OpenX vs PubMatic

OpenX Names John Rogers SVP of Global Publisher Development

OpenX, the advertising technology company, has appointed John Rogers as Senior Vice President of Global Publisher Development. Rogers will lead the company's global publisher development strategy, focusing on strengthening relationships with publishers and driving growth. He brings extensive experience in the ad tech industry, having previously held senior roles at major platforms. This appointment is part of OpenX's broader commitment to enhancing its supply-side offerings and supporting publisher partners.

• OpenX appoints John Rogers as SVP of Global Publisher Development.
• Rogers to lead global publisher development strategy.
• Appointment announced on 2026-10-01.

Givsly Extends AI Values-Based Audiences to Political Advertising

Givsly, a values-based marketing company, announced its AI-driven audience discovery solution is now available for political advertising. The offering uses Values-Based Audiences, built with a vector methodology that combines values, inferred motivations, and behavioral signals at ZIP code level, rather than individual-level voter files. Political campaigns and PACs can segment communities based on more than 150 tracked values and issues, overlay their own voter files, turnout models, or CRM data, and aim to reduce wasted media spend. The audiences will initially be available through OpenX and Index Exchange via Index Marketplaces, with a broader rollout planned. Givsly says the solution uses aggregated, modeled signals rather than individually identifiable voter data.

• Givsly announced availability of its AI-driven Values-Based Audiences for political advertising.
• Audiences are modeled at the U.S. ZIP code level using aggregated AI modeling rather than individual voter files.
• The offering supports more than 150 tracked values, issues, and cultural signals.

OpenX CTO Joel Meyer Named Prebid.org Chairman

Prebid.org has appointed OpenX CTO Joel Meyer as its new chairman after he served as interim chair following recent leadership departures. In May, Prebid’s president Mike Racic, chairman Garett McGrath and product director Christian Janelli left the organization. Meyer, a board member since 2023 who also sits on the IAB Tech Lab board, said his immediate priority is hiring a new Prebid president ahead of the Prebid Summit on October 13. Prebid is focusing on helping publishers navigate revenue and traffic declines driven by AI search and new agentic ad-selling tools, while remaining protocol-agnostic and supporting standards such as AgenticAdvertising.org’s AdCP. Meyer emphasized maintaining Prebid’s open-source, neutral role to preserve transparency and collaboration across buyers and sellers as the programmatic ecosystem adapts to agentic and LLM-driven changes.

• Joel Meyer, OpenX CTO, was appointed chairman of Prebid.org after serving as interim chair.
• In May, Prebid’s president Mike Racic, chairman Garett McGrath, and director of product management Christian Janelli left the organization.
• Prebid aims to hire a new president in time for the Prebid Summit in New York on October 13, 2026.

2026 AdExchanger Awards Gala Honors Industry Best

The 2026 AdExchanger Awards Gala, held in New York City, celebrated excellence in advertising and ad tech, honoring organizations, technologies, and leaders across programmatic media, commerce media, CTV, identity, measurement, AI, and ad tech. Winners included People Inc., PubMatic, DoorDash, Magnite, and Index Exchange. The event took place in conjunction with Programmatic I/O New York and featured a live audience vote for the 'People's Programmatic Pick,' won by Mike Richter of Unplugged Collective. The gala recognized breakthrough technologies, data-driven campaigns, and visionary leadership, setting a standard for performance and innovation in the industry.

• The 2026 AdExchanger Awards Gala was held on September 29, 2026, in New York City.
• Winners included People Inc., PubMatic, DoorDash, Magnite, and Index Exchange.
• Mike Richter of Unplugged Collective won the People's Programmatic Pick award.

The Media Shop and PubMatic Launch Southeast Asia’s First Agentic Luxury Campaign

Press Release, September 30, 2026: The Media Shop and PubMatic launch Southeast Asia's first agentic luxury campaign.

PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel on Agentic Buying and Cutting Complexity

In an interview with ExchangeWire, PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel discussed the company's evolution from an SSP to a broader platform, focusing on reducing ad tech complexity and empowering publishers and advertisers through agentic buying. Goel highlighted three pillars: Activate, for direct buyer-SSP transactions; Agentic OS, a suite of 20+ AI agents; and Decision Fabric, which allows agencies and DSPs to run algorithms within PubMatic's infrastructure. He emphasized that AI agents will surpass human traders in accuracy, with governance and reasoning mechanisms for oversight. Goel predicts that agent-to-agent buying will shift power to publishers and advertisers, the 'principals', rather than technology platforms. The company reported 4,000 publisher-created deals using AI year-to-date through Q2.

• PubMatic CEO Rajeev Goel was interviewed by ExchangeWire at ATS London.
• PubMatic has three pillars: Activate, Agentic OS, and Decision Fabric.
• Activate has been in-market for about four years, with hundreds of advertisers using it.