Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101)

Exploring the world of #programmatic advertising

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

TTD OpenPath vs non-OpenPath. What actually performs better?

The Programmatic 101 newsletter is back (https://t.co/krQDFq1zcN), and the first issue just went out. I wanted an actual answer so I finally sat down and looked properly...👇

[Arthur Querou @arthurquerou]

3 months ago, Walmart acquired Vibe for $1B+.
It all started with a question. What if?
Today, we answer it.

[Shiv 💡 @airgups23]

Hey Marketing & Advertising Twitter!

We're running a FREE session tomorrow on Synthetic Audiences with our friends at @VurveyLabs. It will be enlightening, educational, and as always, we're going to make it fun. Register here (srsly do it): https://t.co/oJYPTYUHFj

@aripap @AdtechGod @douglauretano @BradAT @aristein @aepstein_ @gregorykennedy @JamesBorow @JonathanMoffie @JamesBorow @oliviaakory @KarstenW @Ben_Kaplan @RioLongacre @This_Liss @BishPlsOk @trishlaostwal @jamesIII @arthurquerou @QuinnChasan @TimRowe_SOS @AlreadyPandemic @101Programmatic @EricTilbury_RTB @eclecticV @zachbretton @tkawaja

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@AdtechGod @sam_khoury1

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@DustinCha_ exactly

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

If TTD ads are blocked in Safari, that's a big deal for every buyer running on it. And we're learning about it from AdExchanger, not from TTD. Not a great look.

[Ari Paparo @aripap]

TTD ads blocked entirely in Safari. @adexchanger with the scoop and detailed breakdown: https://t.co/V1D2n52tjx

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@AdtechGod

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@JamesBorow

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@JeromySonne

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

THIS

[Eric Tilbury - Programmatic @EricTilbury_RTB]

Shoutout to that legendary coworker group that only happens once in a lifetime. When it’s done, you never get it back. You’re all the same age, on the same page, at the same stage in life, and you hang out in your time off. If you’re in it right now, give those people a hug. It’s special.

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@EricTilbury_RTB THIS

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

Is OpenPath actually cheaper, or is it just a discount on worse inventory? I've been checking that against real data instead of taking either side's word for it, and depending which number you look at, you get two completely different answers.

On price, OpenPath is doing a genuinely good job. Across 90 days of data, OpenPath impressions ran about 43% cheaper than the same inventory bought through named SSPs, and when I checked the actual attention environment those impressions land in, ad refresh rate, ad density, viewability, competing ads in view, it came back basically identical to what I'm paying a real premium for elsewhere. That reads less like a junk-inventory discount and more like the market correcting a price that named-SSP supply may have been charging without the environment to back it up.

Then the platform numbers tell a different story. CPA ran about 31% higher on OpenPath and ROAS came in about 28% lower, and it holds up even above the fold and on desktop, the exact segments where OpenPath should look most like named-SSP supply if this were just a placement mix issue.

So is the price win real and the performance gap the actual cost of getting it, or is something else entirely eating the difference?

I'd rather stay careful than confident here. These are last touch, post view attributed conversions, which means the model credits whichever impression happened to sit closest to the conversion and doesn't prove that impression caused anything, so if OpenPath impressions tend to land earlier in someone's path, or the attribution model is just structurally less generous to that supply route, a real chunk of that CPA gap could be measurement rather than performance. I don't think that's the whole story though, the gap survives across two separate 90-day windows and holds even in segments where placement shouldn't matter, but I'm not calling it solved until somebody actually runs an incrementality test on it.

So here's what I'd actually do with this. Don't exclude OpenPath publishers on the assumption they're low quality, the attention data doesn't support that at all, and you're probably cutting a fairly priced route for a reason that isn't true. Do stop trusting a blended CPA or ROAS number if a meaningful share of your spend runs through OpenPath, break it out before you conclude anything from it.

Full breakdown is in the first issue of Programmatic 101 on behiiv (link in my profile bio and on the thumbnail), the fold and device cuts that rule out placement mix, all four attention metrics and what they actually showed, and the attribution caveat in more detail than I could fit here.

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@AdtechGod 😂

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

interesting

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

JUST IN: LinkedIn rolls out a “Seems like AI slop” button, amid growing concerns over low quality, AI-generated content on the platform.

[Ad Tech Explained @AdTechExplained]

Can Transaction ID become the missing piece for cleaner CTV supply paths? Ad Tech Explained explores how it helps DSPs identify duplicate inventory, improve supply path optimization, and why challenges like metadata enrichment and inventory sharing are slowing broader adoption.

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@MovingSri there is CPA/ROAS data in the newsletter - https://t.co/FYyDMbhDPo

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

TTD OpenPath vs non-OpenPath. What actually performs better?

The Programmatic 101 newsletter is back (https://t.co/krQDFq1zcN), and the first issue just went out. I wanted an actual answer so I finally sat down and looked properly...👇

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@EricTilbury_RTB Based on the numbers I see across the board, 60-70% of conversions from tactics like LALs are NOT incremental

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@dwaynestewart *Correct link - https://t.co/FYyDMbhDPo

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@Lawrenc13635593 thanks for flagging! here is the correct link https://t.co/FYyDMbhDPo

[Vlad Chubakov (@Programmatic 101) @101Programmatic]

@EricTilbury_RTB @ProgrammaticJoe Yessss