Cory Treffiletti: curation shortens the programmatic supply chain

August 22, 2026 · mediapost.com

Supply path optimization used to mean a trader pulling reports out of a demand-side platform, tracing which supply-side platforms were reselling whose inventory, and flagging the multihop chains that took a cut before a dollar reached a publisher. Cory Treffiletti, writing in MediaPost's Research Intelligencer on August 19, 2026, says curation now moves that vetting upstream. Audience data, inventory checks, and brand safety signals arrive pre-bundled into a single deal ID before the bid request exists. He frames curation as a structural change to the supply chain: fewer stops, shorter paths, less manual auditing.

A five-person agency now gets the same pre-qualified, direct supply paths that once required a dedicated auditing desk, according to Treffiletti, who calls this "a competitive flattening." Smaller shops that never had headcount for a dedicated SPO desk gain the pre-vetted supply access larger agencies built entire teams to secure. Treffiletti also connects the shift to agentic media buying: curation automated the plumbing on the supply side by restructuring where vetting happens, and it happened before AI agents entered the conversation. Time saved on tracing reseller chains goes toward strategy, creative and client relationships.