While the fight over transparency between Publicis Groupe and The Trade Desk has captured headlines this week, ID Comms CEO Tom Denford says the story is much bigger than the spat between those two companies.    

“While TTD certainly has questions to answer regarding its supply path and fee structure, we suspect this is also a case of the holding company deflecting accountability,” Denford wrote in a client note on the subject. “Publicis is claiming opacity, yet the reality is that much of this fee and activation data is readily accessible within the TTD platform, if you actually know where to look.”    

For advertisers, Denford adds, “this dispute is a massive wake-up call. It highlights a structural failure in digital governance. If one of the largest agencies in the world cannot verify the net cost of your media without a legal battle, you have a verification gap.”   

He also contends that when a holding company “de-lists” a major platform, “it restricts [advertisers’] choice, forcing you to migrate platforms not because of performance, but because of a contractual breakdown you didn’t manage.” 

Denford and his ID Comms colleague Chief Client Officer David Indo will be discussing the issue more in depth during the March 20 edition of their podcast #MediaSnack Live .