One of the argued positives of relying on programmatic advertising is that it’s hands-off for the publisher. The marketer can pick their creative, send it wherever they want, and have no direct discussion with the publication where the ad will actually show up.
The inherent downside to this approach is that the source of the audience was less important to the marketer. There was no understanding of how the relationship between audience and content can increase the strength of the brand’s message. Instead, all that mattered was if the “right” person saw the ad. And I say right in quotations because that’s always been questionable.