Limitations of third-party tech
Is relying on third-party advertising technology limiting your control, restricting your roadmap, and reducing your revenue opportunities?
We can help.
Is third-party technology limiting your advertising business’s growth?
Take greater ownership of your advertising technology to control your roadmap, build the features your business needs, reduce dependency on vendors, improve your margins, and create new revenue opportunities.
arrow_circle_right LIMITATIONS OF THIRD-PARTY TECH EXPLAINED
How does third-party technology limit an advertising business?
Third-party advertising technology allows companies to access established capabilities without the time and upfront investment required to build them internally.
However, as your business grows, relying on technology owned by another company can create limitations around:
- Which features you can offer
- How quickly you can introduce new capabilities
- How your technology integrates with other systems
- How much control you have over your data and workflows
- How easily you can differentiate your offering
- How much you pay in platform and usage fees
- How much revenue and margin you can capture
arrow_circle_right SYMPTOMS
How do you know if third-party technology is limiting your business?
If you’ve started to outgrow your third-party advertising technology, then you’ll likely be experiencing one or more of the following:
Your roadmap is controlled by your vendor
Features and improvements depend on your vendor’s priorities and release schedule, making it difficult to develop your offering at the pace your business requires.
You can’t build the features your customers need
Your platform provides standard functionality, but important features, workflows, or capabilities can’t be added or customised to meet your specific requirements.
It’s becoming harder to differentiate your offering
You rely on much of the same technology as your competitors, limiting your ability to create unique capabilities and build a differentiated product or service.
Platform costs increase as your business grows
Licensing, usage, transaction, or revenue-share fees become increasingly significant as volumes grow, changing the economics of renting rather than owning the technology.
You’re missing revenue and margin opportunities
Revenue that could potentially be captured through your own technology is instead paid to third-party vendors through fees, markups, or revenue-sharing arrangements.
Integrations are limiting what you can do
APIs, available integrations, data access, and vendor restrictions make it difficult to connect the platform with your technology or introduce new workflows and capabilities.
Experiencing any of the problems above?
Get in contact with our team and find out how we can help you solve the problems with third-party tech.
arrow_circle_right THE CAUSES
Why does third-party technology become limiting?
Third-party advertising technology can provide a fast and cost-effective way to access the capabilities your business needs.
However, as your business grows and your requirements become more specialised, the gap between what your technology provides and what your business needs can become increasingly difficult to manage.
Your vendor has different priorities
Third-party vendors build for many customers, meaning the features and improvements that matter most to your business may not be prioritised on their roadmap.
Your requirements become more specialised
Standardised platforms work well for common use cases, but unique products, workflows, business models, and customer requirements can become difficult to support.
Your business becomes dependent on the platform
Over time, more workflows, integrations, data, and products become connected to the technology, making vendor limitations increasingly consequential and switching more difficult.
Your scale changes the economics
Licensing, transaction, usage, or revenue-share models that made sense initially can become significantly more expensive as your advertising volumes and revenue grow.
Your technology becomes part of your competitive advantage
As your business evolves, technology may shift from being an operational requirement to something that directly influences your product differentiation, margins, customer experience, and revenue opportunities.
arrow_circle_right THE BUSINESS IMPACT
How reliance on third-party technology impacts your business
When third-party technology no longer meets your needs, it can restrict your ability to innovate, differentiate your offering, control costs, and capture the full commercial value of your advertising business.
Slower product development
New features and capabilities depend on your vendor’s roadmap, APIs, and technical limitations, making it harder to respond quickly to customer and market requirements.
Limited differentiation
Relying on the same standardised technology available to other companies can make it difficult to develop unique capabilities and differentiate your offering.
Missed revenue opportunities
Technology limitations can prevent you from launching new products, supporting new business models, or introducing capabilities that could generate additional revenue.
Lower margins
Licensing, transaction, usage, and revenue-share fees reduce the value your business captures from the advertising activity running through third-party technology.
Increasing technology costs
Costs can rise alongside traffic, media spend, customers, or usage, meaning the economics of the platform become less attractive as your business scales.
Greater vendor dependency
Critical products and operations become dependent on another company’s technology, pricing, priorities, availability, and long-term strategic decisions.
arrow_circle_right SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM
How we can help you take greater ownership of your advertising technology
01. Evaluate
Determine which parts of your technology are strategically and commercially worth owning.
We can:
- Assess your existing third-party technology.
- Identify technical and commercial limitations.
- Analyse platform fees and ownership costs.
- Identify opportunities to increase revenue and margins.
- Evaluate build, buy, and hybrid approaches.
- Prioritise the technology worth replacing or owning.
Output: A build-vs-buy assessment and recommended technology roadmap.
02. Define
Define the business and technical foundations for your own technology.
We can:
- Define business and product requirements.
- Map features and workflows.
- Design the system architecture.
- Define data and integration requirements.
- Plan migration from existing platforms.
- Define the MVP and development roadmap.
Output: A business and technical blueprint for your custom solution.
03. Build and integrate
Build the technology you need and integrate it into your existing advertising ecosystem.
We can:
- Build custom AdTech platforms and components.
- Develop the features your business requires.
- Integrate third-party platforms and data sources.
- Migrate workflows from existing technology.
- Automate manual processes.
- Implement reporting, data, and AI capabilities.
Output: Custom advertising technology integrated into your existing ecosystem.
04. Operate and evolve
Continuously develop your technology as your business and market requirements change.
We can:
- Add new features and capabilities.
- Maintain and support the platform.
- Improve performance and scalability.
- Optimise infrastructure and operating costs.
- Add new integrations.
- Modernise components as technology evolves.
- Support changing product and business requirements.
Output: An owned technology platform that can evolve with your business.
Need help with your third-party advertising technology?
Get in contact with our team and find out how we can help you.
arrow_circle_right EXPECTED OUTCOMES
What outcomes can you expect from taking greater ownership of your advertising technology?
Owning the right parts of your technology can give you greater control over your product, roadmap, costs, and commercial model while creating new opportunities for growth and differentiation.
Business outcomes
Greater control over your roadmap
Faster product development
Greater competitive differentiation
New revenue opportunities
Improved margins
Reduced vendor dependency
Greater commercial flexibility
Technical outcomes
Greater technology ownership
Customisable functionality
More flexible integrations
Greater control over data
Scalable architecture
Reduced platform constraints
Technology aligned with your business
arrow_circle_right CASE STUDIES
Examples of projects we’ve worked on
arrow_circle_rightContact us
Need help with your third-party tech?
Get in contact with our team and find out how we can help you.
Radosław Kostecki
Business Unit Director