PubMatic Activate

GAM’s dinner with ad agencies sparked speculation that Google is preparing to spin off its bundled SSP and ad server as a remedy to its ad tech monopoly. But Google says it’s just part of the trend of SSPs going direct to buyers.

PubMatic’s new AI curation features are helping it forge closer relationships with ad agencies like GroupM that are ramping up their use of AI.

The SSP revised its full year outlook down by $10 million, due to a DSP partner adopting first-price auctions and weakness in key ad verticals. But it highlighted mobile in-app as a new key revenue stream.

PubMatic has its supply-path optimization initiative, its strategy to introduce direct deals for CTV and online video, to thank for its quarterly revenue growth.

Advertisers are turning the spigot back on. And PubMatic’s investments are paying off. The SSP reported 14% year over year revenue growth in Q4, powered by 9% growth in display.

2023 saw SPO become further cemented in the strategies of DSPs and SSPs for capturing market share. But the long-term trend might see SPO become the default for programmatic advertisers.

With last year’s lingering slide in ad spend, PubMatic sees itself playing the long game by innovating in CTV and retail media, leaning into the SPO trend and adopting cookieless tech.

Supply-path optimization conjures an image of SSPs and DSPs dueling it out to each render the other obsolete. But it’s actually not that dramatic.

In addition to buy-side integrations, content curation, proprietary ad formats and flexible pricing models are also helping set SSPs apart.

CEO Jeff Green pushed back against the idea that DSPs are increasingly competing with SSPs and vice versa, saying it was a fabrication of the trade press.