Amazon vs JD Cloud

Indie agencies demand direct DSP access and fee relief

Independent media agencies are increasingly frustrated with major DSPs like The Trade Desk and Amazon DSP, claiming that despite significant ad spend commitments, they are forced to work through resellers, incurring double fees and lacking negotiating leverage. Agencies report spending thresholds for direct seats that are not being consistently applied, leading to confusion and a sense of a 'toll booth with no exit.' Both The Trade Desk and Amazon deny minimum spend requirements, stating that direct access is available to all, with resellers offered as optional support. However, agencies argue that in practice, direct seats are gated by committed spend levels, making it difficult for smaller independents to achieve cost savings and control. This tension highlights the broader power imbalance in programmatic advertising, where smaller buyers feel squeezed by tech giants and resellers, despite growing competition in the DSP market.

• A 15-person New York agency spent over $100,000 monthly to meet The Trade Desk's spend threshold but still pays 17% to the DSP and 12% to reseller Mogl.
• Ten media buyers told Digiday that The Trade Desk and Amazon DSP impose double fees via resellers, with unclear paths to direct seats.
• Both Amazon and The Trade Desk deny minimum spend requirements for direct access, with resellers offered as optional support.

Amazon Creates Over 300,000 New U.S. Jobs This Holiday Season with Increased Pay and Expanded Benefits

Amazon announced it will create over 300,000 new U.S. jobs this holiday season with increased pay and expanded benefits.

Google open-sources TorchTPU to rival Nvidia's AI chip dominance

Google has open-sourced TorchTPU, its version of the PyTorch AI framework, enabling developers to run PyTorch apps on Google's TPUs with minimal changes. This move follows Amazon's similar release of TorchNeuron, aimed at porting apps to its Trainium chips. Both companies seek to break Nvidia's stronghold on AI hardware, where most AI apps are optimized for Nvidia GPUs. Google has collaborated with Meta, Hugging Face, and other tool makers to ensure compatibility. The company also launched a TPU agent suite to assist developers in migrating apps. This is part of a broader trend to increase competition in the AI infrastructure market.

• Google open-sourced TorchTPU, allowing PyTorch apps to run on its TPUs.
• Amazon previously released TorchNeuron for its Trainium chips.
• TorchTPU enables developers to migrate apps with a simple configuration change.