Microsoft Curate adds Copilot as private deals take 70% of RTB spend

Microsoft Curate now runs Copilot inside the platform, and Microsoft used the same post on 10 September 2026 to put a number on private deals. The company says about 70% of real-time bidding spend, roughly 52 billion dollars a year, already moves through private marketplace deals rather than the open auction.

Curate packages a publisher’s own data into a buyable deal

Microsoft Curate is where an owner of first-party data builds a package a buyer can purchase. It bundles audience activation with access to supply, including connected TV inventory from Microsoft Monetize, and adds forecasting, packaging and reporting. It is DSP-agnostic, so buyers reach the packages through third-party demand-side platforms rather than only Microsoft’s own.

Copilot answers account questions through the MCP protocol

The new part is Copilot inside Curate, wired up through the Model Context Protocol. Microsoft says an AI agent can pull account-specific figures, reports and troubleshooting guidance from a question typed in plain language. Sign-in runs through curate.xandr.com.

Microsoft’s own numbers: 1.5x to 3x click-through, 250 line items down to 14

The figures come from Microsoft and should be read as the seller’s claims. Curated buying delivers click-through rates 1.5 to 3 times higher, the company says. Data-enriched private marketplaces show video completion rates 10% to 30% above the open exchange. In a case study on Telfast, a campaign that needed 250 line items was rebuilt with 14.

The pitch lands while buyers already watch the supply path

Curation sits on the same argument that has pushed budget out of open auctions for two years. We covered Telly opening its home screen to programmatic buying, and Microsoft has been reshaping the bidding side too, including the decision to drop Max CPC from new automated campaigns.

Publishers with data gain, open-exchange sellers lose

A publisher with usable first-party data gains a product it can price itself. Buyers gain fewer line items to manage. The side that loses is any seller whose inventory carries no data and no direct relationship, because the 30% of spend still running through the open auction is the part being competed away.