Here are just a few of the key highlights from the conversations:

• Curation can resolve some of the challenges facing the industry, such as the restriction of publisher inventory due to the over-zealous use of brand safety. Curated marketplaces resolve this by using contextual information to take curation from the domain or channel level down to the specific page level, although further development of the technology is still required.
• This is an evolution of what publishers have already been doing, not a revolution. The tech and implementation mechanisms are new, but if we could tackle these challenges when we pivoted to programmatic, we can deal with this too – we just need to figure out the nuance and respond accordingly.
• In theory, the simplified supply chain means more money to publishers because less is lost to intermediaries and advertisers are incentivised to move money out of the open exchange. However, the current situation requires additional workload to effectively package content and there isn’t the flexibility needed to offer different pricing where needed.
• Start by assessing how curation can improve your existing stack and then look at what you can do to integrate sales agents cost-effectively. And talk to your SSPs – get into the nitty gritty where you can and push for transparency to understand how your content and data are being surfaced.
• Curated marketplaces present strong benefits for smaller publishers as it reduces the workload for agencies to establish them as quality publishers. And by partnering with others with complimentary audiences and content, smaller publishers can compete more effectively against the bigger players.

CRUNCH is a series of four events where publisher members can come together with their contemporaries and the industry for

• Collaboration to progress key industry issues
• Inspiration and learning
• Networking