IPO Tell It On The MNTN
CTV ad platform MNTN has gone public.
The company IPO’d at $16 a share on May 21, putting its valuation at $1.2 billion – which was at the high end of investor projections, Adweek reports. By Friday, the stock price had grown to nearly $28.
MNTN was not profitable in 2024, but its adjusted EBITDA was $39 million. CEO Mark Douglas told Adweek he expects revenue to grow this year. He pointed to MNTN’s continued focus on small to midsize advertisers, as well as planned investments in AI, as growth drivers.
Based on MNTN’s S-1, ad tech M&A advisor Tom Triscari projected a 15% average annual growth rate for the company over the next five years. He noted most premium CTV inventory is locked up, but there’s growth potential in the long tail of small streaming apps.
However, MNTN’s critics took the company’s impending IPO as an opportunity to toss rocks.
Conifer Advisors’ Justin Scarborough highlighted swirling accusations about MNTN’s attribution reporting that date back to its origins as SteelHouse. “They use fingerprinting on CTV with conversion hacking site side to take credit for CTV conversions,” Scarborough posted on LinkedIn, although he didn’t provide any proof.
Scarborough also cast aspersions on MNTN’s much-publicized association with its celebrity CCO Ryan Reynolds, who, Adweek notes, did not attend the IPO.
RIP RPA
Last week, the FTC dismissed a lawsuit brought against PepsiCo in January for alleged violations of the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA), a price discrimination law that forbids a company from offering one seller price discounts that aren’t available to other direct competitors.
So why does that minor FTC news matter to the world of data-driven advertising?
Because the RPA emerged from long dormancy in the past year as a potential regulatory lever, in large part due to changes in shopper marketing and how it’s negotiated between retailers and advertisers.
For instance, when Target, Walmart and other retailers report ad revenue, they always include an earnings footnote clarifying that their ad businesses are “classified as either Net Sales or as a reduction of Cost of Sales, depending on the nature of the advertising arrangement.”
For data-driven retail media, pricing and ad budgets can be flip sides of the same coin. Amazon-native media agencies like Flywheel or Acadia sometimes have discretion to tinker with prices, not just spend on ads. If a brand would pay $10 to acquire a given customer, why not offer $5 off?
Chained To The Algorithm
Deep within the US House of Representatives’ massive budget reconciliation bill is a clause that would effectively ban states both from regulating AI and from enforcing existing laws in any capacity for 10 years, Tech Policy Press reports.
AI industry leaders argue that a moratorium would help companies overcome piecemeal and contradictory state legislation in favor of federal laws. But is there actually support? It’s notable that billionaire investor Peter Thiel, mentor to VP JD Vance, complained about government AI regulation in September. Federal rules wouldn’t go over very well with the technocrat crowd, either, but it could be easier for them to sway Congress over individual states.
Some current and proposed state AI legislation includes language that requires health care or insurance providers to protect consumers against things like “risks of algorithmic discrimination,” as it’s referred to in Colorado’s AI act. Other policies also ban specific uses of generative AI tech, like making deepfake video or audio that depicts real individuals without their consent.
As Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) recently pointed out, state laws are often what pave the way for federal regulation in the first place, like Tennessee’s ELVIS Act did for the NO FAKES Act currently being debated in the House.
But Wait! There’s More
Disney sues Google, claiming Google illegally poached executive Justin Connolly to head up YouTube’s sports media business. [Bloomberg]
The NBA is considering placing streaming links in its sponsors’ media properties to help fans find where to watch games across the fragmented broadcast ecosystem. [Awful Announcing]
President Trump threatens Apple with 25% tariffs on foreign-made products and 50% tariffs on EU-made imports. [Fortune]
TikTok-banned influencer Liv Schmidt makes more than $100K a month from her subscriber-only Instagram group Skinni Société, which former members say led them to develop eating disorders. [TheCut]
Meanwhile, Janelle Rohner, another influencer who documented her weight-loss journey and sold $200 classes, is under fire for not disclosing her use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. [WSJ]
Speaking of GLP-1s, here’s how the increased use of these drugs and pharma marketing trends are influencing Danone’s media strategy. [Digiday]
You’re Hired!
Creatopy, an AI ad platform, hires Ovidiu Gavril as chief technology officer. [website]
Allen Media Group snaps up four executives from the Warner Bros. Discovery ad sales team. [Variety]
