PubMatic, a sell-side advertising company, today announced it is partnering with GroupM, WPP’s investment group. The global partnership will allow GroupM access to more video and display advertising inventory across CTV/OTT, mobile app, mobile web, and desktop environments, while it will allow PubMatic’s publishing partners access to GroupM’s portfolio of advertisers.
“GroupM’s partnership with PubMatic brings our clients media transparency and an efficient path to premium inventory,” said Andrew Meaden, Global Head of Investment at GroupM. “As a global preferred partner, PubMatic gives brands access to their strong publisher footprint across the U.S., Europe and Asia, particularly in the growing mobile app market, and provides leadership and innovation around programmatic CTV, identity, and audience addressability.”
The partnership begins at a time of uncertainty over what will replace third party cookies. As Google phases out third-party cookies, PubMatic places emphasis on its ability to provide addressability across different platforms without relying on cookies or mobile identifiers like Apple’s IDFA. The SSP says that its suite of addressability solutions, including Identity Hub and Audience Encore, enable advertisers to increase the scale of their campaigns.
GroupM has been seeking to move from using 40 to 50 supply partners to just five or six, and the deal with PubMatic represents part of this consolidation.
“We are thrilled that GroupM has selected PubMatic as a preferred global SSP partner to give their advertisers transparent inventory access and increased ROI through fewer, more strategic supply partnerships. As consolidation continues across the industry, this will also help to ensure that we provide our publisher customers access to unique demand from GroupM’s leading global brands,” said Jeff Hirsch, Chief Commercial Officer at PubMatic.
