Butler/Till’s Agentic Media Buying Cuts Costs 82% and Boosts Impressions 40%

Why It Matters

The pilot demonstrates that AI‑driven, agentic buying can bypass traditional demand‑side platform fees, delivering more media for the same budget while maintaining high‑quality inventory. As agencies scramble to adopt programmatic AI tools, measurable cost efficiencies could reshape pricing models and agency‑client relationships, prompting wider industry investment in protocols like AdCP and MCP. If replicated at scale, the technology may compress the programmatic supply chain, pressure DSP margins, and accelerate the shift toward autonomous media planning.

Key Takeaways

• 82% reduction in DSP and supply‑chain fees during the pilot
• 40% increase in total impressions delivered
• 30% lower cost‑per‑thousand (CPM) rates
• 98% video completion rate and <1% fraud (MFA) per Jounce audit
• 80% of inventory exceeded DoubleVerify’s benchmark, confirming high quality

Pulse Analysis

The central tension in the pilot lies between the entrenched programmatic ecosystem—dominated by DSPs that charge hefty technology fees—and a nascent AI‑driven model that promises to democratize buying decisions. Butler/Till’s Claude‑based agent, communicating with PubMatic’s own agentic system, effectively sidestepped traditional DSP layers, delivering more media for less spend. This not only challenges the revenue streams of DSP vendors but also forces agencies to reconsider the value of human expertise versus algorithmic efficiency. Historically, programmatic buying has been praised for scale but criticized for opacity and cost inflation; the agentic approach directly addresses those pain points by offering transparent, data‑rich recommendations without the need for specialist knowledge. Looking ahead, if other agencies replicate these results, we could see a rapid consolidation of media‑tech infrastructure around open protocols like AdCP and MCP, spurring competition among ad‑tech firms to provide the most capable agents. However, the shift also raises questions about accountability, data privacy, and the potential loss of nuanced strategic input that seasoned media planners provide. The industry will need to balance automation’s cost benefits with safeguards that preserve brand safety and creative intent.