Kyle Eckhart & Ryan Gilbert: How Agencies Are Navigating Fees and Transparency in Programmatic Advertising

In this episode, Morgan sits down with Rain’s COO, Kyle Eckhart, and VP of Digital Media, Ryan Gilbert, to unpack the recent controversy surrounding The Trade Desk and Publicis’s partnership. The conversation explores agency fee structures, transparency, and what’s next for media buying—touching on how agencies navigate fees, build direct publisher relationships, and adapt to evolving industry trends.The ForeCast is a podcast by Rain, hosted by Morgan Willis. In each episode, we speak with industry experts about advertising, media, and the latest marketing trends, and sometimes we have a bit of fun, too! We close out each episode with our guest’s forecast for the future of their area of expertise.Timestamps:Intro (0:00)Kyle Intro (0:53)Industry Reactions to The Trade Desk Memo (1:45)Understanding Fee Structures in AdTech (5:33)Kyle’s Forecast (11:37)Ryan Intro (14:25)Questions Around Fees (15:25)Ryan’s Forecast (22:28)Outro (24:50)Please follow our podcast and leave a review!Our website: https://www.rainagency.com/Follow us on social media!LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rainagencyinc/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RainAgencyInc/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rain_thegrowthagency/X: https://x.com/rainforgrowthYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RainAgencyTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rain_thegrowthagency