As the conversation around curation continues, we're highlighting the most informed articles on the topic. This year, curation has been such a popular subject that it will be one of ExchangeWire’s key pillars for their Industry Review 2025.  They shared a teaser of that content before the Industry Review release in January, saying, “We are already seeing a lot of movement in the curation space, and that is making it very exciting. Honestly, it feels like the concept is misunderstood, but this industry is masterful at overcomplicating the simple. Curation is a pivotal force, or has the potential to be. It brings a purpose and you could argue it’s a lifeline for the SSPs. PMP deals thrive on curation and the platforms are the matchmakers that bring together publishers, advertisers and data signals."

ExchangeWire published another article this week in which Fern Potter, SVP of Strategy and Partnerships at Multilocal, and Rob Webster, Founder at Tau Marketing Solutions, give their thoughts on what curation really offers.

There are arguments about whether curation parallels an ad network, often put forward by people unfamiliar with the data and technology requirements for a company to deliver real curation. Ad Tech curation requires the curator to have both unique data and a real-time signal.  More than any conventional ad network model, curation drives value for publishers and advertisers alike. In an era where the open web faces mounting challenges and is losing a huge amount of market share to walled gardens, curation provides solutions to those challenges with quality media, enhanced addressability, transparency, and re-establishes trust between advertisers and publishers.

One major challenge within the open web ecosystem is accountability. When the open web fails to provide quality media and provides placements that harm brands and frustrate advertisers, each stakeholder often deflects responsibility. In comparison, curation has a proactive responsibility for quality where curation partners can ensure advertisers’ needs are met with a tailored product, offering a far superior alternative to an ecosystem where no single entity assumes accountability.

The open web's addressability has also taken significant hits, especially following privacy controls from Apple and Google that have hampered data-driven targeting and reduced transparency. Curation, however, offers an alternative by facilitating the integration of sell-side data. This integration can more effectively match data and link it to various first-party and second-party assets to strengthen addressability on the open web. The retail media industry's embrace of curation illustrates its powerful potential to improve targeting precision and closed-loop measurement for advertisers. CTV also similarly uses curation, allowing broadcasters' first-party audiences to be used without fear of leakage.

One criticism often directed at curation is its perceived addition to the “tech tax,” but when done right, curation enhances transparency rather than increasing hidden costs. With curation, advertisers know exactly what they are paying for, receiving a consolidated package that includes media, data, addressability, and quality controls. Unlike conventional ad networks, curated ad environments allow for streamlined integration through preferred platforms, offering efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Curation takes the best of the ad network world and makes it available in an automated fashion, delivering quality and scale.