Index › Marketing › September 2026 Edition

Programmatic and display advertising

Asked as “programmatic advertising platform”, and as “demand-side platform for display ads”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 46 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

StackAdapt

Clear leader

61% of first choices, clear leader.

ShowinginAll 73 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

StackAdapt32%ContestedStanding →Mid-market

StackAdapt61%Clear leaderThis page Enterprise

The Trade Desk43%Clear leaderStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

StackAdapt7%54endorsed leader

AdRoll10%10accepted challenger

The Trade Desk41%56criticized challenger

Choozle23%13accepted challenger

Demandbase29%17criticized challenger

Show the nine products at 0%, ordered by negative rate

DV36059%22criticized challenger

MediaMath50%10criticized challenger

Adobe Advertising31%13criticized challenger

Amazon DSP24%34accepted challenger

Google Display & Video 36021%28accepted challenger

Simpli.fi10%10accepted challenger

Basis7%15accepted challenger

Hey Sid0%11accepted challenger

LinkedIn Campaign Manager0%10accepted challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

StackAdapt vs AdRoll StackAdapt vs The Trade Desk AdRoll vs The Trade Desk

One product takes 61% of first choices here, so the chart would put thirteen markers in one corner and one at the far edge. The two measurements it plots are columns in the standing above: share, and the negative label rate. Five products carry a negative rate above 25% in this category. Jump to the standing

02What they warned about

Eight of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Qwen 3.7 Flash and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

The Trade Desk

41%

23 of 56 labels negative · 11 of 12 models · 5 hard negative

“Avoid DV360/Trade Desk/Amazon DSP: High mins ($25K–$50K/month), fees make them unviable below that.” Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt

DV360

59%

13 of 22 labels negative · 8 of 12 models · 4 hard negative

“Platforms to AVOID with Limited Budgets ... Requires $25,000-$50,000/month minimum” Kimi K2, budget prompt

Amazon DSP

24%

8 of 34 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 3 hard negative

“**Amazon DSP**: High CPMs, limited B2B advantage outside retail” Mistral Small, direct prompt

MediaMath

50%

5 of 10 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“And stay away entirely from MediaMath (bankrupt)” DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

20 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 6 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 172 links across 84 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

improvado.io

vendor site · Improvado8 answers · 14 citations · 2 models

vibe.co

vendor site · Vibe.co8 answers · 8 citations · 2 models

syntermedia.ai

6 answers · 7 citations · 2 models

directiveconsulting.com

6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models

taqtics.com

6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models

reddit.com

vendor site · Reddit4 answers · 5 citations · 1 model

getadlib.com

4 answers · 4 citations · 2 models

6sense.com

vendor site · 6sense3 answers · 3 citations · 3 models

aidigital.com

3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model

blasto.ai

3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models

business.quora.com

vendor site · Quora3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models

cience.com

3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

improvado.io/blog/top-programmatic-platforms

8 answers · 2 models

vibe.co/blog/how-to/programmatic-advertising-platforms

8 answers · 2 models

directiveconsulting.com/blog/the-top-5-programmatic-platforms-leading-the-w…

6 answers · 2 models

taqtics.com/answers/programmatic-advertising/programmatic-advertising-platf…

6 answers · 2 models

getadlib.com/blog/top-programmatic-advertising-tools

4 answers · 2 models

6sense.com/blog/best-b2b-programmatic-advertising-platforms

3 answers · 3 models

aidigital.com/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms

3 answers · 1 model

business.quora.com/marketing-advertising-resources/best-b2b-programmatic-di…

3 answers · 2 models

heysid.com/resources/best-programmatic-advertising-platforms-for-b2b

3 answers · 2 models

improvado.io/blog/b2b-programmatic-advertising-strategies

3 answers · 1 model

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best programmatic advertising platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which demand-side platform for display ads would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top programmatic advertising platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best programmatic advertising platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a programmatic advertising platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which programmatic advertising platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5StackAdapt

Three alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Hey Sid, LinkedIn Campaign Manager

against: The Trade DeskThe Trade DeskChanged

Two alternatives

Adobe DSP, DV360

no first choiceStackAdapt

One alternative

AdLib

no first choiceagainst: Amazon DSP, DV360

GPT-5.4 miniAdRoll ABM

Two alternatives

6sense, Demandbase

against: StackAdapt, The Trade DeskStackAdaptChanged

Four alternatives

DV360, Demandbase, Google Marketing Platform, The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk

Five alternatives

Amazon DSP, Google Ad Manager, Google Display & Video 360, Magnite, PubMatic

against: MediaMath, Yahoo DSPAdRoll

One alternative

Microsoft Advertising

against: The Trade Deskno first choicenothing named

Gemini 3.5 FlashStackAdapt

Three alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Choozle, Metadata.io

against: 6sense, DV360, Demandbase, The Trade DeskStackAdaptHeld

Two alternatives

Demandbase, The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk

Five alternatives

Amazon DSP, Basis, Google Display & Video 360, Simpli.fi, StackAdapt

AdRoll, StackAdapt

Four alternatives

AdLib, SmartyAds DSP, Version2, Vibe.co

against: Choozle, DV360, The Trade DeskStackAdapt

Two alternatives

Basis, Simpli.fi

against: Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Deskagainst: Google's Performance Max

Perplexity SonarStackAdapt

Four alternatives

Basis, DV360, Demandbase, The Trade Desk

StackAdaptHeld

Four alternatives

Demandbase, Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk, ZoomInfo Marketing

Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk

Four alternatives

Adobe Advertising, Amazon DSP, Basis, StackAdapt

against: MediaMathStackAdapt

Three alternatives

Ad Geeks, Epom, Vibe.co

no first choiceagainst: Amazon DSP, Basis, Simpli.fi, StackAdapt, The Trade Desk

Grok 4.1 FastStackAdapt

Four alternatives

Demandbase, Google Display & Video 360, Hey Sid, LinkedIn Campaign Manager

against: Amazon DSP, The Trade DeskStackAdaptHeld

Two alternatives

Basis, MediaMath

against: Google Display & Video 360, The Trade DeskGoogle Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk

Five alternatives

Amazon DSP, Google Ad Manager, Magnite, PubMatic, StackAdapt

against: Adform, Adobe Advertising, MediaMath, Xandr/MicrosoftAdRoll

Two alternatives

Google Ads, Vibe.co

against: Amazon DSP, Choozle, DV360, StackAdapt, The Trade DeskStackAdapt, The Trade Desk

One alternative

DV360

against: Adobe Advertisingagainst: Amazon DSP, Criteo, Google Ad Manager, Google Display & Video 360, Google Performance Max, Magnite, Microsoft Invest, PubMatic

Mistral SmallStackAdapt

Two alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Hey Sid

against: 6sense, Amazon DSP, DV360, Demandbase, The Trade DeskStackAdaptHeld

Two alternatives

Basis, Hey Sid

against: The Trade Deskno first choiceagainst: Adobe Advertising, MediaMathAdRoll, ad:personam

Three alternatives

Choozle, StackAdapt, Vibe.co

against: Ad Geeks, DV360, The Trade Deskno first choiceagainst: Cheetah Mobile, DO Global, Kika Tech

DeepSeek V4 FlashStackAdapt

Four alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Demandbase, Hey Sid, LinkedIn Campaign Manager

against: DV360, The Trade DeskStackAdaptHeld

One alternative

The Trade Desk

against: 6sense, AdRoll, Demandbase, Google Display & Video 360Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk

Five alternatives

Adobe Advertising, Amazon DSP, Basis, Epom DSP, StackAdapt

against: Xandr/MicrosoftAdRoll

Four alternatives

Adwave, StackAdapt, Vibe.co, ad:personam

against: Choozle, DV360, The Trade Deskno first choice

Six alternatives

6sense, DV360, Demandbase, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, StackAdapt, The Trade Desk

against: 33Across, Colossus, Criteo, Epsilon, GumGum, MediaMath, Microsoft Invest, Nexxen, Ogury, OpenWeb, Smart AdServer, Sonobi, Sovrn, Teads, TripleLift, Zeta Global

Llama 4 MaverickStackAdaptStackAdaptHeld

Three alternatives

Adform DSP, Choozle, Simpli.fi

no first choiceStackAdapt

Four alternatives

AdRoll, Basis, Choozle, The Trade Desk

no first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashThe Trade Desk

Three alternatives

Demandbase, Google Display & Video 360, Zeta Global

against: Adobe AdvertisingStackAdaptChanged

Two alternatives

Hey Sid, Microsoft Advertising

against: DV360, The Trade DeskThe Trade Desk

Three alternatives

Amazon DSP, Criteo, Google Display & Video 360

ad:personam

Three alternatives

AdRoll, Adwave, StackAdapt

against: DV360, The Trade DeskStackAdapt, The Trade Desk

Two alternatives

Amazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360

against: Google Display/Video 360, Index Exchange, Meta Ads, Meta Audience Network, PopAds, PropellerAds, Taboola, Teads, Zeropark

Kimi K2StackAdapt

Two alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Hey Sid

against: 6sense, DV360, Demandbase, Microsoft Invest, The Trade DeskStackAdaptHeld

Four alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Choozle, N.Rich, Simpli.fi

against: Demandbase, The Trade DeskAmazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk

Two alternatives

Basis, StackAdapt

against: Microsoft InvestGoogle Ads

Four alternatives

Choozle, SmartyAds DSP, StackAdapt, ad:personam

against: Amazon DSP, DV360, The Trade DeskStackAdapt

Five alternatives

Basis, Blasto DSP, Google Display & Video 360, MediaMath, The Trade Desk

against: Google's ecosystem, X

GLM 4.7 FlashXStackAdapt

Three alternatives

AdRoll ABM, Amazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360

against: The Trade DeskStackAdaptHeld

Three alternatives

Google Display & Video 360, Hey Sid, The Trade Desk

Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk

Five alternatives

AdLib, AdRoll, Amazon DSP, Simpli.fi, StackAdapt

Choozle

Four alternatives

PropellerAds, RollerAds, Simpli.fi, StackAdapt

no first choiceagainst: Adform, Amazon DSP, Google Display & Video 360, Meta Ads, Microsoft Invest, StackAdapt, The Trade Desk

MiniMax M2.5StackAdapt

Three alternatives

Google Display & Video 360, Hey Sid, The Trade Desk

DemandbaseChanged

Two alternatives

StackAdapt, The Trade Desk

The Trade Desk

Four alternatives

Amazon DSP, Basis, Google Display & Video 360, StackAdapt

against: Xandr/MicrosoftAdRoll, Choozle

Two alternatives

Basis, StackAdapt

against: DV360, The Trade DeskThe Trade Desk

Four alternatives

Adobe Advertising, Amazon DSP, DV360, StackAdapt

against: Google Display & Video 360, Meta Ads

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 00:16	yes	9	10 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 00:46	yes	1	5 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 00:47	yes	13	27 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-14 23:10	yes	20	6 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 02:30	yes	0	8 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 02:35	yes	0	8 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 00:57	yes	0	39 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 01:39	yes	0	2 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 00:13	no	0	37 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 03:22	yes	0	29 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 03:55	yes	0	25 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 00:19	yes	0	9 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-14 23:44	no	0	4 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 04:49	yes	4	4 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 02:23	yes	6	21 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 03:00	yes	20	7 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-14 23:54	yes	0	7 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-14 23:33	yes	0	8 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-14 23:56	yes	0	27 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 03:14	yes	0	1 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 02:24	yes	0	33 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-14 23:34	yes	0	33 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 04:08	yes	0	43 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 02:37	yes	0	31 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 03:02	yes	8	10 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:40	no	0	9 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 03:00	yes	17	22 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 03:07	yes	20	11 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 04:29	yes	0	8 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:07	yes	0	8 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-14 23:25	yes	0	38 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 01:21	yes	0	2 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 04:34	no	0	46 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 01:47	yes	0	40 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 02:39	yes	0	22 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 02:29	yes	0	18 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 03:18	yes	8	8 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 03:06	yes	3	4 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 02:44	yes	29	22 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 04:13	yes	20	6 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 03:07	yes	0	9 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 03:54	yes	0	7 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 03:24	yes	0	17 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:45	yes	0	2 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-14 23:09	yes	0	32 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 02:52	yes	0	31 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 04:26	yes	0	45 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-14 23:47	yes	0	14 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 02:38	no	0	6 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-14 23:56	no	0	8 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-14 23:43	yes	9	25 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 01:19	yes	20	9 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 00:33	yes	0	8 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 01:07	yes	0	9 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-15 03:52	yes	0	35 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 00:47	yes	0	2 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 01:00	yes	0	50 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-15 01:54	yes	0	248 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-15 02:17	yes	0	77 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 00:50	yes	0	15 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-15 01:31	yes	15	10 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-15 01:47	yes	4	6 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-15 04:35	yes	13	28 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-15 00:27	yes	20	8 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-15 04:16	yes	0	11 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-15 00:30	yes	0	12 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra`	2026-09-15 05:04	yes	0	46 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-15 03:41	yes	0	1 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-15 04:27	no	0	43 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-14 23:48	yes	0	49 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-14 22:58	yes	0	32 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-15 03:41	yes	0	23 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

Adobe read as Adobe Advertising

Google read as Google Display & Video 360

LinkedIn read as LinkedIn Campaign Manager

Meta read as Meta Ads

Unresolved, counted raw

Adform Studio

Adobe DSP

Cheetah Mobile

Criteo Commerce Max

DO Global

Google Display/Video 360

Google's ecosystem (DV360, Google Ads)

Independent DSPs

Kika Tech

MediaMath SOURCE

Microsoft Monetize

Version2 (ORION)

Xandr / Microsoft Advertising DSP

Yahoo Ad Tech / Viant

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Programmatic and display advertising

By buyer segment

01The standing

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in marketing