TRUSTX

TRUSTX operates as a cooperative programmatic advertising marketplace, established in 2016 to address transparency and trust issues within the digital advertising supply chain. It was founded by Digital Content Next (DCN), a trade association for digital content companies, with over 30 of its members, including prominent names like CBS Interactive, Condé Nast, ESPN, and Hearst, anchoring the initiative. The company was created in response to industry-wide problems such as ad fraud and the lack of clarity in programmatic buying, aiming to provide a more reliable environment for marketers, publishers, and consumers. The initial beta launch occurred in May 2017. David Kohl, with over 25 years of experience in media and entertainment, including roles at EY and PwC, leads TRUSTX as its President and CEO. In May 2024, Symitri, a data security company also led by Kohl as CEO and Co-Founder, acquired TRUSTX from DCN.

The firm functions as a premium, private marketplace connecting advertisers with high-quality publishers. Its business model is built on providing direct, transparent access to ad inventory, ensuring that 100% of spend goes to working media without hidden buyer fees. This model eliminates intermediaries and guarantees that all inventory is direct from the publisher, free from made-for-advertising (MFA) content. Serving leading brands and agencies, TRUSTX offers a platform where they can purchase curated, brand-safe ad inventory across more than 3,000 domains from its publisher members. The marketplace operates as a certified public benefit corporation (B-Corp), underlining its commitment to a purpose-driven mission focused on fair practices and a sustainable future for trusted advertising.

TRUSTX's core service is its programmatic marketplace, which provides a clean and direct path to publisher inventory. Key features include a guarantee of 100% human and viewable impressions, as per MRC standards, and complete transparency in trading and financials, down to the advertiser and publisher URL. This ensures advertisers are not paying for fraudulent bot traffic and have a clear understanding of supply chain costs. The platform offers various buying options, such as run-of-network, one-to-one deals, and contextual private marketplaces (PMPs), to meet different campaign needs. Following its acquisition by Symitri, the companies are working to integrate a privacy firewall and a real-time data clean room, aiming to balance programmatic advertising's viability with growing consumer privacy demands.

Keywords: programmatic marketplace, ad transparency, digital advertising, private marketplace, ad exchange, supply-side platform, brand safety, viewability, ad fraud prevention, publisher cooperative