Stagwell Acquires Freestar's Publisher Ad Monetization Technology and Services
TLDR
Stagwell is acquiring Freestar's publisher monetization technology and services business, which will sit within its Owned Media division; financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal, announced Oct. 26, moves Stagwell further into selling the media its agencies buy for advertisers, and Digiday notes it raises transparency questions, similar to Publicis Groupe's purchase of LiveRamp. Stagwell is buying Freestar's technology and services business rather than the publishers in its network, and the financial terms were not disclosed.
How we got here
- Oct 26Stagwell acquires Freestar to integrate publisher ad sales into its Owned Media unit
Stagwell has acquired Freestar, a programmatic ad-sales platform serving publishers like Fortune and Boston Globe Media, to integrate it into its Owned Media unit.
- Oct 25NBCUniversal Set to Acquire FreeWheel, Raising Conflict-of-Interest Questions for Rival Publishers
NBCUniversal is reportedly acquiring FreeWheel, the ad server used by rival publishers, drawing questions about potential conflicts of interest.
- Oct 20Prebid presents vision for open-internet ad tech independent of Google
Prebid, a non-profit ad-tech organization, outlined plans to reduce publisher and independent ad-tech reliance on Google's dominance in the sell-side auction.
- Oct 13Starling launches as connected TV SSP addressing show-level data gap for marketers
Starling has launched as a connected TV SSP aimed at solving the show-level data problem CTV marketers face.