michael barrett

Magnite says it’s not mad at The Trade Desk for prioritizing OpenPath or labeling all supply-side platforms as “resellers.”

On Tuesday, Magnite announced it had acquired Streamr.ai, which specializes in developing AI-generated assets for small businesses to use in their CTV campaigns.

The SSP is betting on the DOJ’s antitrust remedies, plus closer relationships with agencies, DSPs and mid-sized advertisers, to help it eat some of Google’s lunch.

When it comes to third-party cookies on Chrome, Google’s plan to reverse course is neither here nor there, says Magnite CEO Michael Barrett. “Forget Privacy Sandbox,” Barrett said. “That thing was dead upon arrival.”

Although the full revenue impact of Magnite’s exclusive SSP partnership with Netflix hasn’t hit yet, simply announcing the deal “created significant momentum for our business,” Magnite President and CEO Michael Barrett told investors.

For Magnite, the biggest growth opportunity lies in supply-path optimization. The trade-off is the pressure to differentiate itself from other supply-side platforms competing for agency deals.

Total ad spend from deals transacted through Magnite’s platform topped $5 billion for the full year, representing nearly 20% YOY growth, while full-year CTV ad spend was also up 20%.

CTV contributed $52.5 million to Magnite’s Q3 earnings, actually declining 6% from $56 million at the same time last year. CTV comprised 39% of overall revenue this quarter, compared to 41% for mobile ads and 20% for desktop ads.

Magnite’s still enamored of CTV. CTV’s contribution to Magnite’s revenue was up 8% YOY, from $52 million to $56 million.

Supply-side platforms are under intense pressure to prove unique value or hit the chopping block. And Magnite is using connected TV as its competitive edge.

Magnite’s quarterly revenue was up 11% year-over-year in Q3, with a large chunk of its growth coming from streaming. Growth guidance is conservative for next quarter, but Magnite expects AVOD inventory and retail media to become bigger growth drivers for its bottom line.

Magnite reported 20% year-over-year growth with $137.8 million in revenue for Q2. And its CTV business alone grew by more than double that number (52%). It’s a plateau compared with last quarter’s growth, but Magnite has strong hopes for CTV’s burgeoning programmatic ecosystem.

Integral Ad Science CEO Lisa Utzschneider, Magnite CEO Michael Barrett and DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski talked about their experience heading public companies at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview Tuesday, in a panel moderated by LUMA CEO and founder Terence Kawaja.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Staff Cuts Magnite is laying off about 6% of its staff following its $1.17 billion acquisition deal with video supply-side platform SpotX, Adweek reports. Buying SpotX is part of Magnite’s CTV growth plan, after already taking on Telaria. Though the acquisition nearly doubled […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Aprés-Zagorski Mark Zagorski is leaving Rubicon Project at the end of June, the company announced on Thursday. It’s hardly surprising. Zagorski was CEO of Telaria before its absorption by Rubicon, and he has been COO and president since then. “Thanks to Mark’s leadership, we […]

When Rubicon Project and Telaria announced their merger in December, the coronavirus was only just beginning to raise flags in Wuhan, China. Three months later, the deal is officially done – the merger closed on Wednesday – and Michael Barrett, CEO of the combined entity, is adjusting plans for the integration and product road map. The companies […]

Rubicon Project delivered a strong end to 2019 by increasing Q4 revenue by 17% to $48.5 million, the top end of its guidance to investors. The exchange also highlighted its growth in video as it prepares to close its merger with Telaria in early April. Video revenue soared 43% to $28.6 million in 2019. Video […]

Michael Barrett has had his eye on Telaria since his first day as CEO of Rubicon Project in March, 2017, when the company was Tremor Video and was led by then-CEO Paul Caine. But, like with many relationships, Rubicon and Telaria needed to “do a little work on ourselves” before they were fit partners, said […]

Public sell-side ad tech companies Rubicon Project and Telaria said Thursday that they have agreed to merge in a stock-for-stock deal. The exchange ratio is 1.082 shares of Rubicon common stock per share of Telaria common stock. Read the release. Rubicon CEO Michael Barrett will take over as CEO of the combined companies. Telaria CEO […]

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media.  Today’s column is written by Michael Barrett, president and CEO at Rubicon Project. For the first time in my career, ad tech’s independent players are embracing a powerful idea: Collaboration makes us stronger. It’s a […]

One year ago, Rubicon Project removed buyer fees from its platform, halving its take rate to 12.8%. The gutsy move occurred during a battle over take rates: Competitor AppNexus said its take rate stood at 8.5%, and its CEO called for a price war. Drastically cutting take rates forced Rubicon to use cash reserves to […]

Pity the ad tech middleman. They place an ad on behalf of the advertiser, but when it comes time to get paid…they wait. And wait. And wait. In the meantime, they owe their own bills to creditors who want cash now. Since the economic crisis in 2008, marketers have slowed down payments to vendors and […]

The advertising industry has been plagued by a lack of trust, with vendors, agencies and marketers looking at each other askance. Ad fraud, bad traffic and hidden fees have taken their toll, and while industry players have taken measures to reinstitute their good standing, their work isn’t nearly complete. During a panel Thursday at AdExchanger’s […]

Rubicon Project has been steadily lowering its take rate over the past year to make its tech more appealing to publishers and buyers, who have pushed back against hidden fees. During its earnings call Tuesday, the company revealed that the declining take rates are one part of its strategy to offer the most value for […]

Welcome to AdExchanger Talks, a podcast focused on data-driven marketing. Subscribe here. Rubicon Project’s new CEO, the storied Michael Barrett, comes into the studio for the latest episode of AdExchanger Talks. And he doesn’t disappoint, talking in-depth about the company’s roadmap and fee structure. Barrett has known Rubicon Project since its inception 10 years ago, when […]

Rubicon Project founder Frank Addante has stepped down as CEO. Former AdMeld and Millennial Media chief Michael Barrett is Rubicon’s new CEO, effective immediately. Addante will switch to a strategic and advisory role as chairman of Rubicon’s board. Barrett has a history of turning companies around and getting them sold. As CEO of Millennial Media, he took a company […]

In its Q4 earnings call Wednesday, mobile ad network Millennial Media revealed it had netted $109.5 million in the fourth quarter, up from $75.9 million in Q4 2012 (a 44% increase). Total revenue for 2013 increased 41.6% from $241.3 million in 2012 to $341.8 million last year. Despite a strong end to the year, however, […]

Yesterday, mobile ad network Millennial Media announced the hire of industry – and programmatic-media – veteran Michael Barrett as its new CEO. As Barrett told AdExchanger’s Judith Aquino yesterday, “Buying programmatically is certainly a big interest with a lot of our advertisers, publishers and developing partners, and we’ll continue going down that path. [But] Millennial is also […]

Amidst the mayhem of the current AdMonsters Publisher Forum in New Orleans which brings together ad operations professionals and their ad technology vendors comes news! AdMeld, led by CEO Michael Barrett and founders Ben Barokas and Brian Adams, has released a new tool for client publishers. AdMeld‘s FireMeld enables the ad operations team of web […]