The Trade Desk And PubMatic Are Done Pretending Deal IDs Work | AdExchanger

The Trade Desk and PubMatic Challenge the Effectiveness of Deal IDs

One common misconception in programmatic advertising is that algorithms fully replace human involvement. In reality, the industry depends heavily on personal relationships and agreements made through direct communication.

Deal IDs as Digital Handshakes

Programmatic campaigns executed via private marketplace (PMP) deals or curation services usually include deal IDs, which act as digital handshakes. However, most of these deals are actually negotiated through human interaction—phone calls, Slack messages, and emails—which are not captured within the deal ID itself.

New API Integration for Better Deal Management

On Tuesday, The Trade Desk and PubMatic revealed a new API-based integration to improve management of deal ID campaigns. This system is built on The Trade Desk’s Price Discovery and Provisioning (PDP) API, introduced earlier this year.

Will Doherty, The Trade Desk’s SVP of inventory development, told AdExchanger: “I expect all of TTD’s sell-side partners, whether connecting directly or via an SSP, will eventually use the PDP API as their standard for transacting deals via The Trade Desk.”
Adoption by Supply-Side Platforms

PubMatic became the first supply-side platform to adopt the PDP API specification and launch a commercial product based on it, signaling a shift in how deal ID campaigns are managed.

Questioning the Need for a Price Discovery API

This innovation raises the question: Is a dedicated price discovery API essential for the future of programmatic deal transactions?

Summary: The Trade Desk and PubMatic reveal that despite deal IDs being central to programmatic advertising, human negotiation remains key, prompting development of new APIs to modernize deal management.

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AdExchanger AdExchanger — 2025-11-05

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