A new direct booking tool for agencies is in beta with Google Ad Manager publishers. It could disrupt agentic AI ad sales by removing DSP and SSP fees. The move leverages Google's dominant ad server position.
Media and publishing professionals focused on ad revenue are watching Google’s latest move closely. Buyer Direct, a new tool in beta for Google Ad Manager (GAM) publishers, offers agencies a direct booking option that bypasses traditional DSP and SSP fees. This approach could reshape how direct ad sales are handled, especially as agentic AI products gain traction in automating and optimizing these deals.
Agentic AI has been promoted as a way to streamline direct sales, automate manual tasks, and improve deal sourcing and negotiation. However, the fragmented nature of publisher inventory and inconsistent communication between platforms have limited the efficiency of agentic systems. Integrations with GAM’s API and reconciliation processes often introduce friction, even for advanced AI-driven solutions.
Buyer Direct addresses these challenges by centralizing the transaction process within Google’s agency interface, which many buyers already use. This eliminates the need for multiple platforms or complex integrations, allowing agencies to select inventory directly from publishers using GAM. The tool is currently focused on display and online video ads, where Google’s ad server market share is strongest.
While agentic AI platforms promise innovation in direct-sold campaigns, Buyer Direct’s integration with GAM gives it a significant advantage. Nearly the entire online publisher market relies on GAM, making it difficult for outside agentic systems to compete on efficiency or scale. However, non-Google agentic products may still find opportunities in channels where Google’s ad server dominance is less pronounced.
It’s worth noting that Google recently faced a major antitrust ruling over its ad server practices, with regulators citing business-tying that required publishers to use GAM for access to Google’s ad network demand. Now, Google appears to be shifting strategy, using its existing publisher base to create new sources of liquidity through tools like Buyer Direct. For more on how Google’s relationships with publishers are evolving, see this analysis of recent compensation agreements with French publishers.
