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Remember when getting online meant logging into AOL? You couldn’t just go to a website, you had to go through their gateway. They controlled what you saw, who you talked to, and how you did everything. And, at that time, it felt like that was just how the internet worked.
Until it wasn’t.
The early internet was all about walled gardens: AOL, CompuServe, MSN. Then open protocols arrived (HTTP, SMTP, TCP/IP), felling those walls in the process. Suddenly, we had this wild, decentralized web. Of course, platforms like Google and Facebook eventually reconsolidated a lot of that control. Today, however, we’re seeing that pendulum swing toward openness again.
The same thing is happening right now with AI and advertising infrastructure. If history serves as any reminder, the next question shouldn’t be whether the traditional approach will remain centralized, it’s what will replace it.
Advertising has operated the same way for decades. Someone creates an ad, uploads it to a DSP, it gets placed. Linear, controlled, designed for humans making decisions at each step.
AI agents don't work that way. They make real-time decisions, negotiate with other systems, optimize across multiple variables simultaneously. When multiple agents operate across different parts of the ad ecosystem, the traditional pipeline breaks down. The infrastructure was designed for people clicking through interfaces, not for agents interacting with agents.
This is where Ad Context Protocol comes in (AdCP), and why it's more interesting than another API or integration.
We’re experiencing a seismic shift from hierarchical systems to decentralized networks of agents. Instead of brand to agency to DSP to publisher, we’re moving toward something infinitely more powerful: a network where agents operate and optimize multidirectionally.
This decentralization isn’t unique to advertising; it’s happening across the expanse of AI and the internet. Just as the early web moved from walled gardens to open protocols, AI is moving from locked-down APIs to agents that can talk to each other. Advertising infrastructure has to make the same jump from platforms controlling every step to protocols that let every thing work together.
Decentralization has worked historically, but only when protocols existed to make it functional. The open web succeeded because HTTP gave everyone a common language. Email works because SMTP standardized how messages move. AdCP aims to do the same for advertising, creating the framework that lets agents work together seamlessly across a decentralized network.
The protocol handles:
Without a protocol like AdCP, a decentralized ad network can't actually function, and all that promise about AI agents transforming advertising stays just that – a promise.
As advertising shifts from hierarchical control to decentralized networks (and this is certainly the direction of travel), protocols become necessary infrastructure. History has shown us time and again, however, that protocols only succeed through adoption. AdCP depends entirely on self-adoption. There's no top-down mandate driving platforms, advertisers, DSPs, brands, or tech companies to use it.
Akkio is keeping up with AdCP's evolution, exploring integration nuances, and refining the technical requirements for scale. Our platform already integrates with the current advertising ecosystem and our interoperable architecture allows for adaptation as new standards like AdCP emerge.
If AdCP gains traction and becomes widely adopted, integration is straightforward. If a different protocol wins, the transition path exists. If AdCP adoption stalls (and we certainly hope it does not), the existing integrations continue delivering value, until the market finally coalesces around a central protocol. The direction toward decentralized agent networks is real. Which specific protocol enables it — and whether that protocol is AdCP — remains open. We are excited to be part of AdCP and are rapidly building toward a decentralized future with an open heart and open mind.
To learn more about how Akkio is approaching advertising infrastructure, register for our webinar The AI Connection Layer on Wednesday, November 5.
Transform your campaign workflows with powerful AI that delivers measurable results.