Elcano / Curation

Curation with Purpose. Performance, Optimized.

As pioneers in supply-side curation, we're redefining the digital media landscape — selecting, packaging, and optimizing inventory from the supply side so buyers receive more relevant impressions with less waste.

The discipline

What supply-side curation is.

Curation is the practice of selecting, packaging, and optimizing inventory with targeting data from the supply-side — SSPs, publishers, or intermediaries — to make it more targeted, efficient, and valuable for buyers.

Done well, it transforms programmatic advertising from a fragmented, open marketplace into a more intelligent and structured ecosystem: enhancing outcomes for buyers, empowering publishers with greater control, and unlocking new monetization opportunities for data partners and platforms.

What Elcano does

We own the execution, end-to-end.

Elcano takes full ownership of curated programmatic execution — handling deal strategy, activation, and optimization end-to-end — so your team can focus on what matters most: driving results and growing your business.

Curation tailored to your role in the ecosystem:

  • PMP development — intelligent deal packaging powered by performance, context, or first-party data.
  • Campaign management — from setup to monitoring, our team ensures flawless execution.
  • Reporting and optimization — actionable insights, recommendations, and ongoing performance tuning.
  • Platform agnostic — we work seamlessly across SSPs, DSPs, data platforms, and more.
The benefits of curation

Why buyers curate from the supply side.

Curated deals reduce noise and inefficiency in the open exchange — buyers receive access to more relevant impressions with less waste.

Supply-side optimization

Optimize campaigns from the supply side, allocating spend to higher-performing data-and-inventory combinations faster. A simpler, shorter supply chain means lower tech fees, increased transparency, and improved auction dynamics.

Greater control and customization

Through curated deal IDs, advertisers gain more control over inventory selection, data layers, and pricing structures — enabling custom strategies aligned to specific KPIs, brand safety requirements, or ethical considerations.

Flexibility and ease of activation

Curated deals are DSP-agnostic by nature and transacted via a deal ID. Offloading deal generation, deal mapping, and optimization to a curation partner reduces manual overhead and frees teams to focus on higher-value initiatives.

MFA-free and brand safe

Ensure media spend is not misallocated across made-for-advertising properties or websites that could compromise your brand's message.

Scalable innovation

Curation opens the door to new data partnerships, premium publishers, and emerging formats — without requiring custom integrations or platform commitments — giving buyers flexible access to innovation at scale.

Cross-screen curation

Activate across the channels where your audience is most engaged.

Elcano's strategic partnerships with industry-leading SSPs provide access to a variety of inventory sources to align with campaign goals.

  • CTV & OTT
  • Display & Online Video
  • Native Display & Video
  • Programmatic Audio
Curated Marketplaces

Marketplaces designed to align with campaign goals.

Activate within Curated Marketplaces built around your objectives — from tentpole moments to always-on performance.

Seasonal Tentpole

Curated deals designed to reach audiences during critical shopping seasons — holidays, sporting events, back-to-school, and more.

LIVE Sports

Reach audiences during live sports moments across programmatic channels, including CTV.

Political Compliant

Elcano helps political advertisers navigate the complexities of programmatic advertising with pre-approved inventory sources.

Contextually-focused

Contextually-aligned deals filled with premium inventory that aligns with your content — including travel, family, entertainment, and more.

Automotive

Designed to reach people who are in-market for a new or used car while they are engaging with automotive content.

Performance-focused

Designed to be geared toward campaign-specific KPIs, including VCR and CTR.

Lifestyle

Connect with people as they consume their favorite lifestyle content — from music festivals, to fashion, to nightlife.

How it works

From alignment to optimization, in five steps.

01
Campaign Alignment

Demand and supply-side activation teams align on targeting goals, campaign KPIs, and set-up requirements.

02
Deal Curation

Audiences are packaged with premium curated supply across key programmatic channels — CTV, display & OLV, native, and programmatic audio.

03
Deal Delivery

Curated deals are delivered to demand-side activation teams, with a recommended kick-off call to confirm campaign set-up requirements and alignment.

04
Campaign Activation

Demand-side activation teams begin buying against curated deals.

05
Campaign Optimization

Supply-side optimizations are implemented throughout the flight.

The technology behind the deals

Intelligence at the source, optimization in the loop.

Two proprietary solutions power our curation — one to identify and activate premium inventory, one to keep refining supply in flight.

Elcano Lens

Lens combines advanced contextual intelligence with quality scoring to identify and activate premium programmatic inventory — so curated deals start from supply that is genuinely worth buying.

Victoria

Victoria is Elcano's AI agent, providing AI-driven optimizations that refine supply and maximize outcomes — the intelligence layer that keeps curated deals improving throughout the flight.

Explore Victoria

Proven on live campaigns.

+46.5%
more efficient CPA
Victoria-optimized campaign for a leading automotive brand, versus goal.
Read the case study
+110%
CTR lift
Elcano-curated deals on a national fundraising campaign.
Read the case study
+30%
ROAS lift
Return on ad spend on that same fundraising flight's curated deals.
Read the case study

Ready to push boundaries with Elcano?

We're excited to explore new horizons together. Tell us your campaign goals and we'll align on the curated deals to get there.

Why teams curate with Elcano
  • End-to-end execution — deal strategy, activation, and optimization.
  • DSP-agnostic curated deals, transacted via a deal ID.
  • MFA-free, brand-safe inventory.
  • Supply-side optimizations implemented throughout the flight.