How commerce media fits in the programmatic ecosystem

Commerce media is quickly becoming the connective tissue between digital advertising and commerce-driven outcomes. As retailers, marketplaces, and travel platforms grow their media businesses, they’re unlocking new value from their digital real estate—transforming shopper intent and transaction data into powerful media inventory.

This growth isn’t hypothetical. Commerce media is expected to exceed $100 billion globally by 2027, fueled by advertiser demand for measurable outcomes, tighter targeting, and closed-loop attribution. But to grow demand efficiently and compete with tech giants, networks need more than just strong first-party data—they need efficient and scalable buying. That’s where programmatic comes in.

The evolution of programmatic

Programmatic advertising wasn’t always a trusted channel. In its early days, it was associated with remnant inventory, low CPMs, and murky transparency. But fast-forward to today: programmatic now powers over $387 billion in ad spend globally, with advanced capabilities like audience targeting, real-time bidding, and granular impression tracking.

Programmatic has expanded beyond standard display ad units. It’s now a foundational layer across CTV, audio, native, and premium digital inventory. Top publishers—including Hulu, Disney, NBCUniversal, and Spotify—leverage programmatic pipes to sell high-value inventory efficiently while maintaining control.

This shift didn’t happen by chance. Programmatic evolved from a cost-saving tactic into a strategic engine for brand reach, measurement, and performance. And now, it’s poised to do the same for commerce media.

Why commerce media is the natural next channel for programmatic

At its core, programmatic is about matching demand and supply efficiently. Commerce media offers what buyers want: high-intent audiences, strong performance signals, and clear outcomes. Brands want to activate commerce audiences using the same tools and strategies they use in other digital channels, and they expect the same scale, transparency, and control.

Commerce media networks, on the other hand, want to grow demand without sacrificing their differentiated offering. Programmatic offers a way to unlock net-new spend, especially from brand budgets.

Today, many advertisers face friction. Buying across multiple retail media networks often means dealing with a patchwork of platforms with non-standardized measurement, leading to fragmented execution and missed spend optimization opportunities.

On the supply side, retailers are also feeling pressure. Growth is slowing after years of explosive momentum. And smaller retail media networks struggle to compete with giants like Amazon and Walmart. With only about 15% of brand spend left to compete for, standing out requires more than unique data—it requires better access to demand.

Programmatic offers a solution. Not only does it help buyers reach commerce audiences at scale, but it also helps retailers attract incremental demand, especially from national brand budgets flowing through DSPs.

It’s a natural fit—but there’s a missing piece: the technology layer that connects commerce media inventory to programmatic demand.

Enter the Koddi SSP

Koddi’s Commerce Media SSP is purpose-built for the next generation of media monetization. We understand that retailers and commerce platforms need more than tech—they need a partner that respects the retail environment, enables smart monetization, and integrates seamlessly with the programmatic ecosystem.

Our platform empowers networks to:

• Connect to top DSPs and programmatic buyers
• Maintain control over data, placements, and performance
• Drive incremental revenue through new demand channels
• Support scalable, relevant, and privacy-conscious commerce media
• Extend monetization to on-site sponsored inventory and in-store formats like video, display, and audio

How the Koddi SSP differs from other SSPs

While the term “SSP” may sound familiar, a commerce media SSP isn’t just a repurposed publisher tool. It’s designed with the commerce-first realities of these networks in mind.

• Relevancy at scale: Traditional SSPs optimize for fill rates and impressions. Along with yield management, Koddi SSP is built to work with your existing relevance—ensuring ads align with shopping behavior, product categories, and consumer journeys.
• Closed-loop attribution: Koddi SSP enables deterministic measurement tied to the commerce platform’s sales and conversion data.
• Control for commerce media publishers: Unlike other SSPs, Koddi SSP gives commerce media publishers control over inventory access, audience sharing, and ad experience, preserving trust with consumers and maintaining a consistent user experience.
• Privacy by design: Koddi’s SSP is powered by IP addresses and anonymous user IDs. Koddi does not collect or alter PII data and the DSPs do not create audiences with PII data.
• Compatibility and incrementality: The SSP works with any ad server, and works to capture incremental demand, allowing retailers to tap into net-new programmatic spend through national brand budgets.

Programmatic has transformed display, video, and CTV. Now, it’s doing the same for commerce media. The networks that embrace this shift will be the ones that grow faster, attract bigger budgets, and deliver better results—for themselves and their advertisers.

With Koddi SSP, networks no longer have to choose between scale and precision; they can have both. Contact us today to learn more.