Agencies are thieves. At WPP Google wouldn't play ball with kickbacks, but you can't be a credible digital agency and not do search. So Google got their taste,

Agencies are thieves. At WPP Google wouldn't play ball with kickbacks, but you can't be a credible digital agency and not do search. So Google got their taste, just no GDN. Facebook wouldn't do kickbacks, so they were heavily discouraged. Any DSP that could advance client goals but wasn't part of the inner circle would be overruled by senior management. Total gaslighting. Everything goes to AppNexus or AppNexus partners. Because the parent company owns 20% or so of AppNexus. I got downvoted yesterday for this but I'll say it again, the mafia is in the tech, the tech is in the mafia. I have so many stories. edit: The funniest bit was when I would take thoughtful, younger clients out to dinner who understood the business model. They would laugh and say "don't tell me too much, just hit the artificial KPIs and make me look good for my Christmas bonus.".