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US media agencies report additional reseller fees when buying through large demand-side platforms. One small agency that said it had reached 100.000 dollars in monthly budget at The Trade Desk paid, according to Digiday research from 21 October 2026, both the platform and its reseller. This is not a new general DSP tariff, but a concrete dispute over contract access. For German advertisers, the case raises a more fundamental question: how much of the budget actually goes into deliverable advertising?
Two contracting parties mean two possible fee layers
Digiday spoke with ten US media buyers. One case cites 17 percent DSP fee plus 12 percent reseller fee; another describes 15 percent Amazon DSP fee plus 10 percent at the intermediary. These are figures from individual market participants, not generally valid public list prices. Depending on the calculation basis, such percentages also cannot simply be added up to a single overall rate.
The agencies complain that high spending does not necessarily give them a direct contract. The Trade Desk told Digiday that direct clients agree individual commitments and that others can use certified resellers. Amazon pointed out that it does not require a general minimum spend for DSP self-service; providers of support and campaign optimisation could nevertheless be used as service providers. What is contractually guaranteed in a specific agency relationship remains separate from general access options.
Amazon opens self-service – but not all costs disappear
Amazon now describes the former DSP functions as part of Amazon Ads Agent. Self-service and managed service remain in place there, existing campaigns are transferred, and the company announces no blanket price change from the switch. For the managed-service variant, minimum budgets may apply depending on the country; with self-service, advertisers set their budgets themselves. Self-access, however, replaces neither media buying expertise nor external services, if a client actually needs them.
For smaller agencies it is therefore worth asking, before signing a contract, separately about platform access, operational support, data costs, measurement and optional services. We have already published an overview of the functions of the Amazon Ads Agent platform.
Not just fee percentages: the quality of the purchased impressions
Low platform fees are not sufficient proof of efficiency. The Association of National Advertisers reported for Q1 2026 that the stronger group of the advertisers examined converted 54,0 percent of their programmatic budget into qualified impressions; for the weaker group it was 32,1 percent. The figures describe defined criteria such as visibility, measurability and freedom from fraud – not achieved purchases and not a blanket DSP margin.
According to the ANA, the difference in quality losses was far greater than that in transaction costs. Anyone who only negotiates the intermediary fee can still lose money on unsuitable placements. That makes controllable inventory lists, transparent supply paths, log-level data and a measurable share of qualified deliveries important. Further background is provided by our articles on The Trade Desk's Kokai Zuma and measurement and programmatic infrastructure at the Prebid Summit.
Four questions for German advertising budgets
Before commissioning a DSP, clients should (1) document all fee items with their respective calculation basis, (2) compare direct access and the reseller model on an identical scope of services, (3) contractually regulate raw data on inventory, viewability and fraud, and (4) look at the effective price per qualified impression instead of the nominal CPM.
The US examples do not prove a blanket disadvantage for German agencies. They do show, however, why purchasing power, platform access and campaign efficiency are three different quantities that should not disappear into an opaque overall rate.
Illustrative image: Carlos Muza / Unsplash.