Infolinks CEO Bob Regular critiques supply path optimization for excluding quality

Blanket SPO policies risk turning premium media into a commodity by prioritizing the route over the result. By limiting supply paths to only direct connections, buyers may lose access to curated, high-performing pockets of the open web that require specialized intermediaries to activate. As cookies vanish, the survival of non-walled-garden inventory depends on shifting from identity-based targeting to predictive contextual intelligence. Executives must watch for a shift in programmatic strategy where 'agile' models prioritize benchmarking various paths rather than enforcing a single, shortest-route philosophy.

The critique of supply path optimization arrives as the programmatic ecosystem faces increased scrutiny over transparency and efficiency. Per the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) in its February 2026 report, 'Understanding the Role of Direct Contracts in the Programmatic Supply Chain,' advertisers found that while reducing intermediaries can lower transaction costs, it does not automatically improve media productivity. The study revealed that transaction costs remained stubbornly high—often above 25% of total spend—while media waste from non-viewable or low-quality inventory actually rose by nearly 5% between 2024 and 2025. This supports the argument that path length is a poor proxy for value.

Simultaneously, the industry is pivoting toward agentic AI specifically to solve the 'signal war' described by IDC in March 2026. With 75% of consumer discovery expected to originate from AI summaries by 2028, traditional deterministic tracking is being structurally replaced by 'neuro-contextual' AI. According to research from Seedtag and Columbia University published in March 2026, contextually aligned ads powered by machine learning generate 3.5 times higher neural engagement than standard placements. These findings reinforce a broader 2026 market trend where leading DSPs are embedding autonomous agents to make micro-decisions on supply quality in real time, moving beyond the manual exclusion lists of earlier years.

Furthermore, the programmatic supply chain is consolidating around fewer but more sophisticated authorized sellers. Per AdSpin.io reporting in July 2026, the number of active domains used in programmatic campaigns fell by nearly 50% year-over-year as buyers concentrated spend on measurable, high-viewability paths. This environment has created a performance gap where the top cohort of advertisers is paying lower average CPMs for higher-quality inventory by avoiding the 'AI slop' and low-quality 'Made-for-Advertising' sites that expanded despite initial SPO efforts.