NEW YORK—Integral Ad Science has announced that it has acquired Publica, the connected TV (CTV) advertising platform for about $220 million.
The deal is part of IAS’s CTV strategy to help publishers better monetize their video programming across CTV devices and build new tools to provide advertisers with much-needed transparency into the quality of this inventory.
It will also help IAS better tap into the rapidly growing CTV market, with eMarketer estimating that advertisers will invest over $13.4 billion into CTV this year, growing to surpass $24.7 billion by 2024.
Publica delivers over 3 billion ads on CTV every month. Publica co-Founder and CEO, Ben Antier, now will report directly to IAS CEO Lisa Utzschneider. The Publica brand will become part of IAS's product portfolio.
IAS provides technologies and services that ensure ads are viewable by real people, in safe and suitable environments, activating contextual targeting, and driving supply path optimization, the company said.
"CTV viewership and programmatic advertising have skyrocketed, and by acquiring Publica we're accelerating our growth to offer publishers the tools to capitalize on this opportunity," said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO, IAS. "Advanced data and technology will fuel the future of addressable CTV advertising. Now video publishers can increase their revenue, and in the future we will help advertisers with a trusted way to measure the results of their growing CTV budgets. In fact, Publica reports that publishers using its platform have seen on average a 30% lift in yield for their CTV inventory. I welcome Ben and the Publica team as we innovate together to increase CTV advertising quality and impact."
As a result of the acquisition, IAS's CTV offerings will now include Publica's unified auction, over-the-top (OTT) header bidding for programmatic buying, audience management, campaign management, server-side ad insertion (SSAI), ad pod automation, and advanced analytics.
This expands IAS's current CTV capabilities, which include the industry's first CTV verification solution for global invalid traffic (IVT) and viewability across programmatic and direct buying on all apps and providers.
IAS plans to introduce a comprehensive brand safety and suitability solution for CTV advertisers and publishers in the coming months, bolstered by Publica's existing platform and CTV content data.
"Audiences have already switched to watching CTV and more ad-supported content than ever; by joining IAS, we're offering a trusted platform for brands and publishers to drive more ad dollars towards CTV," said Ben Antier, co-founder and CEO, Publica. "We have a joint vision to transform CTV advertising with a data-driven approach that benefits the entire industry, while delivering an exceptional user experience."
