• by Ray Schultz , June 19, 2023

Over 100 publishers have signed on to Yahoo Backstage, a service that will provide Yahoo demand-side platform advertisers with “a direct line to our premium publisher partners," says Elizabeth Herbst-Brady, chief revenue officer at Yahoo. 

The new program was announced on the first day of Cannes. 

Similar to TTD’s OpenPathYahoo, Backstage will enable publishers to integrate directly with the Yahoo DSP while providing advertisers with “unobstructed supply path” to curated premium content, Herbst-Brady says. The service will be available to Yahoo DSP advertisers in Q3 2023.

The publishers that have already joined include A+E Networks, Dotdash Meredith, Newsweek, Raptive, The Arena Group, and VIZIO. 

The new offering supports transparency and supply path optimization, Yahoo adds.

“The ad industry has reached a tipping point for transparency, driving a shift towards more efficient supply paths,” says Sam Bloom, CEO of Camelot Strategic Marketing & Media. “Yahoo’s strong publisher relationships - specifically in the CTV space - bring critical scale and reach to SPO.”

"As the role of publisher data, context, and ID integrations take a larger role in driving tomorrow's performance, we believe working closer with publishers can only benefit marketers," adds Lara Koenig, Global Head of Product at MiQ. "We're excited to add Yahoo Backstage to our partner set, building on our agnostic ad-buying approach to deliver the best possible results for advertisers." 

Publishers will gain direct access to quality demand through a streamlined pipeline, Yahoo says. 

Yahoo Backstage solidifies Yahoo’s “position as a trusted partner, and we are excited about the prospects it brings to publishers like us,” says Tom Grainger, director of programmatic at A+E Networks.