Publisher Monetization Research Group Establishes Japan Publisher Alliance on Digital to Launch Private Marketplaces Powered by PubMatic

Premium Japanese publishers will offer PMP inventory to advertisers through PubMatic’s revenue management platform, SEVEN

TOKYO – PubMatic, the automation solutions company for an open digital media industry, announced that the “Publisher Monetization Research Group” (PMRG), of which PubMatic is a member, has established the “Japan Publisher Alliance on Digital” (J-PADTM), an alliance of Japanese and international publishers allowing brands to access a highly desirable audience through exclusive Private Marketplace (PMP) inventory via PubMatic’s revenue management platform, SEVEN.

“The publishers involved in J-PAD will be able to realize the benefits of PMP deals available in an environment that is attractive to advertisers, thereby increasing the value of our inventory whilst delivering against our buyers needs.”

Initially, J-PAD will launch with six of Japan’s premium publishers as founding members, including AFPBB News, Forbes JAPAN, JBpress, Mediagene, Perform Group, and Toyo Keizai.

The Japanese digital advertising market has been expanding over the past several years. Expenditures for performance-based advertising1 amounted to ¥622.6 billion (Y2Y up 21.9%)2. However, the low CPMs in Japan indicate that digital advertising is still very much seen as a direct response mechanism. PubMatic’s internal research3 shows that Japanese CPMs are only about one third of those in the US.

The growth of PMP and establishment of premium publisher alliances such as J-PAD should create an environment for more branding budgets to be spent programmatically, thereby increasing the value that advertisers place on programmatic advertising, and in turn provide Japanese publishers with the higher returns that their global peers attract. J-PAD will launch as part of an effort to rectify the imbalance in the Japanese market by building a scalable solution that addresses the needs of both marketers and publishers in the region.

“J-PAD will provide a solution for marketers and media buyers to programmatically access the sought after audiences of some of Japan’s most premium publishers in a transparent, seamless and efficient manner. This will negate the need to set up multiple campaigns whilst at the same time delivering the reach that will fulfill large scale campaigns,” said Ryuji Yokoyama, Chairperson of PMRG and CEO of Digital Intelligence Inc.

Mr. Tatsuki Serizawa, a board member of PMRG and CSO of Mediagene Inc. said, “The publishers involved in J-PAD will be able to realize the benefits of PMP deals available in an environment that is attractive to advertisers, thereby increasing the value of our inventory whilst delivering against our buyers needs.”

J-PAD is powered by PubMatic’s comprehensive revenue management platform, SEVEN, thus creating a programmatic environment in which publishers and media buyers have the ability to take advantage of multiple trading mechanisms such as PMP and PMP-G with the added support of real-time analytics and viewability tools.

“We are honored to be the technology partner for this important initiative in Japan’s digital media industry and to facilitate the growth of programmatic advertising in the world’s third largest digital advertising market. We firmly believe in maintaining an open and transparent digital media industry and are looking forward to the benefits J-PAD will offer to our publisher and advertiser partners,” said Jason Barnes, VP APAC, PubMatic.

This announcement comes at a time of significant growth for PubMatic, which recently reported that it is cash flow positive following its third year of profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis in 2015. For more information on PubMatic or its revenue management platform, SEVEN, visit www.PubMatic.com.

1Performance-based advertising refers to advertising methods that utilize platforms to process vast amounts of data for the automatic or instantaneous optimization of advertising. Typical examples include search engine advertising and certain ad networks, as well as the recently developed DSPs, ad exchanges and supply-side platforms. Performance-based advertising does not include ad-space sales, tie-up ads or affiliate advertising.

2Dentsu: Advertising Expenditures in Japan 2015

3Q1 Research by PubMatic Inc.

About Publisher Monetization Research Group (PMRG)

The Publisher Monetization Research Group (PMRG), which PubMatic sponsors, was established in April 2015 for Japanese publishers with the goal of providing opportunities to share their knowledge and know-how, utilizing their own assets effectively and establishing their position in the market. The PMRG has been led by its board members consisting of the chairperson, Ryuji Yokoyama who is CEO of Digital Intelligence Inc. and representatives of Japanese premium publishers and PubMatic.

About PubMatic

PubMatic is the automation solutions company for an open digital media industry. Featuring the leading omni-channel revenue automation platform for publishers and enterprise-grade programmatic tools for media buyers, PubMatic’s publisher-first approach enables advertisers to access premium inventory at scale. Processing nearly one trillion ad impressions per month, PubMatic has created a global infrastructure to activate meaningful connections between consumers, content and brands. Since 2006, PubMatic’s focus on data and technology innovation has fueled the growth of the programmatic industry as a whole. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, PubMatic operates 11 offices and six data centers worldwide.

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