Ad tech vendors are vying to be crowned as the leader in transparency by any means necessary, regardless of the consequences for their clients or the industry. In truth, the transparency debate itself has become radicalized, with attention-grabbing headlines occasionally eclipsing appropriate change. It’s time to move past rhetoric. What the market needs is trust between publishers, advertisers, and technology providers–trust that can be achieved by reimagining programmatic business models.

At the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting last year, Marc Pritchard, P&G’s chief brand officer, called for cleaning up the supply chain, vowing to only pay digital media and ad tech suppliers that complied with the company’s strict quality and transparency requirements. It was the first time a brand advertiser committed to leveraging significant ad spend to improve the programmatic landscape, setting off a wave of efforts and initiatives aimed at achieving this goal. While a year has passed without full resolution, many technology providers have revised business practices to align with changing market demands. Some have even co-opted the concept of “radical transparency” to promote mass disclosure of customer fee rates.

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