Magnite becomes first sell-side partner for Acxiom data activation

Magnite announced an industry-first integration with Acxiom on August 21, 2025, establishing the independent sell-side advertising company as Acxiom's first programmatic partner for sell-side data activation. The partnership enables advertisers to activate first-party data and Acxiom's third-party data directly through Magnite's platform to enhance addressable buying capabilities.

According to Magnite, initial testing demonstrates that this streamlined approach to data activation helps reduce costs and aids in eliminating unnecessary fees. This development ultimately helps maximize ad spend that goes toward working media while maintaining competitive performance across streaming and omnichannel environments.

The integration leverages Magnite's market-leading position in connected television supply. According to Jounce Media, Magnite maintains 99% of CTV supply coverage and 96% of overall omnichannel supply coverage. In streaming television specifically, Magnite reaches 92 million US ad-supported streaming television households, positioning the company as the dominant access point for streaming inventory.

Technical Implementation and Sell-Side Advantages

Activating through Magnite enables buyers to access greater sell-side insights, including advanced forecasting and increased match rates due to Magnite's direct relationships with publishers. By layering audiences on the sell-side via deal IDs, Acxiom clients can purchase Acxiom pre-filtered inventory through their demand-side platform of choice.

According to Martin Wexler, EVP Partnerships at Acxiom, "Bringing together Acxiom's vast and trusted data services with Magnite's access to unique streaming inventory presents advertisers with a turn-key activation point." Wexler emphasized that Magnite's proximity to inventory helps drive improved match rates and reduces signal loss, enabling advertisers to activate with precision and augment performance across streaming and omnichannel media.

The sell-side activation structure differs significantly from traditional buy-side data activation approaches. Instead of layering data at the demand-side platform level, this integration applies audience targeting directly at the supply source. This proximity to inventory sources reduces the technical steps between data application and ad serving, potentially improving match rates and reducing data degradation that typically occurs through multiple technical handoffs.

Commercial Efficiency and Cost Reduction

The new activation pathway addresses growing concerns about fee accumulation in programmatic advertising. According to Kristen Williams, SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Magnite, "By opting for sell-side activation of their data-driven advertising campaigns, advertisers can tap into commercial efficiencies, differentiated data insights from streaming publishers, and further tailor their addressable strategy with Acxiom's data."

Jean Fitzpatrick, EVP Commercial Strategy at IPG Mediabrands, highlighted the practical benefits: "The differentiated structure offered by Magnite and Acxiom empowers us to more effectively plan and measure the outcomes of our ad campaigns. By simplifying activation and reducing fees, we can drive more dollars toward working media and deliver greater value for our clients."

The fee reduction occurs through the elimination of intermediary data activation costs. Traditional programmatic workflows often require separate data management platform fees, audience segment licensing fees, and technical integration costs. The direct sell-side integration consolidates these functions, reducing the total cost of audience activation.

Publisher and Supply-Side Implications

The integration affects how publishers monetize their streaming inventory through data-enhanced advertising. Mike Evans, Head of Sales, U.S. at LG Ad Solutions, explained the publisher perspective: "LG Ad Solutions brings together premium smart TV inventory and industry-leading TV data to help brands reach audiences with greater precision and scale. The Magnite and Acxiom integration complements these efforts by giving advertisers a streamlined path to activation, which ensures more media dollars reach real viewers and delivers measurable outcomes across every screen."

For streaming publishers, the integration provides enhanced yield opportunities through improved advertiser targeting capabilities. When advertisers can apply sophisticated audience data directly at the supply source, they typically demonstrate higher willingness to pay premium rates for inventory that meets specific targeting criteria.

Data Activation Context in Streaming Advertising

The partnership arrives during a period of significant transformation in streaming advertising data strategies. Recent developments in programmatic CTV demonstrate growing advertiser demand for sophisticated targeting capabilities in streaming environments. Connected TV viewership has reached historic levels, with streaming representing 44.8% of television viewership as of May 2025, according to Nielsen data.

Magnite's market position in CTV advertising has strengthened through technological advances and strategic partnerships. The company recently merged its ad server with SSP capabilities to streamline connections between publishers and advertisers, reducing technical complexity in streaming advertising workflows.

The integration addresses challenges that advertisers face in streaming environments, where traditional web-based targeting approaches often prove insufficient. Streaming viewing occurs in household-level environments with shared devices, requiring different data activation strategies compared to individual device targeting common in mobile and desktop advertising.

Industry Context and Market Positioning

Acxiom operates as the connected data and technology foundation of the Interpublic Group of Companies, unifying, connecting, and preparing data for AI-driven marketing and decision-making. The company brings a privacy-first approach to serving clients globally, with locations spanning the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, China, Poland, and Mexico.

Magnite positions itself as the world's largest independent sell-side advertising company. Publishers use the company's technology to monetize content across all screens and formats including CTV, online video, display, and audio. The world's leading agencies and brands utilize Magnite's platform to access brand-safe, high-quality ad inventory and execute billions of advertising transactions monthly.

The timing of this integration reflects broader industry movements toward first-party data strategies and privacy-compliant advertising approaches. Recent programmatic advertising growth data shows 72% of marketers planning to increase programmatic investment in 2025, with Connected TV budgets projected to double from 14% to 28% of total media spending.

Technical Architecture and Implementation

The integration utilizes Magnite's existing publisher relationships and technical infrastructure to enable data activation at the point of inventory availability. This approach differs from traditional data management platform architectures that apply audience targeting after inventory selection.

The sell-side data activation occurs through Magnite's supply-side platform, which connects directly to publisher ad servers and content delivery systems. When inventory becomes available for auction, Acxiom's data segments can be applied in real-time to determine which advertisers should have access to specific impressions based on audience criteria.

This technical approach potentially improves match rates because data application occurs closer to the actual content viewing event. Traditional buy-side activation requires matching audience segments to inventory after publishers make impressions available through programmatic auctions, which can result in data degradation and reduced match accuracy.

Market Implications for Advertisers

The partnership creates new opportunities for advertisers seeking more efficient access to streaming television audiences. Streaming advertising market growth projections suggest that connected television advertising will surpass traditional linear television within three years, making efficient access to streaming inventory increasingly critical for advertisers.

For agencies managing large-scale campaigns across multiple streaming platforms, the integration provides a centralized activation point for Acxiom data. This consolidation can reduce operational complexity and technical integration requirements compared to managing separate data activation relationships with individual publishers or demand-side platforms.

The cost reduction benefits become particularly significant for advertisers running large-scale campaigns where data licensing and activation fees represent substantial budget components. By reducing the technical layers between data application and ad serving, the integration can potentially improve return on advertising spend for data-driven campaigns.

Timeline

• August 21, 2025: Magnite and Acxiom announce direct integration for sell-side data activation
• July 23, 2025: Dentsu expands Magnite partnership for CTV advertising across EMEA markets
• June 16, 2025: Snowflake and Acxiom announce plans to transform AI marketing infrastructure
• May 10, 2025: Magnite hits growth targets as CTV thrives with 15% Connected TV revenue growth
• May 2, 2025: Magnite announces next generation SpringServe platform combining ad server with SSP capabilities
• April 12, 2025: Samsung Ads and Magnite expand partnership for enhanced audience addressability
• March 9, 2025: Magnite dominates CTV market with 99% supply coverage according to Jounce analysis

PPC Land explains

Sell-Side Data Activation: The process of applying audience targeting data directly at the publisher or supply-side platform level, rather than at the demand-side platform. This approach enables data application closer to the inventory source, potentially improving match rates and reducing technical complexity. Sell-side activation represents a shift from traditional buy-side data strategies, offering advertisers more direct access to targeted inventory while reducing intermediary costs.

Connected Television (CTV): Internet-enabled television devices that stream digital video content without traditional cable or satellite infrastructure. CTV represents the fastest-growing segment of digital advertising, with viewership reaching 44.8% of total television consumption as of May 2025. The platform enables household-level targeting while maintaining the premium viewing environment associated with television screens, making it attractive for both advertisers and content creators.

Supply-Side Platform (SSP): Technology infrastructure that enables publishers to manage, sell, and optimize their advertising inventory programmatically. SSPs connect publishers to multiple demand sources including ad exchanges, demand-side platforms, and ad networks. These platforms provide publishers with tools for yield optimization, audience insights, and revenue management while maintaining control over which advertisers can access their inventory.

Match Rates: The percentage of advertising impressions where audience targeting data successfully identifies and matches the intended viewer demographics or behavioral characteristics. Higher match rates indicate more effective data application and targeting accuracy. Match rates affect campaign performance because unsuccessful matches result in broader, less targeted advertising delivery, potentially reducing return on investment for data-driven campaigns.

Addressable Buying: Advertising purchasing strategies that enable targeting specific households or individual viewers rather than broad demographic groups. This approach uses data to identify and reach precise audience segments across different content and platforms. Addressable buying contrasts with traditional television advertising, which targets broad demographic categories without household-level precision.

Working Media: The portion of advertising budgets that directly purchases media inventory, excluding fees, data costs, technology charges, and agency commissions. Maximizing working media means reducing the percentage of budget consumed by intermediary costs and technical fees. Higher working media percentages indicate more efficient media buying, with more dollars reaching actual advertising placement rather than supporting infrastructure costs.

First-Party Data: Information collected directly by companies from their own customers or website visitors, including email addresses, purchase history, website behavior, and demographic information provided by users. This data type has become increasingly valuable as privacy regulations restrict third-party data collection. First-party data provides the foundation for personalized marketing while maintaining consumer privacy compliance.

Deal IDs: Unique identifiers used in programmatic advertising to facilitate private marketplace transactions between specific buyers and sellers. Deal IDs enable publishers to offer inventory to select advertisers at predetermined prices or targeting parameters. This system provides more control over inventory monetization compared to open auction environments while maintaining programmatic efficiency.

Streaming Television: Digital video content delivered over internet connections to television screens, including services like Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount+. Streaming television has fundamentally transformed media consumption patterns, with viewership surpassing traditional broadcast and cable television combined. The format enables more sophisticated advertising targeting and measurement compared to traditional linear television advertising.

Data Activation: The technical process of applying collected audience data to advertising campaigns for targeting, personalization, and optimization purposes. Data activation involves connecting customer information, behavioral data, and demographic insights to advertising delivery systems. Effective data activation requires integration between data management platforms, advertising technology, and content delivery systems to ensure accurate audience targeting.

Summary

Who: Magnite, the largest independent sell-side advertising company, and Acxiom, the connected data and technology foundation for leading brands owned by Interpublic Group.

What: Industry-first direct integration enabling sell-side data activation, allowing advertisers to activate first-party and third-party data directly through Magnite's platform to enhance addressable buying while reducing costs and maximizing working media spend.

When: Announced on August 21, 2025, with initial testing already demonstrating cost reduction and fee elimination benefits.

Where: The integration affects streaming and omnichannel advertising across Magnite's network, which reaches 92 million US ad-supported streaming television households and maintains 99% CTV supply coverage.

Why: To address growing concerns about fee accumulation in programmatic advertising, improve match rates through proximity to inventory, reduce signal loss, and enable more efficient data-driven advertising campaigns in the expanding streaming television market.