Resellers, Not Partners: How The Trade Desk Is Rewriting Programmatic Rules

In ad tech, labels are never just cosmetic. Category definitions shape who holds real power and who captures the money in the ecosystem. That’s why The Trade Desk’s latest move is making waves – even if many are pretending nothing happened.

What Happened

A few weeks ago, The Trade Desk downgraded all SSPs (Supply-Side Platforms) in its Kokai platform to the role of “resellers.” This isn’t just semantics:

• SSPs are now flagged as less efficient sources,
• Kokai scores them lower in auctions,
• A growing share of ad budgets is redirected through OpenPath (TTD’s direct publisher connection) and SP500 (a curated set of 500 “cleanest” supply routes).

For publishers, this means lower CPMs and the need to rethink header bidding strategies. For SSPs, it means reputational damage and lost leverage. For The Trade Desk, it means greater control and new revenue streams.

Why SSPs Are Pushing Back

The loudest response came from Andrew Casale, CEO of Index Exchange, who called TTD’s move “ignorant.” Here’s why:

• Not all SSPs are the same.
• Some act like distant intermediaries, taking margin without adding much value.
• But heavyweights like Index, Magnite, and PubMatic hold direct publisher contracts and serve as true revenue partners.
• Treating them all as mere resellers unfairly penalizes those who genuinely add value.

Casale summed it up: it should be publishers, not DSPs, who decide who’s a partner and who’s just a reseller.

Market Impact

This move has a clear ripple effect across the entire ecosystem. Publishers on OpenPath stand to gain, as more ad budgets are increasingly funneled their way. Conversely, publishers who aren’t integrated with OpenPath are losing out, with some reporting revenue drops of up to 50%. For SSPs, this re-labeling means a loss of both significance and negotiating power. Meanwhile, advertisers may get “cleaner” supply paths, but they also risk becoming more dependent on The Trade Desk.

The Bigger Trend

This shift is a symptom of a larger trend: the line between DSPs and SSPs is blurring. The Trade Desk is not alone in its pursuit of a full-stack model. Magnite is building ClearLine and PubMatic launched Activate, with each major player working to control both demand and supply. While this may seem to streamline the market on paper, in reality, it centralizes power in the hands of a few major players.

What’s Next?

This quiet change is about more than just cleaning up the supply chain-it’s a power shift in programmatic advertising. The Trade Desk is steadily moving toward a position similar to what Google once held: not just a participant in the market, but the one writing its rules.

For the industry, this means a few key things:

• Publishers should carefully consider whether an OpenPath integration is becoming essential to their revenue.
• SSPs must now work harder to prove the genuine value they add beyond simply “reselling” inventory.
• Finally, advertisers should critically evaluate whether TTD’s version of efficiency is truly about a clean supply chain or simply another form of lock-in.

One thing is clear: this “quiet relabeling” is just the opening move in a much larger game for control of the programmatic landscape.