The $220 million sale to $IAS

Ben Antier delves into the world of internet-connected TVs (CTV), explaining how ads are served on smart TVs and whether these devices personalize ads by tracking user behavior. He discusses the impact of COVID on TV consumption trends and explores the potential for TV advertising to become more accessible for startups. Ben also touches on the possibility of user-generated ad content appearing on major platforms and the future of advertising in a post-cookie world.

In the days when TVs were "dumb", everyone tuned into the same content. Today, the TV watching experience is highly personalized, including the ads. This realization led Ben Antier and Cedric Tournay to start Publica, an advertising platform for smart TVs that was acquired by Integral Ad Sciences ($IAS) for $220 million in 5 years since inception.