Supply Path & Fee Transparency

Every extra hop between your budget and the impression takes a cut.

We trace each disclosed buy from the advertiser through the DSP, exchange, any reseller and finally the publisher. Then we check seller authorization against ads.txt and sellers.json. If a hop isn't disclosed, it stays marked as unknown. Unnecessary routes and unexplained fees go to the client owner before the next vendor decision. For teams who've never actually seen a hop-by-hop breakdown of where their programmatic budget goes, and want one before the next renewal conversation.

A supply map that finance and procurement teams can use without first translating programmatic terminology.

A supply chain map tracing budget through an exchange and a reseller node to a publisher, with a fee ledger beside it

Some of the 500+ brands we've worked with

See all references
  • A101
  • Onedio
  • Halk Yatırım
  • Canbebe
  • Mudo
  • Kale
  • Eureko Sigorta

How the work runs

Keep the known fees and the gaps on the same map

We compare ads.txt, sellers.json, platform exports and sampled buys in one working file. AI cross-references the entries and drafts the exception list. It never approves a supply path, selects a vendor, approves a fee or moves budget.

How we hold ourselves to it

  • Map the disclosed path, name the rest as unknown
  • Check seller authorization against ads.txt and sellers.json
  • Every disclosed fee and hop gets named
  • Flag duplicate paths to the same inventory before they compete with each other

  1. Pull every declared path

    Gather every DSP, exchange, and reseller relationship currently in use, along with what each one discloses about its own role in the chain.

    Inventory of every DSP, exchange and reseller relationship with what each discloses about its role.

    AI assist
    Compiles declared paths from platform exports into a single working list.
    Human gate
    Media lead confirms the list is complete before mapping starts.
    Owners
    Media lead + platform account owner

  2. Cross-check ads.txt and sellers.json

    Verify each disclosed seller against the publisher's own ads.txt file and the exchange's sellers.json listing, and flag anything that doesn't match or can't be found.

    Verification status per seller against the publisher's ads.txt and the exchange's sellers.json.

    AI assist
    Runs the cross-reference across every path and lists mismatches with the source rows.
    Human gate
    A supply-chain reviewer confirms unmatched entries before they're treated as risk.
    Owners
    Ad ops specialist + supply-chain reviewer

  3. Identify duplicate and unnecessary hops

    Find inventory reachable through more than one path, and flag paths with resellers that add a hop without adding disclosed value.

    Duplicate-path list naming inventory reachable by more than one route.

    AI assist
    Clusters overlapping paths to the same inventory into a comparison table.
    Human gate
    Media lead decides which path to consolidate toward.
    Owners
    Media lead + programmatic trader

  4. Reconcile declared fees against real buys

    Compare what each vendor discloses about its take rate with what a sample of real buys actually shows, and flag any gap that can't be explained.

    Fee reconciliation comparing declared take-rates with a sample of real buys.

    AI assist
    Runs the fee reconciliation across the sample and drafts the exception list.
    Human gate
    Media lead and client owner review unexplained gaps together.
    Owners
    Media lead + client owner

  5. Propose a consolidated path

    Recommend which paths to keep, which to drop, and which vendor relationship to renegotiate, with the evidence behind each call.

    Consolidation recommendation naming paths to keep, drop or renegotiate with the evidence behind each.

    AI assist
    Drafts the proposal from the reconciled map and flags any assumption that needs a human check.
    Human gate
    Client owner approves any change to an active vendor relationship.
    Owners
    Programmatic lead + client owner

  6. Record the map and set the next review

    Write down the approved supply path, the fee reconciliation, the open questions, and when the map gets checked again.

    Approved supply-path map with its open questions and the next review date.

    AI assist
    Drafts the supply-path record from approved findings.
    Human gate
    The media lead signs the record. The client approves the next review date.
    Owners
    Media lead + client owner

What lands with your team

Give procurement a map it can question

The supply path is written in plain language and checked against more than the vendor's own account of its role.

  • Supply path map

    Every disclosed hop from budget to impression, with each party's role and its ads.txt or sellers.json verification status, and every undisclosed hop marked as unknown.

    Accepted when

    Every hop from budget to impression names its party and verification status, and every undisclosed hop is marked unknown rather than omitted.

    Cadence: Kickoff and on change

  • Fee reconciliation ledger

    Declared take-rates set against sampled real buys, with every unexplained gap listed by name.

    Accepted when

    Declared take-rates are set against sampled real buys, and every unexplained gap is listed by name.

    Cadence: Quarterly or at renewal

  • Duplicate-path exception log

    Inventory reachable through more than one route, and the recommendation for which path to consolidate toward.

    Accepted when

    Each duplicated route names the path recommended for consolidation.

    Cadence: Each mapping cycle

  • Vendor decision record

    Which paths were kept, dropped, or renegotiated, and the evidence behind each decision.

    Accepted when

    Every keep, drop or renegotiate call cites the evidence behind it.

    Cadence: At every vendor change

Before the work starts

When this work is the right next step

The invoice rarely shows the full chain. A media plan can show a neat line-item cost while hiding three or four hops between the budget and the final impression. Each intermediary may take a share before the publisher is paid. Those costs don't always appear separately on the invoice, so we examine the chain to see how they affect the buy's effective CPM.

A good fit when

  • Programmatic runs through several buying paths, and nobody has seen a hop-by-hop view of where the budget goes.
  • A new DSP, exchange, or reseller is under review, but no verified supply-path map shows what extra hop or disclosed fee that relationship would add.
  • Finance or leadership is asking where programmatic fees go, and the honest answer right now is "we're not fully sure."
  • Nobody on the team can name every party the budget passes through before it reaches a publisher.
  • The same inventory shows up reachable through two or three different resellers, and nobody knows which one to actually buy through.
  • A seller's ads.txt or sellers.json listing doesn't match what the reseller claims about their own authorization.
  • "Take rate" gets discussed in general terms, but nobody has actually reconciled it against a real buy.

Better handled as other work when

  • The buy follows one disclosed route and the vendor mix has stayed unchanged, so a hop-by-hop map would only confirm what the current chain already shows.
  • You want a number that proves programmatic fees are lower than another channel's. This method maps the chain instead.
  • The review expects one vendor to account for every fee, while the disclosed supply chain shows several parties sharing the path to the publisher.

People who own a single channel

Paid Search, Paid Social, CRO, and Programmatic each run under a named owner at Zeo. The consultants below are matched to the channel this page is about, so you can see who you'd actually work with.

Tools we use

Tools behind this work

  • The Trade Desk

    the direct-connection route the consolidated path gets proposed against

  • IAB Tech Lab ads.txt / sellers.json

    the standard itself, not a vendor's read of it, that every declared path gets cross-checked against

Follow the money to the impression

Trace the supply path before the next renewal

Your existing buys and vendor disclosures are enough to begin the map. We'll trace every disclosed hop in plain language and mark the points the available evidence can't explain.
Trace your supply paths

The questions we hear most

No. The map shows the disclosed route, marks the unknowns, and may identify a shorter or better-disclosed path. Consolidation may reduce cost, but the result depends on the vendors and inventory involved. There is no guaranteed saving.