Publica
Publica is a CTV advertising technology platform providing unified auction, server-side ad insertion, and ad podding tools to streaming publishers, broadcasters, and TV manufacturers. Wholly owned by Integral Ad Science since August 2021, it serves 6+ billion ads monthly.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersPalo Alto, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Publica firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Publica
- Legal name
- Publica LLC
- Website
- https://getpublica.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Publica is a CTV advertising technology platform providing unified auction, server-side ad insertion, and ad podding tools to streaming publishers, broadcasters, and TV manufacturers. Wholly owned by Integral Ad Science since August 2021, it serves 6+ billion ads monthly.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Publica industry classification
Industry- Product category
- CTV Ad Tech / Programmatic Advertising Platform
- NAICS
- Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Connected TV (CTV) & OTT Performance Advertising (BPAFACAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Enterprise/Creator Video Hosting & OTT SaaS Platforms (MPACAAAL)
Keywords
Where Publica is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Palo Alto
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices6 records
Markets served
Publica business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- CTV Ad Serving and Technology Fees: Fees calculated based on number of impressions processed and analyzed. The company's reporting and usage statistics are determinative for billing purposes. This is the primary revenue stream from providing the ad server and unified auction platform to publishers.
- Platform Services and SSAI: Subscription-based access to the platform including ad server, unified auction tools, server-side ad insertion, and reporting capabilities. Fees set forth in Order agreements with customers.
- Programmatic Transaction Fees: Revenue from facilitating programmatic transactions through the Platform Connect marketplace, enabling publishers to access buyers and sell inventory. Company collects fees from inventory sales on behalf of publishers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Monthly | Enterprise subscription based on impression volume and feature set |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | Platform Connect managed service for audience extension |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Publica product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Publica provides a connected TV (CTV) advertising platform consisting of an ad server and unified auction engine that enables streaming publishers, broadcasters, TV manufacturers, and vMVPDs to monetize CTV and OTT inventory. The platform combines server-side ad insertion (SSAI), ad podding, audience management, campaign management, and unified reporting with AI-powered ad recognition (Elea AI) to deliver server-side video header bidding at scale.
Product overview
Publica is a CTV advertising technology platform offering a unified platform-plus-modules architecture. The core product is the Publica CTV Ad Server, which provides unified auction, server-side ad insertion (Ad Stitching/SSAI), campaign management, audience management, unified reporting, ad podding, inventory split, and Elea AI capabilities. The platform targets three customer segments through dedicated solution packages: CTV Channels, Virtual MVPDs (TV Service Providers/Manufacturers), and Web/Mobile Publishers. Additional add-on modules include Platform Connect (audience extension), Contextual Segment Manager, and Live Logs. Publica serves over 6 billion ads on CTV monthly and is owned by Integral Ad Science (IAS). Notable capabilities include AI-powered ad recognition via Elea AI and integrations with LiveRamp, IRIS.TV, 15 pre-integrated video SSPs, and the IAS Signal dashboard.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Elea ai: AI-powered ad recognition intelligence that identifies advertisers running programmatic ads, ensuring optimal ad deduplication and frequency capping for seamless CTV ad experiences.
Quantifiable outcome
- Increased Programmatic Revenue by +60%
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Publica
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Publica technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability5 records
Feature9 records
Publica partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AtresmediacorePublica provides CTV unified auction solution for Atresmedia, the leading broadcaster in Spain. Enables unified auction for premium streaming advertising inventory across Atresmedia's platforms.
- Platform Connect EcosystemcoreAudience extension platform enabling publishers to deploy audience extension strategies at scale without individual buyer and seller contracts. Publishers can become buyers or sellers within the Publica ecosystem accessing trusted sellers and scaled buyer access.
- ANTHYM TechnologiescorePartnership to power advanced ad tech and manage inventory of ANTHYM's robust coalition of CTV applications and FAST networks. Combines ANTHYM's content aggregation capabilities with Publica's ad decisioning technology.
- Samsung AdscoreSamsung Ads selected Publica to power CTV ad serving and enhance its streamed content with traditional TV-like viewing experience. Publica enables Samsung to create advanced CTV ad breaks and run unified auctions.
- Hearst TelevisioncorePublica provides SSAI and unified auction services for Hearst Television to enhance streamed content with traditional TV-like viewing experience while maximizing revenue.
- Integral Ad Science (IAS)coreIAS acquired Publica to accelerate the next evolution of its publisher business and build a global addressable CTV ad platform. Publica operates as a subsidiary of IAS (NASDAQ: IAS) while maintaining its brand and leadership.
- LiveRampcoreExpanded partnership bringing increased audience targeting capabilities to CTV publishers and advertisers. Publica is connected to the LiveRamp datastore enabling publishers to leverage segments from any third party data providers on the market. The unique integration enables activation of first and third party audience segments across Connected TV devices.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Publica competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- LiveRamp: LiveRamp is a data connectivity platform and Publica's key audience data integration partner. While not a direct competitor, LiveRamp's role in CTV identity and audience activation is closely tied to Publica's audience management capabilities and represents an important ecosystem relationship.
Broad incumbents
- MediaMath: MediaMath operates a demand-side programmatic platform with terminalOne ad serving capabilities. While primarily buy-side, it has overlap with Publica in the broader CTV programmatic ecosystem and competes for technology stack share within publisher budgets.
- Pubmatic: PubMatic is a sell-side ad platform offering header bidding and programmatic monetization tools for digital and CTV video publishers. It overlaps with Publica in the unified auction and SSP integration space, with greater scale but broader focus beyond CTV.
- Magnite: Magnite is the largest independent sell-side advertising platform, formed through the merger of Rubicon Project and Telaria, with CTV as a strategic focus. It operates an SSP plus ad server stack that overlaps with Publica's publisher-side monetization offerings while serving a broader market.
- Google Ad Manager: Google Ad Manager is the dominant digital ad serving platform, increasingly extending into CTV video. While not CTV-specialized, it competes with Publica for publisher ad serving budgets and benefits from bundled demand and measurement integrations within Google Ads.
Direct peers
- Innovid: Innovid provides independent ad serving, measurement, and creative personalization technology for CTV and digital video. It competes with Publica in delivering ad serving and analytics to streaming publishers and broadcasters across CTV.
- SpringServe: SpringServe is a video ad serving platform acquired by Magnite, providing unified auction, header bidding, and ad podding for OTT and CTV publishers. It competes head-to-head with Publica in serving AVOD/FAST streaming services and broadcasters with comparable programmatic video capabilities.
- FreeWheel: FreeWheel, owned by Comcast, provides video ad serving and monetization technology for premium publishers across linear TV, CTV, and digital video. It is the most direct competitor to Publica, serving similar broadcasters and streaming publishers with comparable unified auction and SSAI capabilities.
Regional players
- Hulu (Ad Platform): Hulu operates its own CTV ad serving and monetization stack for its streaming platform in the US. While primarily a content owner, its ad tech capabilities represent an in-house alternative that competes with Publica for publisher ad serving mindshare in the US market.
Emerging players
- Beeswax (acquired by FreeWheel): Beeswax offered a bidder-as-a-service platform for video and CTV publishers with customizable auction logic. Now part of FreeWheel, it represents a comparable technical approach to Publica's unified auction and serves as a historical competitor in advanced programmatic auction capabilities.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Publica social profiles
Digital presencePublica financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Publica leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Publica funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Publica M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Publica
What does Publica do?
Publica provides a connected TV (CTV) advertising platform consisting of an ad server and unified auction engine that enables streaming publishers, broadcasters, TV manufacturers, and vMVPDs to monetize CTV and OTT inventory. The platform combines server-side ad insertion (SSAI), ad podding, audience management, campaign management, and unified reporting with AI-powered ad recognition (Elea AI) to deliver server-side video header bidding at scale.
Is Publica a public or private company?
Publica is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Publica founded?
Publica was founded in 2016. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Publica based?
Publica is headquartered in Palo Alto, United States, in the North America region.
How does Publica make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. CTV Ad Serving and Technology Fees are the primary driver. The others are platform Services and SSAI and programmatic Transaction Fees.
Who are Publica's main competitors?
LiveRamp is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are MediaMath, Pubmatic, Magnite and Google Ad Manager. Direct peers are Innovid, SpringServe and FreeWheel. Hulu (Ad Platform) is listed as a regional player. Beeswax (acquired by FreeWheel) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Publica have an API?
No public API is recorded for Publica.
What industry is Publica in?
Publica's product category is CTV Ad Tech / Programmatic Advertising Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFACAG, Connected TV (CTV) & OTT Performance Advertising, with a secondary code of MPACAAAL, Enterprise/Creator Video Hosting & OTT SaaS Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5418 and its SIC code is 7310.