Media buyers have long valued the promise of demand-side platforms (DSPs): centralized places to holistically manage and optimize programmatic media and audiences to deliver optimized performance, operational efficiency, and curated cross-channel consumer ad experiences. But data deprecation existentially threatens this promise, rendering the fate of the traditional DSP uncertain. Independent buy-side players with proprietary data, media, or direct consumer access and those that uniquely facilitate publisher access will have a place. Marketers must take a hard look at the current DSP roster, assess cost-benefit, and consider their near- and long-term needs to achieve the right mix of partners.