Dive Brief: 

• Publishers like ESPN, USA Today and Hulu, which all said they would never sell online display ads through programmatic channels, have caved into buyers' demands. 
• Some publishers were hesitant to adapt due to concerns that automatic trading will lower their inventory prices by undermining their direct sales efforts. 
• Buyers like agency Media Kitchen, which currently buys about 20% of media through automated systems and wants to do more, have led to the shift in attitudes by pressuring publishers to make more inventory available through those channels. 

Dive Insight: 

Like most publishers are realizing, the programmatic ad buying trend isn't going away. What publishers need to do now is accept that fact and mold their business to accommodate buyers' demands. If they don't, it will be worse than declining inventory prices—they will be missing out on a huge, growing chunk of the ad market.