Anastasia-Nikita Bansal
Grigoriy MisilyukAs the CEO of a company that has been building programmatic platforms for more than a decade, I’ve seen the same pattern repeat itself: demand-side inefficiencies rarely come from “bad traffic.” They come from unclear logic, weak audience definitions, and a lack of reliable signals. Curated deals were created to solve exactly that—offering a signal-driven structure where buyers and sellers work with shared clarity instead of assumptions.
Today, I want to focus on what curated deals actually mean from the buyer’s perspective, and why this model changes how performance gets built, measured, and understood on the demand side.
What curated inventory means for advertisers
We need real-life examples, and I have one in mind.
One of our white-label SSP partners recently onboarded an advertiser exploring new demand sources. Initially, the advertiser launched campaigns via open RTB; the results were serviceable but underwhelming compared to their core platforms. Mid-flight, the SSP proposed a shift to curated deals, using signal-enriched supply and tighter audience-context alignment. The configuration—not the platform—changed. The outcome? A 32% increase in conversions and an 18% drop in costs.
These results were made possible by curated deal logic currently offered to a limited number of partners through our waitlist—where the setup is fine-tuned to match campaign needs with precision.
Returning to the overview, in a broader sense, curated deals mean more for advertisers:
Better conversions. When the platform is configured to align traffic signals with demand-side criteria—such as audience, context, and intent—impressions start working smarter. Curated deals built on this setup eliminate guesswork and improve conversion rates. It's not automatic—it's the outcome of precision and structure.
Spend optimization. When the deal is appropriately tailored, advertisers don't need to guess. They stop paying for traffic that was never meant for them. The result is tighter control over where your spending goes and a clearer return on ad spend. However, this efficiency only occurs when the SSP is calibrated to support curated logic. Smarter buying depends on more intelligent systems.
Predictable buying rates. With curated supply paths, advertisers can move from reactive budgeting to confident planning. Fixed CPMs or stable performance-based pricing mean no more surprises. Predictability is a comfortable performance advantage but not a byproduct—it's the result of a curated supply built with pricing logic that the platform supports natively.
Brand protection. Curated deals built through a transparent and compliant SSP enable enforceable brand safety standards. Meanwhile, this level of protection only works if the platform has the right scanners, inventory classification, and contextual labeling in place. Its infrastructure first—safety follows.
Zero risk of fraud. Multi-stage scanning, verified supply paths, and signal-rich inventory allow SSP to create an environment where fraud has nowhere to hide. In curated deals, buyers aren’t guessing—they’re selecting from trusted, pre-verified inventory.
However, all this is true only under one condition—advertisers and publishers interact through their platforms as equals, as partners.
A good chef knows how to cook a truly delicious meal so that the sell-side will take care of both the food and its service. The buy side, on the other hand, must clearly define what it wants and choose the right supplier. Then, all the stars will align.
The SSP perspective: where the curated partnership begins
SSP is the architect of the curated deal's structure. From our experience at TeqBlaze—developing white-label SSPs and ad exchanges—we have seen how critical it is for the SSP to play on two fronts: understanding the real needs of publishers and aligning with the precise expectations of the demand side. Without a properly structured and well-packaged inventory, even the most advanced DSP won't be able to trade effectively. Curation only works when the supply side is ready for it—technically, strategically, and operationally.
As follows, the supply-side platform holds a leading role in traffic curation.
It starts with the inventory. The more structured, transparent, and data-enriched the inventory is, the more precisely it can be matched with demand. Every bit of information matters: what the placement is, where it originates, the kind of audience it reaches, and the context that surrounds it. This is what turns inventory into signal-rich, curated, and conversion-strong supply.
What should publishers do to make this possible?
They need to make their inventory legible and understandable at scale. That means:
Implementing robust first-party data strategies that are accurate and compliant with privacy regulations.
Creating clean, distinct placements with clear naming, formats, and rules.
Sharing detailed metadata about their resources: content categories, traffic sources, and usage metrics.
What should SSPs do to curate effectively?
They need to package supply the way the buy side can use it:
Enrich inventory with meaningful contextual, audience, and performance signals. This elevates the value of each impression, allowing the SSP to justify premium pricing and attract higher-quality demand.
Organize placements based on formats, environments, and user behavior. A structured inventory makes it easier to create differentiated deal packages—leading to better segmentation and stronger performance metrics.
Integrate with trusted third-party data providers for additional demographic or behavioral insights. This boosts buyer confidence and opens doors to demand that would otherwise be inaccessible without verified targeting signals.
Implement fraud scanning and traffic quality verification at multiple points of the system. By demonstrating supply integrity, SSPs not only enhance win rates but also foster long-term buyer loyalty and a robust platform reputation.
Build inventory packages around buyer-specific needs rather than relying on one-size-fits-all labels. This makes the SSP a true strategic partner—not just a marketplace—resulting in closer, more profitable relationships with DSPs.
At the end of this curation phase, a mature SSP should know precisely what it's offering:
Source: web, in-app, CTV, DOOH—classified and verified.
Quality: validated impressions, non-intrusive ad density, human traffic only.
Content taxonomy: based on IAB standards or custom logic, clean and targeted.
Audience signals: from direct and integrated sources—covering gender, age, education, geo, interests, and more.
Once the supply is clear and enriched, the next move belongs to the SSP again—selecting and matching buyers who are ready to value that clarity. Yet, buyers themselves are also the ones who define the results.
The DSP side: precision campaign setup
DSP is a lock, while SSP is a key. DSP doesn't buy supply—it buys access to a defined audience in a suitable context. The better the fit, the more the deal delivers.
This means that the buyer must understand precisely what audience and context they are targeting—only then will success be achieved. If the advertiser does not know what they need, the result of any curated deal will not be very different from a similar one on the open market. It's a harsh truth.
Request example: We aim to target women aged 25-40 in France who play puzzle games while avoiding lower-tier content and minimizing app-ads.txt errors.
Is it hard to set up? No, it's a bare minimum to define. Below, I describe this process in step-by-step detail.
Audience and context
Every successful curated campaign starts with knowing who you're targeting and where they should be reached:
Geo: countries, regions, or cities.
Demographics: age brackets, gender splits, household income, and education levels.
Interests: sports fans, tech enthusiasts, eco-conscious, and more.
Environment: mobile app, desktop web, CTV, DOOH—each comes with unique patterns of engagement.
Content and app/site categories: IAB taxonomy, brand-safe categories, vertical-specific placements.
Devices and OS: iOS/Android, connected TVs, desktop browsers, and more.
These signals help the SSP identify and assemble the proper inventory placements that resonate rather than reach.
Technical alignment
Once audience needs are defined, the technical side of matchmaking begins. This is where curated deals transition from abstract strategy to real-time performance, encompassing identity-matching capabilities, scanners, brand safety technology, bid request requirements, connection types, latency, timeout constraints, and other key elements.
Each of these components ensures that the SSP knows how to shape the deal for optimal efficiency and how to avoid any surprises in live trading.
Budget and expectations
Lastly, precision doesn't end at setup—it extends to performance forecasting, including budget allocation, buying model selection, and key performance indicators.
When SSPs are aware of this upfront, they can design curated supply paths that optimize overall results.
Curation isn't just about inventory quality—it's about mutual clarity. A great DSP makes the most of curated deals not by asking for everything but by defining what matters. And when they do? That's when performance happens—the lock clicks. The campaign runs. And it works.
Mutual understanding matters
Even the most precisely curated deal can fail if the DSP sets the wrong parameters—say, targeting a different geo than what the supply offers. When alignment breaks, everyone pays the price. Publishers suffer from poor fill and low earnings, users see irrelevant ads, advertisers lose conversions, and platforms on both sides bleed revenue.
When both parties operate through compatible infrastructure—ideally within a proprietary SSP built to support curated logic—this alignment becomes not only possible but also scalable. It enables mutual accountability and shared outcomes. The sell side may carry more setup complexity, but the buy side must meet it with intentionality and focus.
A good company knows exactly where and how to reach its audience. A careless one throws a budget everywhere, hoping something sticks. When a curated deal is executed correctly, everyone benefits. When it's not, the loss is mutual—and avoidable.
Toward a brighter SSP–DSP future
Curated inventory is not the destination—it's the infrastructure for what comes next.
It's the blueprint for relevance in an ecosystem that has long been fueled by reach at all costs. And that blueprint becomes even more valuable when automation steps in. With the proper foundation—clear inventory, precise demand parameters, and transparency between the parties—AI can outperform sales teams in matching SSPs with DSPs. Not someday. Today.
Nevertheless, it only works if all parties involved play fairly and transparently. We need to say it out loud: curated deals aren't a fix. They're a rebuild.
Everyone's tired. Tired of watching intermediaries take their slice while publishers scramble for leftovers. Tired of bloated fees that advertisers pay for placements that were meant to be direct. And exhausted by the illusion of efficiency that open-market chaos still tries to sell.
The shift to curated deals is a signal. That the market is no longer chasing volume—it's designing value. In curated deals, there are no passive players. Every party—the publisher, the SSP, the advertiser, the DSP—takes on a new role: performance architect. Each of us is responsible for the system's effectiveness. And how much better it can become.
If you'd like to shape the next phase of programmatic curation with us, please comment on this post or reach out to me directly. We are about to make the next wave of programmatic work better for everyone!
