Viant Buys Waymark as AI Creative Moves Into the Programmatic Loop

Viant has bought AI video ad maker Waymark, becoming the fourth major programmatic platform after Amazon, Google and Meta to fold an AI-assisted creative generator directly into its buying platform.

The deal, announced this week, targets Viant's small and midsize business clients. It will let them produce CTV ads that are better, cheaper and regularly refreshed, according to the company.

Why are SMB marketers early AI adopters?

Time-strapped SMB marketers, who typically lag enterprise marketers in technology adoption, have bucked that trend and become early adopters of AI. Business flyers, for instance, are increasingly made by AI and promoted on Meta.

The obvious next step: SMBs using Waymark's technology to generate the mattress warehouse and regional car ads of the future — a joke, as the analysts put it, but also not a joke.

What did The Trade Desk's earnings show?

Investors rewarded The Trade Desk with a 20% rise in stock price for having almost stabilized revenue. The DSP's revenue declined just $3 million to $736 million year over year — a drop of less than half a percent.

The Trade Desk touted its strength in attracting political advertising and healthcare advertising. Notably, its rivals don't play deeply in those highly regulated verticals.

Amazon outright bans political advertising — though perhaps because it operates a pharmacy, it's open to healthcare and pharma ads, with standard caveats. Google tightly restricts both political and healthcare advertising.

Is Jeff Green ready to buy?

As part of its turnaround, The Trade Desk may buy another company. That would be a rare move: TTD has acquired sparingly during its run as a DSP, with data quality firm Sincera being a notable exception.

CEO Jeff Green signaled his openness to buying a company on the Q3 earnings call. Startups and established companies alike may come calling in response.

The takeaway: AI creative is no longer a standalone product but a built-in feature of the programmatic stack — and consolidation, not just organics growth, now shapes who owns it.