Swivel launches agentic transactions for programmatic advertising

Swivel introduced agentic transaction capabilities for programmatic advertising on November 4, 2025, establishing direct connections between buyer and seller artificial intelligence agents that bypass traditional bidstream infrastructure. Joseph Hirsch, CEO of Swivel, detailed implementation requirements and marketplace readiness in a LinkedIn post, stating the company would activate the first revenue-generating agentic buy in November.

The announcement generated divided responses from industry participants. Brian O'Kelley, co-founder and CEO of Scope3, described the development as "simply awesome" and confirmed "this is happening." However, Augustine Fou, a fraud researcher and marketing consultant, issued stark warnings about agencies pursuing agentic buying without additional knowledge, telling marketers to "put them into review and find another one as soon as humanly possible."

According to Hirsch's post, existing Swivel clients using SpringServe ad server gained access to agentic transactions through integration requiring less than one hour for activation. The company projected availability in FreeWheel by year-end 2025, followed by Publica by IAS and Google Ad Manager implementations in the first quarter of 2026. Kevel integration also appeared on the implementation timeline.

The transaction economics differ from traditional programmatic structures. Sellers can clear through Swivel or directly with buyers for single-digit transaction rates, according to Hirsch. This contrasts with conventional supply-side platform and demand-side platform fee structures that typically accumulate across multiple intermediaries.

Agentic transactions enable sellers to expose first-party data including automatic content recognition data, transaction history for retail media networks, show-level data, content, context, and both traditional and custom inventory configurations. Hirsch emphasized that seller agents do not store or process data, operating exclusively inside seller ad platforms. This architecture eliminates traditional data leakage concerns and prevents sharing sensitive information to demand-side platforms.

The system introduces "ad products" as static or dynamic combinations of inventory, audience, content or context, and price. Pricing structures can include fixed rates, dynamic pricing based on audience size, and specific rules based on buyer, brand, or category parameters. Hirsch positioned ad products as curated inventory without programmatic componentry.

Scope3 operates as the first active buyer participant, with multiple agency partners already engaged. According to Hirsch, seven different participants expressed interest, with estimates projecting five active agentic buyers operational through year-end 2025.

Transparency mechanisms address long-standing programmatic advertising challenges. Buyers receive 100 percent visibility into buyer agents upfront and brand information through media brief proposal phases. Human approval is required for both campaign purchases and creative materials before activation.

Campaign control capabilities mirror direct advertising workflows. Sellers can pause agentic campaigns, modify targeting with buyer consent, and adjust campaign priority unless priority formed part of the ad product pricing structure. Hirsch noted that changing targeting without buyer consent could violate proposals and trigger campaign pauses.

The Ad Context Protocol launched October 15 with six founding members including Scope3, establishing standardized interfaces for artificial intelligence agents to discover inventory, compare pricing, and activate campaigns across platforms. However, that initiative sparked industry debate about whether another protocol addresses fundamental programmatic challenges.

Lindsay Rowntree, chief operating officer at ExchangeWire, identified transparency as a critical unresolved issue during an ExchangeWire podcast. She stated that agentic AI represents "a giant black box" and emphasized that standards must address transparency issues that have plagued programmatic advertising since inception.

Fou characterized the concept of agencies implementing agentic buying without additional details as falling for hype, warning that clients would pay the price as guinea pigs. Simon Foster, CEO of Spot Runner, presented a contrasting perspective, arguing that multi-agentic technology applied to media planning would be "unstoppable" rather than illegitimate.

The technology arrives amid substantial industry investment in agentic infrastructure. Amazon introduced unified Campaign Manager on November 11, 2025, consolidating its advertising platforms while deploying artificial intelligence agents for automated campaign management. Google released agentic AI tools including Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor for campaign optimization.

Standards development accelerated through November 2025. The IAB Tech Lab released its Agentic RTB Framework version 1.0 for public comment on November 13, standardizing containerized agent deployment in real-time bidding infrastructure. LiveRamp donated the User Context Protocol to IAB Tech Lab on November 3, establishing standardized methods for AI agents to exchange identity, contextual, and reinforcement signals.

Industry analysis suggests agentic systems could fundamentally alter programmatic advertising structures. Ari Paparo, founder and CEO of Marketecture Media, argued in July 2025 that autonomous AI systems could automate campaign setup, targeting, and optimization functions currently handled by demand-side platforms, potentially eliminating the centralized role traditionally occupied by those platforms.

Questions about bad actor prevention surfaced in LinkedIn discussion. June Cheung asked how the process prevents dishonest sellers from having agents misdeclare information "just like they have been mis-declaring anything in the bid request for countless years and getting away with it." The comment highlighted ongoing transparency concerns that have resulted in only 36 percent of post-transaction programmatic budgets reaching valid, viewable, measurable impressions according to 2023 research.

The Swivel implementation differs from creative-focused agentic applications Amazon deployed. Creative Agent handles video and display asset generation through conversational interfaces. Swivel's system operates at the transaction infrastructure level, establishing direct agent-to-agent communication for inventory discovery and campaign activation.

Measurement implications extend beyond campaign execution. Newton Research launched agentic AI analytics on November 4, integrating specialized marketing measurement agents with Snowflake Cortex AI for media mix modeling and incrementality analysis within secure data environments.

The technology transition faces implementation challenges despite growing investment. Gartner predicted in June 2025 that over 40 percent of agentic AI projects would be canceled by end of 2027 due to escalating costs, unclear business value, and inadequate risk controls. The research firm's January 2025 poll of 3,412 webinar attendees revealed uneven investment patterns, with 19 percent reporting significant investments in agentic systems while 42 percent made conservative investments.

Market fragmentation concerns emerged regarding platform participation. Major advertising platforms including Google, The Trade Desk, and Amazon DSP have not publicly committed to supporting Ad Context Protocol or similar agentic transaction standards. This absence raises questions about whether new standards create additional fragmentation rather than resolving existing interoperability challenges.

The Swivel announcement positions agentic transactions as operational rather than experimental technology. First dollar revenue from agentic buys was projected for November 2025, according to Hirsch's timeline. Interested parties can register at swivel.ai for participation in agentic transaction capabilities.

Timeline

• July 21, 2025: Ari Paparo publishes analysis arguing agentic AI threatens traditional DSP business models
• October 1, 2025: LiveRamp introduces agentic AI capabilities including orchestration and AI-powered segmentation
• October 15, 2025: Six advertising technology companies launch Ad Context Protocol with Scope3, Yahoo, PubMatic, Swivel, Triton, and Optable as founding members
• October 15, 2025: Industry debate emerges about Ad Context Protocol with transparency concerns from Lindsay Rowntree and Augustine Fou
• November 3, 2025: LiveRamp donates User Context Protocol to IAB Tech Lab for standardized AI agent signal exchange
• November 4, 2025: Joseph Hirsch publishes LinkedIn post detailing Swivel agentic transaction implementation
• November 4, 2025: Newton Research launches agentic AI analytics integration with Snowflake Cortex AI
• November 11, 2025: Amazon announces unified Campaign Manager platform with AI agents for automated campaign management
• November 13, 2025: IAB Tech Lab releases Agentic RTB Framework version 1.0 for public comment period extending through January 15, 2026

Summary

Who: Swivel, an advertising technology company led by CEO Joseph Hirsch, launched agentic transaction capabilities with partnerships across SpringServe (now part of Magnite), FreeWheel, Publica by IAS, and Kevel. Scope3, led by co-founder and CEO Brian O'Kelley, operates as the first buyer participant. Industry observers including Augustine Fou and Simon Foster provided contrasting perspectives on agentic advertising viability.

What: Agentic transactions establish direct connections between buyer and seller artificial intelligence agents that bypass traditional programmatic bidstream infrastructure. The system enables sellers to expose first-party data, automatic content recognition information, and custom inventory through ad products with fixed or dynamic pricing. Sellers maintain campaign control capabilities including pausing, targeting modifications with buyer consent, and priority adjustments. Human approval is required for both campaign purchases and creative materials before activation.

When: Swivel announced agentic transaction capabilities on November 4, 2025, through a LinkedIn post by CEO Joseph Hirsch. The company projected first revenue-generating agentic buy in November 2025. SpringServe integration became immediately available for existing Swivel clients. FreeWheel availability was projected by year-end 2025, followed by Publica and Google Ad Manager implementations in the first quarter of 2026.

Where: The technology operates across programmatic advertising infrastructure, initially available through SpringServe ad server with expansion planned to FreeWheel, Publica by IAS, Google Ad Manager, and Kevel platforms. Sellers can clear transactions through Swivel or directly with buyers. The system addresses global programmatic advertising markets where traditional supply-side platform and demand-side platform intermediaries currently operate.

Why: Agentic transactions address long-standing programmatic advertising challenges including data leakage concerns, fragmented workflow requirements, and accumulated intermediary fees. The architecture keeps targeting and data processing inside seller ad platforms, eliminating traditional concerns about sharing sensitive information to demand-side platforms. Single-digit transaction rates contrast with conventional multi-intermediary fee structures. The technology coincides with broader industry movement toward agentic advertising infrastructure, with major platforms including Amazon, Google, and IAB Tech Lab releasing complementary standards and capabilities throughout November 2025.