GroupM is the world's largest media buying group and operates the largest agency trading desk footprint in India across its agencies — Mindshare, Wavemaker, MediaCom, and Essence Mediacom. CTV programmatic buying for GroupM clients in India is centralised through Xaxis, GroupM's programmatic arm, which operates DV360 and The Trade Desk seats on behalf of GroupM agencies and their clients. For large direct deals (IPL, JioCinema premium packages), GroupM's agency teams negotiate directly with publishers and execute via insertion order, with Xaxis handling programmatic extensions.
GroupM's scale gives it advantages in India CTV: preferred PMP deal rates negotiated at group level (better floors than individual buyers), early access to new inventory products from publishers, and dedicated publisher relationships that smooth out campaign delivery issues. The tradeoff for advertisers: GroupM's trading desk model is less transparent than buying directly through a DSP — clients may not always see the full supply path, SSP fees, or what markup Xaxis applies. Advertisers working with GroupM agencies should ask for programmatic log-level data access and SSP fee disclosure as part of their trading agreements. The broader India agency landscape — Publicis, IPG, Dentsu — operates similar centralised programmatic desks for CTV buying.
Full guide
For a complete explanation, read: GroupM and agency trading desks for CTV buying in India: how they work and what to ask