For independent agencies and mid-market brands, transparency isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s essential. It protects margins, builds client trust, and enables programmatic investment to scale with confidence. That’s why we’re highlighting The Trade Desk’s OpenAds, a new auction environment designed to create a healthier, more transparent digital advertising supply chain.

Clear Auctions, Better Insights

OpenAds gives publishers and sellers a direct, high-integrity option for programmatic auctions, helping advertisers better understand what they’re buying and the audiences they’re reaching. For agencies, this means fewer hidden intermediaries, clearer cost structures, and greater confidence when explaining performance and pricing to clients. Leading publishers including AccuWeather, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, Hearst Magazines and TV, Newsweek, People Inc., and Ziff Davis are among the first to support this initiative.

Cleaner auction mechanics and stronger signal quality help agencies make smarter bidding decisions and reduce wasted spend - especially critical for mid-market budgets.

“OpenAds represents a major advance in how our industry thinks about a clean and transparent supply chain,” said Will Doherty, SVP, Inventory Development, The Trade Desk. “It helps advertisers and publishers alike by delivering clear visibility into the auction and the audiences being reached.”

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What Publishers Are Saying

Here is how leading publishers see transparent auctions benefiting agencies and advertisers.

• The Arena Group: Better understanding of where value is lost between buyers and publishers.
• The Guardian: Confidence that the highest bid wins in a fully auditable auction.
• Hearst Magazines & TV: Reinforcement of premium inventory value through transparent auction mechanics.
• People Inc.: Clear proof that premium, transparent advertising drives efficient outcomes.
  Ziff Davis: Greater efficiency and accountability in programmatic campaigns.

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Why Advertisers Should Care

As advertisers increasingly demand transparency, signal quality, and trust in digital campaigns, tools like OpenAds are setting a new standard for programmatic media. Unlike closed platforms where inventory and reporting are self-contained, OpenAds introduces an auction environment that buyers and publishers can independently verify.

Across publishers, the message is consistent: transparent auctions lead to greater accountability, stronger confidence in performance, and better alignment between agencies, advertisers, and publishers.

As a Certified Service Partner, Mogl helps agencies apply innovations like OpenAds strategically - guiding supply path decisions and activation without adding complexity.

OpenAds signals a broader shift toward accountable programmatic buying. Agencies that adopt early gain greater control, stronger client trust, and a more sustainable path to growth.

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Get in Touch

Want to learn how OpenAds and other innovations can improve your programmatic campaigns? Contact Mogl today to speak with our team of experts.

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Sources

• The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk Announces First Wave of OpenAds Publishing Partners – Supporting a Healthier Digital Media Supply Chain. January 6, 2026

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