibility is part of why curation is taking off across the UK. The barriers to entry are low, but the benefits are undeniable: better results, stronger partnerships, and smarter use of data in a privacy-first world.
The road ahead
Curation won’t replace programmatic, but it will refine it.
In the UK, where quality, control, and transparency are non-negotiables for many buyers and publishers, it has the potential to become a defining feature of the media landscape.
For brands seeking certainty, agencies striving to differentiate, and media owners aiming to protect and grow their premium inventory, curation is more than a buzzword. It’s a path forward for digital advertising – and the UK is well placed to lead the way.