Google Wants to Untangle Programmatic’s Spaghetti Bowl, Paul Gubbins Says
CANNES, France – For years, programmatic advertising has promised efficiency. It has also delivered a labyrinth of acronyms, middlemen, marketplaces and PowerPoint slides attempting to explain all of the above.
Google’s Paul Gubbins says advertisers have finally had enough.
Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Gubbins, CTV sales lead for agency activation in EMEA exchange platforms at Google, described an industry increasingly focused on simplifying how ad dollars reach premium television inventory.
In other words, advertisers would like fewer treasure maps and more direct routes.
Agencies want fewer twists and turns
Gubbins said Google has long worked with brands, agencies and demand-side platforms to help advertisers reach audiences across screens and premium content. But in recent years, agencies have become increasingly concerned about navigating what he called a “very complex and fragmented programmatic supply ecosystem.”
That concern has fueled interest in supply path optimization, or SPO, the advertising industry’s ongoing quest to answer a deceptively simple question: Why take six connecting flights when a direct flight exists?
“We’ve had a lot of asks from the big holding cos and some of the independents” to help navigate the growing complexity of programmatic supply, Gubbins said.
Google’s answer is a collection of buy-side tools, including Buyer Direct, updated curation capabilities and programmatic marketplaces.
The goal is to help agencies get closer to publishers while removing some of the layers that have accumulated in programmatic over the years like geological sediment.
Buyer Direct aims to shorten the journey
One area where Google sees significant momentum is connected TV.
Gubbins said agencies and DSPs increasingly prefer transacting CTV inventory through direct deals and programmatic guaranteed arrangements rather than relying solely on the open marketplace.
That trend led Google to launch Buyer Direct, a product designed to combine traditional insertion-order relationships with programmatic controls.
“It enables brands and agencies for the very first time to buy directly from publishers ad server, i.e. Google Ad Manager,” Gubbins said.
The product is intended to address agencies’ supply path optimization goals while strengthening connections with major publishers.
For buyers accustomed to tracing their media spend through a maze of vendors, the pitch is straightforward: fewer detours, fewer mysteries and hopefully fewer meetings dedicated entirely to explaining where the ads actually ran.
CTV keeps opening its doors
Gubbins also expressed optimism about the continued growth of addressable television in Europe.
One reason is the gradual blending of traditional television buying and programmatic advertising.
“The continued convergence of traditional linear and programmatic advertising practices” is making television more accessible to new advertisers, he said.
That includes smaller businesses that historically lived in search and social media campaigns and may never have considered television inventory within reach.
At the same time, ad-supported streaming and FAST channels continue expanding available inventory.
According to Gubbins, that growing supply creates opportunities for smaller advertisers to appear on television screens without requiring the sort of budget that once demanded approval from an entire corporate finance department.
Home screens become advertising real estate
Another area attracting Gubbins’ attention is the rise of home-screen advertising on smart TVs.
While consumers may not always wake up hoping for more ad placements in their lives, Gubbins argued that these formats are proving effective because they appear when viewers are actively deciding what to watch.
“Personally, I think they’re fantastic,” he said. “They’re not intrusive, they’re highly engaging and they’re putting ads in front of people at a point in time when they’re receptive to messaging.”
That statement may inspire spirited debate among anyone who has spent fifteen minutes searching for a movie only to abandon the effort and rewatch The Office. Still, television manufacturers clearly see the home screen as valuable real estate.
AI becomes television’s recommendation concierge
Artificial intelligence also earned its obligatory Cannes mention, although Gubbins connected it to a practical use case.
He pointed to AI-powered recommendation engines that help viewers discover content more efficiently.
“Historically, people used to say, it takes us ages to figure out what we want to watch in streaming,” Gubbins said.
Today, he added, recommendation systems are doing “a fantastic job of putting the right content in front of the right person at the right time.”
That may be one of AI’s most universally appreciated applications. Few consumers object when technology saves them from scrolling through 8,000 viewing options before ultimately selecting the same sitcom they watched yesterday.
Outcome-based buying gains momentum
Google is also expanding tools designed around advertiser outcomes rather than simple inventory access.
Gubbins said agencies have increasingly requested packages optimized toward specific goals such as viewability and click-through rates.
Using AI, Google has developed offerings designed to align inventory selection with those desired outcomes.
“We’ve built packages that are optimized towards the outcomes of brands and agencies are now asking us for,” Gubbins said.
For an industry that once celebrated impressions as if every ad exposure were equally meaningful, the shift reflects a broader trend. Advertisers increasingly want proof that campaigns achieved something beyond successfully occupying pixels.
As Cannes conversations continue to revolve around AI, CTV and programmatic efficiency, Google’s message appears clear: less complexity, more control and fewer reasons for media buyers to need a flowchart before lunch.
CANNES, France – For years, programmatic advertising has promised efficiency. It has also delivered a labyrinth of acronyms, middlemen, marketplaces and PowerPoint slides attempting to explain all of the above.
Google’s Paul Gubbins says advertisers have finally had enough.
Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Gubbins, CTV sales lead for agency activation in EMEA exchange platforms at Google, described an industry increasingly focused on simplifying how ad dollars reach premium television inventory.
In other words, advertisers would like fewer treasure maps and more direct routes.
Agencies want fewer twists and turns
Gubbins said Google has long worked with brands, agencies and demand-side platforms to help advertisers reach audiences across screens and premium content. But in recent years, agencies have become increasingly concerned about navigating what he called a “very complex and fragmented programmatic supply ecosystem.”
That concern has fueled interest in supply path optimization, or SPO, the advertising industry’s ongoing quest to answer a deceptively simple question: Why take six connecting flights when a direct flight exists?
“We’ve had a lot of asks from the big holding cos and some of the independents” to help navigate the growing complexity of programmatic supply, Gubbins said.
Google’s answer is a collection of buy-side tools, including Buyer Direct, updated curation capabilities and programmatic marketplaces.
The goal is to help agencies get closer to publishers while removing some of the layers that have accumulated in programmatic over the years like geological sediment.
Buyer Direct aims to shorten the journey
One area where Google sees significant momentum is connected TV.
Gubbins said agencies and DSPs increasingly prefer transacting CTV inventory through direct deals and programmatic guaranteed arrangements rather than relying solely on the open marketplace.
That trend led Google to launch Buyer Direct, a product designed to combine traditional insertion-order relationships with programmatic controls.
“It enables brands and agencies for the very first time to buy directly from publishers ad server, i.e. Google Ad Manager,” Gubbins said.
The product is intended to address agencies’ supply path optimization goals while strengthening connections with major publishers.
For buyers accustomed to tracing their media spend through a maze of vendors, the pitch is straightforward: fewer detours, fewer mysteries and hopefully fewer meetings dedicated entirely to explaining where the ads actually ran.
CTV keeps opening its doors
Gubbins also expressed optimism about the continued growth of addressable television in Europe.
One reason is the gradual blending of traditional television buying and programmatic advertising.
“The continued convergence of traditional linear and programmatic advertising practices” is making television more accessible to new advertisers, he said.
That includes smaller businesses that historically lived in search and social media campaigns and may never have considered television inventory within reach.
At the same time, ad-supported streaming and FAST channels continue expanding available inventory.
According to Gubbins, that growing supply creates opportunities for smaller advertisers to appear on television screens without requiring the sort of budget that once demanded approval from an entire corporate finance department.
Home screens become advertising real estate
Another area attracting Gubbins’ attention is the rise of home-screen advertising on smart TVs.
While consumers may not always wake up hoping for more ad placements in their lives, Gubbins argued that these formats are proving effective because they appear when viewers are actively deciding what to watch.
“Personally, I think they’re fantastic,” he said. “They’re not intrusive, they’re highly engaging and they’re putting ads in front of people at a point in time when they’re receptive to messaging.”
That statement may inspire spirited debate among anyone who has spent fifteen minutes searching for a movie only to abandon the effort and rewatch The Office. Still, television manufacturers clearly see the home screen as valuable real estate.
AI becomes television’s recommendation concierge
Artificial intelligence also earned its obligatory Cannes mention, although Gubbins connected it to a practical use case.
He pointed to AI-powered recommendation engines that help viewers discover content more efficiently.
“Historically, people used to say, it takes us ages to figure out what we want to watch in streaming,” Gubbins said.
Today, he added, recommendation systems are doing “a fantastic job of putting the right content in front of the right person at the right time.”
That may be one of AI’s most universally appreciated applications. Few consumers object when technology saves them from scrolling through 8,000 viewing options before ultimately selecting the same sitcom they watched yesterday.
Outcome-based buying gains momentum
Google is also expanding tools designed around advertiser outcomes rather than simple inventory access.
Gubbins said agencies have increasingly requested packages optimized toward specific goals such as viewability and click-through rates.
Using AI, Google has developed offerings designed to align inventory selection with those desired outcomes.
“We’ve built packages that are optimized towards the outcomes of brands and agencies are now asking us for,” Gubbins said.
For an industry that once celebrated impressions as if every ad exposure were equally meaningful, the shift reflects a broader trend. Advertisers increasingly want proof that campaigns achieved something beyond successfully occupying pixels.
As Cannes conversations continue to revolve around AI, CTV and programmatic efficiency, Google’s message appears clear: less complexity, more control and fewer reasons for media buyers to need a flowchart before lunch.
