Magnite last week opened its first office in Spain and appointed Gadea Rodriguez Fernandez as Commercial Director for the market, marking the independent supply-side platform's commitment to programmatic advertising growth in Southern Europe. The Madrid location provides dedicated in-market expertise as connected television, online video, and omnichannel formats accelerate adoption across Spanish advertisers and publishers.

Rodriguez Fernandez joins Magnite from PubMatic, where she most recently served as Director, Advertiser Solutions, building strategic relationships with brands and advertisers across the Spanish market. Her appointment positions Magnite to accelerate demand-side partnerships with leading media agencies and holding companies driving programmatic expansion across channels, according to the company's announcement on February 5, 2026.

The Madrid office reinforces Magnite's long-term commitment to supporting local clients throughout Southern Europe. Rodriguez Fernandez brings more than 10 years of experience in media and advertising across senior roles in both global and regional organizations, establishing an industry network positioned to shape the company's next chapter in Spain.

"Spain is a key growth market for Magnite as programmatic adoption accelerates across CTV, online video, and omnichannel formats," stated Julie Selman, SVP Head of EMEA at Magnite. "Gadea brings deep expertise of the local ecosystem alongside a strong track record of leadership, making her ideally placed to shape our next chapter."

Strategic expansion into high-growth European market

Spain's digital advertising landscape represents substantial opportunity for programmatic infrastructure providers. The Madrid office enables Magnite to compete more effectively against both established platforms and emerging players across a market where programmatic adoption continues accelerating alongside broader European trends.

Rodriguez Fernandez emphasized the strategic timing of her appointment. "I've long admired Magnite as a driving force in the Spanish market, and its leading technology offering presents a compelling opportunity to drive success for advertisers," she commented. "I'm excited to join the company at such a pivotal moment to help take its impact in Spain to the next level as programmatic continues to evolve."

The appointment builds on Magnite's expansion throughout 2025, when the company exceeded expectations across key metrics as Connected TV advertising continued driving growth for the independent sell-side advertising platform. Magnite reported contribution ex-TAC of $166.8 million during third quarter 2025, representing 12% year-over-year growth, with CTV contribution ex-TAC reaching $75.8 million and marking 18% growth.

Spain's significance within Magnite's European strategy reflects broader industry developments documented across programmatic advertising infrastructure. European markets have demonstrated increasing demand for granular location targeting as publishers seek to optimize local campaign performance while maintaining privacy compliance under GDPRframeworks and regulatory requirements.

PubMatic background positions new director for success

Rodriguez Fernandez's tenure at PubMatic provided direct experience with the competitive dynamics facing independent supply-side platforms. PubMatic exceeded Q3 2025 expectations with $68 million in revenue and 50% CTV growth when excluding political advertising, significantly outpacing market rates.

Her role as Director, Advertiser Solutions at PubMatic involved developing strategic relationships with top-tier brands and advertisers specifically within Spanish markets. This experience translates directly to Magnite's objectives of accelerating demand-side partnerships across Spain, working closely with leading media agencies and holding companies to drive programmatic growth.

The transition from PubMatic to Magnite positions Rodriguez Fernandez within a larger independent platform maintaining broader market coverage. Magnite maintains 99% coverage of the connected television supply market according to Jounce Media's March 2025 Supply Path Benchmarking Report, positioning it as the dominant force in programmatic CTV advertising with direct partnerships including Netflix, Roku, and Warner Bros.

Rodriguez Fernandez will report directly to Selman, who oversees Magnite's entire EMEA operations. This reporting structure provides direct access to regional leadership while enabling coordination across Magnite's existing Southern European operations.

Her more than 10 years of experience spans multiple senior roles across both global and regional organizations. Earlier in her career, Rodriguez Fernandez served as Credit Analyst at DuPont from May 2010 through October 2011, handling strategic customers' accounts and managing payment terms alongside account reconciliation responsibilities. These financial analysis capabilities complement her advertising technology expertise.

Technology infrastructure supporting Spanish expansion

Magnite's Madrid office launch coincides with substantial technology developments across the company's platform capabilities. The company unified curation and activation within its ClearLine platform on October 1, 2025, bringing together curation and activation capabilities into a unified solution.

The ClearLine platform operates on the same infrastructure as Magnite's SpringServe, the company's video platform with ad serving and programmatic capabilities. This architectural approach enables curated campaigns to execute closer to the impression, delivering higher data fidelity, reduced signal loss, and stronger return on ad spend for advertisers working with Spanish publishers.

Magnite built seller agent capabilities into SpringServe during December 2025, testing AI-driven advertising transactions with Scope3 as buyer agent partner. The seller agent allows publisher partners to engage in Ad Context Protocol tests, modernize one-to-one buying methods through automation, collaborate with emerging buyer agents, and participate in defining the agentic advertising category.

These technology capabilities provide Rodriguez Fernandez with sophisticated tools for demonstrating Magnite's platform advantages to Spanish media agencies and holding companies. The infrastructure addresses growing complexity in programmatic advertising as industry leaders debate curation's real impact and seek more efficient paths between advertisers and audiences.

Magnite launched Live Scheduler on November 18, 2025, establishing a standardized framework for how media owners and advertisers transact on live streaming content. The solution addresses operational challenges that have complicated live event monetization across fragmented streaming environments, enabling Spanish publishers to better monetize sporting events and entertainment programming.

Competitive landscape across Spanish programmatic market

The Madrid office positions Magnite to compete more effectively across Spain's programmatic advertising ecosystem. Google Ad Manager expanded postal code targeting support to Spain on June 16, 2025, expanding geographic advertising capabilities across the significant European market and enabling publishers and advertisers to target specific postal code areas.

Spanish streaming platforms face competition from international services operating across European markets with substantial technology investment and global content libraries. Local publishers must demonstrate competitive advertising capabilities to retain Spanish advertiser budgets that might otherwise shift to international platforms offering more sophisticated targeting and measurement capabilities.

IAB Spain set standardized parameters for connected television bid requests during early 2026, establishing technical guidelines enabling consistent programmatic transactions across Spanish streaming platforms. The initiative addresses connected television infrastructure challenges through industry collaboration, providing reference specifications for publishers, supply-side platforms, and advertising technology companies operating in Spanish streaming markets.

Spain's harmonization guide acknowledges connected television's dynamic nature by committing to periodic revisions incorporating technical innovations and addressing emerging ecosystem needs. This adaptive approach recognizes that streaming technology continues developing rapidly, creating new advertising formats, measurement capabilities, and distribution models requiring parameter adjustments to maintain standardization effectiveness.

Uber opened Journey Ads inventory to programmatic buyers across 10 European markets including Spain during June 2025, expanding programmatic buying capabilities through partnerships with Google's Display & Video 360 and The Trade Desk. The expansion reflects intensifying competition in mobility advertising and demonstrates how major advertisers increasingly expect programmatic access across multiple channels.

Industry partnerships and publisher relationships

Magnite's expansion into Spain enables deeper relationships with local publishers adopting programmatic monetization strategies. JCDecaux returned to Barcelona with a 10-year street furniture contract during November 2025, deploying 1,450 street furniture elements including 640 digital screens across the Catalan capital.

Barcelona's digital screens support programmatic advertising capabilities, allowing brands to deliver targeted messages based on timing, location, and contextual factors. JCDecaux's VIOOH supply-side platform connects to 46 demand-side platforms across 24 countries, facilitating automated advertising transactions that Magnite can participate in through its extensive omnichannel coverage.

Spanish outdoor advertising market share remains below European and global averages despite the country being the second most visited destination globally after France, creating opportunity for programmatic infrastructure expansion. The Barcelona contract expands JCDecaux's Spanish footprint to more than 30,000 displays strategically located in 25 of the country's 30 largest cities.

Rodriguez Fernandez's focus on accelerating demand-side partnerships positions Magnite to work more closely with agencies planning campaigns across both traditional digital channels and emerging formats including digital out-of-home. Her role involves identifying which Spanish advertisers would benefit most from Magnite's extensive supply coverage and sophisticated targeting capabilities.

The Madrid office provides physical presence enabling more frequent in-person meetings with media agencies, holding companies, and individual advertisers exploring programmatic options. This local presence addresses relationship-building expectations common across Southern European business culture, where personal connections often influence technology platform selection decisions.

Connected television growth driving Spanish opportunity

Spain represents a key growth market as connected television viewing patterns shift alongside broader European trends. Nielsen data from July 2025 indicated streaming officially eclipsed the combined share of broadcast and cable television for the first time in the United States, with similar patterns emerging across European markets including Spain.

This viewing migration creates pressure on traditional television infrastructure to adopt capabilities standard in streaming environments. Advertisers have grown accustomed to programmatic buying processes, precise targeting options, and detailed performance measurement through digital channels. Extending these capabilities to television inventory requires technical standardization enabling automated transactions while maintaining premium quality and brand safety characteristics.

Magnite's technology infrastructure addresses these requirements through its SpringServe platform, which combines connected television ad serving with supply-side platform capabilities. Spanish publishers adopting SpringServe gain access to Magnite's extensive demand relationships while maintaining control over inventory pricing and advertiser access through private marketplace deals and programmatic guaranteed transactions.

Magnite rolled out pause ads for streaming TV with DIRECTV, DISH Media, and Fubo during August 2025. The advertisement format appears when viewers pause content, creating engagement opportunities during natural viewing interruptions without disrupting the content experience when playback resumes.

Spanish streaming platforms could deploy similar innovative advertising formats through Magnite partnerships, providing differentiated inventory to advertisers seeking high-attention moments. Rodriguez Fernandez's role includes educating Spanish media agencies about these capabilities while identifying which publishers would benefit most from implementing advanced advertising formats.

Retail media and commerce opportunities

Rodriguez Fernandez's appointment positions Magnite to pursue retail media opportunities across Spanish market participants. Best Buy partnered with Magnite during September 2025 as exclusive supply-side platform and curation partner to expand programmatic access to advertising inventory.

The Best Buy partnership demonstrated how retail media networks can leverage Magnite's infrastructure to provide agencies and demand-side platforms with programmatic access to retailer customer data and advertising opportunities. Spanish retailers exploring retail media strategies could adopt similar approaches, enabling programmatic access to onsite and offsite inventory through Magnite's platform.

Spanish retailers handle substantial customer interactions across online, in-store, and mobile touchpoints. Programmatic access to this inventory through standard platforms reduces operational complexity for agencies managing multiple retail partnerships, while enabling retailers to monetize customer attention more effectively than traditional direct sales approaches.

Rodriguez Fernandez's background building strategic relationships with brands positions her to identify which Spanish retailers would benefit from retail media infrastructure. Her role involves explaining how programmatic access expands advertiser reach beyond existing direct sales relationships while maintaining control over pricing and brand safety through private marketplace structures.

Magnite's SpringServe technology enables programmatic access to curated inventory through deal IDs, addressing fragmentation challenges that have hindered retail media growth. Brands working with multiple retail media networks can access Spanish retail inventory through the same programmatic interfaces used for other channels, simplifying campaign management.

Artificial intelligence capabilities supporting growth

Magnite's technology roadmap includes substantial artificial intelligence capabilities that Rodriguez Fernandez can demonstrate to Spanish advertisers and publishers. The company acquired streamr.ai on September 9, 2025, bringing AI-powered tools that streamline CTV creative generation and campaign setup.

The streamr.ai acquisition addresses complexity and cost barriers that have historically bottlenecked small and medium-sized business access to television advertising opportunities. Magnite will offer streamr.ai's technology to ecosystem partners working with SMB clients, including agencies, retail media networks, publishers operating buyer marketplaces, and demand-side platforms.

Spanish small and medium-sized businesses represent substantial advertising opportunity constrained by minimum spending requirements and complex campaign setup processes typical of television advertising. The AI-powered creative tools enable users to generate video advertisements and launch them on CTV platforms in under two minutes, representing significant reduction in traditional creative development timelines.

Rodriguez Fernandez's focus on demand-side partnerships includes identifying which Spanish agencies would benefit from offering AI-powered creative capabilities to their SMB clients. This technology democratizes connected television advertising access, enabling regional Spanish advertisers to compete for streaming inventory previously accessible only to national brands with substantial production budgets.

Magnite partnered with deep learning firm Cognitiv on January 6, 2026, integrating advanced deep learning capabilities into ClearLine. The partnership gives media buyers enhanced methods to plan, test, and activate custom curated deals while unlocking dynamic access to premium video inventory.

These AI capabilities enrich the bidstream for Spanish buyers seeking to optimize omnichannel campaigns against desired key performance indicators. The integration builds upon Magnite's October 2025 evolution of ClearLine, which unified curation and activation capabilities into a single platform with plans to integrate AI assistance and agentic workflows.

Programmatic guaranteed and private marketplace strategies

Rodriguez Fernandez's role includes educating Spanish media agencies about programmatic guaranteed and private marketplace transaction types that provide inventory certainty while maintaining programmatic efficiency. These deal structures address specific advertiser requirements that real-time bidding cannot fully satisfy, particularly for campaigns requiring guaranteed impressions or exclusive access to premium inventory.

Magnite's platform supports multiple transaction types ranging from open auction real-time bidding to programmatic guaranteed deals with predetermined pricing and inventory allocation. Spanish publishers can offer premium inventory through private marketplaces, providing selected advertisers with preferential access while maintaining higher CPMs than open exchange transactions.

The Madrid office enables Rodriguez Fernandez to conduct in-person training sessions explaining these deal structures to agency trading desks and media planning teams. Spanish agencies managing campaigns across multiple advertisers benefit from understanding when programmatic guaranteed deals provide superior outcomes compared to real-time bidding, particularly for brand campaigns requiring specific placement guarantees.

Magnite's ClearLine platform streamlines deal creation and management, enabling buyers and curators to define deal terms, pricing, and targeting directly. Spanish publishers can package deals using first and third-party audiences available through Magnite Access, the company's data and audience solution, providing differentiated targeting capabilities beyond standard programmatic segments.

Regional sales structure and reporting relationships

Rodriguez Fernandez reports directly to Julie Selman, who serves as SVP Head of EMEA for Magnite. This reporting structure provides coordination across Magnite's existing European operations while enabling Rodriguez Fernandez to build Spanish market expertise specific to local advertiser and publisher requirements.

Selman emphasized Rodriguez Fernandez's qualifications during the appointment announcement. "Her appointment, together with the opening of our Madrid office, indicates our ongoing commitment to supporting clients across the region," Selman stated. The dual emphasis on both physical office presence and experienced leadership demonstrates Magnite's strategic approach to European market development.

The Madrid office represents Magnite's first location in Spain, distinguishing it from competitors with existing Spanish operations. The company's decision to establish dedicated office space rather than managing Spanish relationships remotely from other European locations demonstrates commitment to long-term market development.

Rodriguez Fernandez's responsibilities extend beyond immediate sales targets to include market education about programmatic advertising capabilities. Her role involves identifying barriers preventing Spanish publishers from adopting programmatic monetization while demonstrating how Magnite's technology addresses these concerns through transparency, control, and revenue optimization.

The appointment timing coincides with substantial industry momentum around programmatic infrastructure development across European markets. Rodriguez Fernandez benefits from joining during a period when connected television adoption accelerates, retail media networks expand programmatically, and AI capabilities transform campaign setup and optimization processes.

Implications for marketing professionals

The Madrid office opening provides Spanish marketing professionals with direct access to Magnite's extensive connected television and omnichannel supply coverage. Agencies planning campaigns across streaming platforms benefit from working with platform representatives understanding local market dynamics, advertiser requirements, and publisher relationships.

Magnite's 99% coverage of connected television supply market positions Spanish advertisers to reach audiences across virtually all major streaming platforms through a single demand-side platform relationship. This coverage reduces operational complexity compared to establishing direct relationships with individual publishers while providing consistent reporting and measurement across campaigns.

Spanish publishers evaluating supply-side platform partnerships gain access to Magnite's technology infrastructure including SpringServe ad serving, ClearLine curation and activation, and AI-powered optimization capabilities. The Madrid office provides local support for implementation, training, and ongoing optimization that remote relationships cannot match.

The appointment demonstrates continued consolidation within independent supply-side platform market, where Magnite and PubMatic represent the two largest independent players. Rodriguez Fernandez's transition from PubMatic to Magnite reflects competitive dynamics where talent acquisition signals strategic market priorities.

Spanish marketing professionals should monitor how Magnite's local presence influences programmatic advertising adoption across publishers previously relying on direct sales. The Madrid office reduces barriers to programmatic implementation by providing in-market technical support, training resources, and relationship management that accelerates publisher onboarding timelines.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Magnite, the largest independent sell-side advertising company, appointed Gadea Rodriguez Fernandez as Commercial Director for Spain. Rodriguez Fernandez joins from PubMatic, where she most recently served as Director, Advertiser Solutions. She brings more than 10 years of experience in media and advertising across senior roles in global and regional organizations. Rodriguez Fernandez reports to Julie Selman, SVP Head of EMEA at Magnite.

What: Magnite opened its first office in Spain located in Madrid. The office provides dedicated, in-market expertise for supporting local clients. Rodriguez Fernandez will focus on accelerating demand-side partnerships across Spain, working closely with leading media agencies and holding companies to drive programmatic growth across channels. The appointment coincides with technology developments across Magnite's platform including ClearLine curation, SpringServe ad serving, and AI-powered optimization capabilities.

When: Magnite announced the Madrid office opening and Rodriguez Fernandez appointment on February 5, 2026. Rodriguez Fernandez began her Commercial Director role in January 2026 following her tenure at PubMatic from April 2021 through February 2026, where she progressed from Associate Director to Director of Advertiser Solutions.

Where: The office is located in Madrid, Spain, representing Magnite's first physical presence in the Spanish market. The location enables Rodriguez Fernandez to build relationships with Spanish media agencies, holding companies, publishers, and advertisers throughout the market. Spain represents a key growth market for Magnite as programmatic adoption accelerates across connected television, online video, and omnichannel formats.

Why: The Madrid office and Rodriguez Fernandez appointment reflect Magnite's long-term commitment to Southern Europe as programmatic advertising adoption accelerates. Spain demonstrates substantial opportunity for programmatic infrastructure providers as connected television viewing patterns shift and advertisers seek more sophisticated targeting and measurement capabilities. Magnite maintains 99% coverage of the connected television supply market according to independent analysis, positioning the company to capture growing Spanish demand for programmatic access to streaming inventory. Rodriguez Fernandez's expertise building strategic relationships with brands and advertisers across the Spanish market positions Magnite to accelerate demand-side partnerships with leading media agencies and holding companies.

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