Sep 29 2026

Unmasking Hidden Hops: What schain 1.1 Means for Media Buyers

"When you walk into a grocery store to buy produce, you usually look at the label. You want to know if the apples are organic, what country they were grown in and whether they meet your standards. Depending on your values, you evaluate several factors and make an informed choice based on clear origin data.

The same principles apply in programmatic advertising, but agency buyers and DSP users rarely get that level of transparency. Billions of bid requests flow through the ecosystem every day, passing through hidden technology providers that buyers can’t observe. These undeclared intermediaries introduce friction, enforce unexpected creative policies and siphon efficiency out of the media spend."

Read more from Basis' Chris Coupland in the Advertising Week blog.

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