• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, May 8, 2023

Supply-side platform (SSP) PubMatic has launched Activate, an end-to-end supply path optimization (SPO) solution that lets buyers execute non-bidded connected TV and other premium video deals directly through PubMatic’s programmatic platform.

Initial launch partners include Dentsu, Fubo, GroupM, Havas, LG, Mars and Omnicom Media Group Germany, among others.

PubMatic is the second large SSP  to recently introduce an SPO solution that seeks to appeal to agencies by streamlining a process that has become increasingly complex and costly as the number and types of players involved in executing deals has grown.  Magnite introduced an offering called ClearLine last month.

PubMatic describes Activate as a “single layer of technology that directly connects buyers and sellers of digital media” through private marketplace or programmatic guaranteed deals enabled by technology from its 2022 acquisition of DSP Martin.

Users can use Activate to log in directly to the SSP and buy inventory at scale for their ad campaigns, instead of the usual method of buying programmatic through demand-side platforms (DSPs).

According to PubMatic, Activate differs from ClearLine, which allows agencies to buy video inventory directly through its repurposed SpringServe ad server, because it is designed to work across all publisher ad servers.

“Buyers and sellers of digital media are seeking a more efficient, transparent, and sustainable supply chain that delivers on programmatic’s full potential,” PubMatic co-founder and CEO Rajeev Goel said in a release. “By seamlessly connecting buyers and content owners via a single layer of technology, we are significantly reducing the hops, discrepancies, data proliferation, opacity and complexity in the programmatic marketplace. This will result in higher ROI for buyers and increased revenue for publishers, consistent with our mission to fuel the endless potential of internet content creators who rely on advertising as a primary source of revenue.”

Both PubMatic and Magnite stand to realize significant incremental revenue from expanding their capabilities and client relationships. PubMatic is scheduled to report Q1 earnings on May 9.

And both companies insist that they are not trying to cut out or supplant DSPs.

Magnite described its ClearLine solution as in line with a general trend to both DSPs and SSPs connecting with buyers and publishers instead of only one side, and said its primary mission remains helping its SSP clients improve their performance by having more options.

PubMatic said its new offering will help increase the overall programmatic marketplace, to the benefit of all players.

On the flip side, DSP The Trade Desk (TDD) launched an SSP-like product, OpenPath, in February 2022. TTD said it would not supplant SSPs because it would be limited to providing direct access to publisher buys, but not provide yield management tools and partners.