Why brands and publishers are building in-house adtech platforms: Data, CTV and privacy explained
Brands and media companies are increasingly building proprietary ad-technology stacks to regain control of first-party data, reduce dependence on walled gardens, and support growing CTV and privacy-first needs — but the move brings cost, complexity and strategic tradeoffs.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the past few years a wave of major brands, media owners and even streaming platforms have started building or expanding proprietary advertising technology — from ad servers and audience graphs to programmatic and connected-TV (CTV) systems. The moves are driven by three tightly linked forces: ownership of first-party data, the desire to reduce dependence on dominant “walled garden” platforms, and the need to operate in a privacy-first, cross-platform advertising world.
Why companies are choosing in-house
1. Control over first-party data and measurement
Cookieless tracking, platform restrictions, and advertiser demand for more accurate measurement are pushing companies to operate their own data and measurement environments (including clean rooms and proprietary audience graphs). Owning the stack lets firms combine customer signals with campaign measurement without exposing sensitive identifiers to third parties.
2. Reduce reliance on walled gardens and increase negotiating leverage
Major buyers and publishers want more direct control over where and how ad dollars flow — both to protect margins and to avoid opaque auction/attribution practices inside platforms that also compete with them. Building proprietary systems (or acquiring components) is one way to reclaim transparency and bargaining power. Recent industry M&A and platform launches underscore this strategy.
3. Support for CTV and cross-platform video
Connected TV is a fast-growing ad channel with unique inventory, measurement and delivery needs. Several media companies and adtech vendors are extending or creating platforms specifically to serve CTV, unify linear and streaming buys, and provide cross-screen reporting. Owning the ad stack can help unify inventory and measurement across broadcast, streaming and digital.
4. Privacy regulation and cloud clean rooms
Privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies have accelerated adoption of cloud-based adtech patterns (for example, data clean rooms and server-to-server match frameworks). Cloud migration and bespoke platforms allow marketers to run advanced audience targeting and measurement within privacy constraints.
5. Strategic differentiation and productizing ad inventory
For publishers and streaming services, building in-house adtech can become a product advantage — a way to package proprietary audience segments, richer measurement or bespoke creative formats as a differentiated commercial offering to advertisers. Disney’s recent expansions of its ad stack are an example of using proprietary technology as a commercial differentiator.
Benefits companies cite (what they aim to gain)
- Better data governance: direct control over customer signals and identity resolution. - Improved measurement and attribution: ability to stitch offline/online signals in a controlled environment. - Revenue capture and margin protection: avoiding fees and opacity from intermediaries. - Faster product innovation: building formats or workflows tailored to their inventory (not one-size-fits-all solutions).
Netflix has publicly moved to build out advertising technology as it scales its ad-supported tier, a move reported as part of a broader strategy to own ad delivery and measurement tied to its subscribers.
Disney has expanded its proprietary ad tech and audience graph across regions to enable unified buys and measurement across its streaming and broadcast assets.
Industry consolidation (for instance, major adtech acquisitions) reflects the drive to offer integrated stacks that give brands and publishers more direct control.
The costs and tradeoffs (what companies risk)
Building an in-house adtech platform is not a panacea. Public reporting and industry analysis highlight several downsides:
High development and maintenance cost: engineering, data science and compliance costs can be substantial.
Opportunity cost and distraction: investing heavily in platform development can divert focus from core content, product or customer priorities.
Scale and liquidity challenges: programmatic advertising relies on broad buyer and seller ecosystems; smaller proprietary stacks may struggle to deliver comparable reach or competitive CPMs without partnerships.
Ongoing vendor and partner work: even in-house platforms typically need integrations with exchanges, measurement vendors, identity solutions and cloud providers — so build-vs-buy is often a hybrid decision.
Practical approaches companies are taking (hybrids, not always pure build)
Most organizations are choosing hybrid models: building key differentiating components (audience graphs, ad servers, CTV stitching) while relying on partners for demand-side connectivity, identity and certain verification services. Cloud-first architectures and data clean rooms are common patterns to accelerate time to value while managing privacy obligations.
What marketers and publishers should consider before building
Map the business case: quantify expected margin improvement, new revenue streams and cost offsets.
Start with differentiators: build only the components that create strategic advantage (e.g., unique audience graphs, proprietary measurement), and partner for commodity functions.
Plan for scale and ecosystem access: ensure programmatic liquidity or alternative demand sources for ad inventory.
Design for privacy and auditability: embed clean-room and compliance features from day one.
Be realistic about timeline and ops: expect continuous investment — people, cloud costs, verification, and legal/privacy operations.
The Bottom line
Recent reports show a clear strategic impulse: firms want to own the data and tools that power audience targeting, measurement and monetization — especially as CTV grows and privacy constraints tighten. Building an in-house adtech platform can deliver meaningful advantages, but it is resource-intensive and often works best as a carefully scoped, hybrid program rather than an all-or-nothing bet.
