When publishers move to programmatic, one of the biggest fears is losing control.Will buyers cherry pick your best inventory and leave you with the scraps? Will premium deals dry up?In this video, I break down:What “cherry picking” means in ad tech and programmatic advertisingWhy it’s a real risk — and when it’s notHow smart channel management can protect your premium sales while unlocking new demandUsing a simple orchard-and-cherries analogy, I show how publishers can set guardrails, balance legacy sales with new revenue streams, and avoid the trap of over-protecting inventory at the cost of growth.Chapters:0:00 – The fear of cherry picking in programmatic0:49 – Cherries as an analogy for ad slots1:45 – Premium sales vs. self-pick model2:27 – Guardrails to protect premium deals3:16 – What channel management looks like in ad tech3:46 – The risk of over-protection4:48 – When inventory shouldn’t go programmatic5:20 – Balancing direct sales with programmatic