What it is
From open access to intentional access.
The 2026 programmatic shift is not about leaving the open exchange — it is about layering a curated path on top of it.
In Proximic by Comscore’s 2026 survey of 200+ industry decision-makers, 76% rate curated marketplaces as important or very important to their 2026 strategy. The dominant reasons buyers choose curated supply over pure open exchange are not abstract — they trace directly to inventory quality, brand-safety risk, and the structural problem of made-for-advertising (MFA) sites siphoning programmatic budget away from real human attention.
| Why buyers choose curated supply | % citing |
|---|---|
| Helps ensure buys on high-quality inventory | 75% |
| Provides access to exclusive inventory | 70% |
| Reduces buying on MFAs / low-quality inventory | 61% |
| Reduces brand-safety and suitability risks | 61% |
| Reduces invalid traffic (IVT) | 57% |
| Increases transparency of supply chain | 57% |
The shift the report names is from open access to intentional access. Open exchange remains 49% of programmatic spend — not abandoned, but no longer the default. It is now a component within a layered curation system: open exchange for breadth, PMPs for quality-assured inventory, deal-IDs for premium or category-locked supply. The 2026 question is no longer “open vs. curated” but “what curation layer matches this brand’s risk profile and inventory quality requirements.”