PubMatic selected as X’s supply side platform

Singapore – Global adtech company PubMatic has been selected by social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, as its supply side platform (SSP), which has been announced by PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel during the company’s latest earnings call for its third quarter.

“We are particularly excited to launch advertising with X, formerly known as Twitter, which serves more than 335 million users. Historically, X had only accessed social media ad budgets. They selected PubMatic as an SSP partner, opening up their traditionally closed ecosystem to tap into the 26 billion in open internet native display and video ad spend,” Goel said during the earnings call.

It is worth noting that prior to Musk’s takeover of the company, the social media platform never opened up its ad inventory to outside vendors, and instead brokered deals with advertisers directly.

Goel remarked during the earnings call that there is an increasing trend amongst social media companies to extend their offerings outside of their traditional ones.

“Another vector for our long-term growth includes social media companies entering the open internet arena, as they expand their ad businesses outside of their own walled gardens. To do this, they need solutions to help them monetise their audiences, curate their inventory, and access open internet ad budgets,” he said.

The announcement signals Elon Musk’s objective to woo advertisers back into the platform. Earlier this year, X had reached an agreement with Unilever regarding partnership in the platform. It should be noted that Unilever was one of the companies included in X’s advertising boycott lawsuit back in August that also included the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), Mars, CVS Health, and Ørsted.

Elon Musk has a complicated history with advertisers, as he once told them to “go f— yourselves” back in November 2023, citing that advertisers are blackmailing him with advertiser money. 

This tone changed when he was confronted by WPP CEO Mark Read Theatre during a discussion at Cannes Lions 2024. In it, he clarified that his previous remarks weren’t targeted to advertisers as a whole and also agreed that advertisers have a right to appear next to content that they find compatible with their brands.