Samsung Ads and Publica extend CTV partnership

Publica by IAS and Samsung Ads announced on September 30, 2025, the renewal of their exclusive global partnership. The extended collaboration continues powering premium connected TV advertising experiences across Samsung TV Plus, which began its initial partnership in 2022.

The announcement comes as connected TV advertising spending approaches $33.35 billion in 2025, with 72% of marketers planning increased programmatic investment. CTV budget allocation has doubled from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025.

Samsung TV Plus delivers free, ad-supported streaming content. The service currently reaches 88 million monthly active users globally, according to Samsung's expansion announcements earlier in 2025. Recent launches in Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand have extended the platform's geographic footprint.

Technical infrastructure

Publica's platform provides advanced ad serving capabilities that enable granular controls for precise targeting and optimization. Each ad break delivers what appears as natural content interruption while maintaining digital advertising precision.

The system employs slot-level targeting through smart ad pod decisioning. Advertisers can specify first-pod placement or secure category exclusivity within ad breaks. These capabilities help brands maximize impact while managing frequency across viewer sessions.

Unified auctions form another core component. All demand sources compete in a single, transparent auction environment. This approach drives revenue for publishers while ensuring fair access for buyers across programmatic channels.

Server-side ad insertion handles tiering, deduplication, and competitive separation functions. The technology maintains relevance while delivering smooth viewing experiences comparable to traditional linear television.

James Wilhite, VP of Product at Publica by IAS, emphasized infrastructure priorities in previous statements about publisher partnerships. The company has consistently focused on helping publishers maximize programmatic monetization while maintaining quality standards.

Programmatic expansion

The partnership provides programmatic access to Samsung TV Plus inventory through standard buying interfaces. Marketers can extend reach across diverse content including live channels and on-demand programming.

Campaign planning benefits from increased confidence and flexibility. Buyers maintain control over frequency and placement while accessing household-level targeting capabilities unavailable in traditional television environments.

The infrastructure supports performance-driven access to premium inventory. Transparent auction dynamics enable buyers to understand true market pricing while publishers optimize yield across direct and programmatic demand sources.

Samsung Ads operates across multiple global markets. The platform launched in the United States in 2015 and now serves North America, Latin America, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and India.

Joe Melaragno, Head of Channel Sales at Samsung Ads, described the technological collaboration with supply-side platforms as instrumental for programmatic monetization improvements. Custom technology development has resulted from these partnerships.

Market context

The renewal reflects broader industry patterns. Connected television has emerged as the fastest-growing advertising channel, with 56% of global marketers planning spending increases in 2025.

Technical standardization challenges have emerged as significant barriers. Industry experts from major streaming platforms including Samsung, Paramount, NBC, DirectTV, Fox, Disney, and Yahoo examined limitations during IAB Tech Lab workshops in August 2025.

Six critical technical barriers were identified: lack of standardized advanced ad formats, complex live event advertising requirements, missing universal conversion API standards, creative ID framework adoption challenges, inadequate metadata and taxonomy systems, and unclear CTV inventory ownership structures.

The partnership addresses some of these challenges through established technical protocols. Publica's purpose-built CTV technology creates what executives describe as a foundation for the next era of streaming.

Programmatic curation has gained momentum as buyers seek supply chain transparency. Industry leaders compared curation's impact to header bidding's transformation of digital advertising markets during recent conference discussions.

Business implications

Samsung Ads experienced double-digit percentage gross revenue growth from 2023 to 2024 on supply-side platforms, according to partnership announcements with Magnite. The Magnite Streaming SSP facilitated this expansion through technical collaboration.

The company controls the largest single source of TV data in the U.S. market, obtained with user consent. This data infrastructure supports advertising solutions at scale across the intelligent connected audience platform.

Samsung TV Plus launched across Southeast Asia in late 2024. Programmatic advertising became available in Singapore, Thailand, and Philippines for the first time in January 2025. The service provides instant access to live TV channels spanning entertainment, news, movies, and additional categories.

Seven in ten TV viewers already watch ad-supported streaming content in Southeast Asian markets, according to Samsung Ads regional management statements. The FAST service gives advertisers new methods to reach these audiences as consumption patterns shift.

Industry adoption patterns

Multiple platforms have established CTV partnerships throughout 2025. LinkedIn launched CTV Ads in April 2024, targeting B2B marketers across publishers including Samsung Ads, Paramount, and Roku.

Criteo and WPP Media announced commerce-driven CTV activation in July 2025, piloting with Roku, Samsung, and Scripps. The integration merged real-time commerce signals with programmatic CTV capabilities.

Creative adaptation challenges persist. Research published in July 2025 revealed 72% of marketers reuse or slightly modify assets across social media and connected TV platforms. Only 25% develop tailored creative for both channels.

Production challenges present significant barriers. The cost of producing multiple creative variations ranks as the top challenge for 47.3% of marketers. Budget constraints for high-quality CTV creative affect 41.4% of respondents.

Measurement developments

IAS has expanded measurement capabilities across CTV environments. The company launched a CTV dashboard in January 2022, providing advertisers with transparency on device, app, channel, genre, content category, and rating information.

The platform delivers real-time media quality alerts based on adjustable risk thresholds for campaign KPIs. Publishers receive access to metrics across invalid traffic and video completion rates within IAS Signal.

IAS achieved the first Ethical Artificial Intelligence Certification from the Alliance for Audited Media in July 2025. The certification establishes precedent for responsible AI implementation as the industry processes billions of daily interactions.

The global media measurement platform analyzes up to 280 billion interactions daily through AI-powered models. IAS leverages artificial intelligence for prediction, decisioning, protection, and targeting across products including Total Media Quality, Quality Attention, and Fraud Solutions.

Future trajectory

The renewed partnership signals continued innovation focus in a fast-evolving marketplace. Streaming adoption continues accelerating while new ad formats emerge across platforms.

Samsung Ads and Publica maintain commitment to delivering tools, data, and flexibility that advertisers require for global audience connections. The collaboration strengthens relationships that monetize video programming across CTV inventory more effectively.

Audiences expect CTV to feel as smooth as traditional television. The underlying infrastructure powered by programmatic technology must meet this expectation without sacrificing performance capabilities.

Advertisers gain transparent, performance-driven access to premium inventory. Viewers receive free, high-quality content with ad experiences designed to feel natural and unobtrusive within streaming environments.

The partnership demonstrates that premium, ad-supported streaming can deliver value for publishers, advertisers, and audiences simultaneously. Technical sophistication enables business outcomes while maintaining viewer experience quality.

Timeline

• 2022: Samsung Ads launches demand-side platform enabling advertisers to buy video ads across linear TV, CTV, and mobile/desktop
• 2022: Publica and Samsung Ads begin exclusive global partnership
• January 2022: IAS launches CTV dashboard where advertisers can see live data for real-time insights
• April 2024: LinkedIn debuts CTV Ads including Samsung Ads in publisher network
• January 2025: Magnite expands programmatic advertising on Samsung TV Plus in Southeast Asia
• April 2025: Samsung Ads and Magnite expand partnership focused on enhancing audience addressability
• July 2025: Criteo and WPP Media launch commerce-driven CTV activation piloted with Samsung
• July 2025: IAS receives Ethical AI Certification from Alliance for Audited Media
• August 2025: IAB Tech Lab identifies critical CTV advertising standards gaps at workshop
• September 30, 2025: Publica by IAS and Samsung Ads renew exclusive global CTV partnership

Summary

Who: Publica by IAS, a connected TV advertising technology platform, and Samsung Ads, the advertising division of Samsung Electronics

What: Renewal of exclusive global partnership to power premium connected TV advertising experiences across Samsung TV Plus, utilizing advanced ad serving, smart ad pod decisioning, unified auctions, and server-side ad insertion

When: Announced September 30, 2025, extending collaboration that began in 2022

Where: Global markets including North America, Latin America, Europe, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and India, reaching 88 million monthly active Samsung TV Plus users

Why: To strengthen programmatic monetization capabilities, maintain seamless viewer experiences, provide transparent performance-driven inventory access for advertisers, and deliver tools for the next era of streaming as CTV spending approaches $33.35 billion in 2025