Think Political. Think PubMatic.
Objective
The 2024 U.S. presidential election cycle represented a significant, time-sensitive revenue opportunity — and PubMatic was positioned to capture it, but only if the right teams moved fast and in the same direction. The goal was straightforward: capture incremental political revenue, build the infrastructure to do it at scale, and deliver results before the window closed.
#ThinkPolitical was the campaign built to make that happen: a creatively-led, cross-functional initiative designed to establish PubMatic as the premium destination for political advertisers, particularly in the high-value swing states where the election — and the spend — would be won or lost.
Strategy
Swing State Focus — Where the Spend Was Going
Nearly 88% of political advertising spend between October 10 and November 5 concentrated in a handful of key swing states — and the campaign was built around that reality. State-specific landing pages with tailored copy went live for Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Montana, alongside a unified All Swing States page for buyers working across markets.
Auction packages were aligned to swing state audiences, with hyper-targeted voter segments built around suburban women, young Latino voters, and independent voters. Key issue topics — taxation, inflation, housing, abortion, immigration, and healthcare — were tagged and mapped to inventory for precision targeting at the local level.
CTV and online video inventory was prioritized throughout, with direct partnerships across Paramount+, Roku, Hulu, and Amazon Fire TV giving political buyers access to premium, brand-safe environments. AI-powered tools — including CCM and PubMatic's own creative intelligence layer — handled political ad classification and inventory transparency, giving buyers the confidence to spend at scale.
A Purpose-Built Ecosystem for Political Buyers
The campaign wasn't just a landing page and a brief — it was a full infrastructure build. A robust data partner ecosystem spanning voter data, contextual intelligence, and audience targeting gave buyers the depth they needed to go beyond broad strokes and reach specific voter segments with precision. Alongside that, a suite of purpose-built tools — for creative management, creative approval, and inventory discovery — gave both buyers and publishers the guardrails to run brand-safe and electorally responsible campaigns without sacrificing performance.
A dedicated Political Advertising Playbook, produced as a thought leadership asset, rounded out the offering — giving the market a guide to navigating political advertising at every stage of the cycle, and positioning PubMatic as a knowledgeable partner, not just a platform.
Go-to-Market — The Right People in the Right Places
The campaign had a dedicated political seller based in Washington, D.C., making direct inroads with political agencies and establishing PubMatic's presence in the market where decisions were being made. Political AO deals were set up with StackAdapt, Yahoo, Simpli.fi, and others. On the events front, PubMatic sponsored and presented at the Reed Awards in Charleston and the Pollies in Florida — both high-credibility forums for political advertising — with a focus on AI's role in the cycle. Cross-functional alignment across teams meant the campaign had organizational muscle behind it.
2026 Sizzle for Agentic AI-Powered Political Ad Buying & Decisioning
Impact
$100M in political spend for the 2024 election cycle: The number that mattered most. PubMatic cleared $100M in political spend (IAB-11) for the full 2024 cycle — confirmed in January 2025 after reconciling previously unclassified spend. On Election Night, the tally was tracking at approximately $95M; the final number crossed the threshold once December figures and roughly 10% of unclassified spend were accounted for. A landmark result, and a direct outcome of moving fast with the right infrastructure in place.
A key revenue driver in a competitive year: Political advertising was a significant contributor to PubMatic's H2 2024 performance, helping offset headwinds elsewhere. Total 2024 revenues grew 9% year-over-year — more than double the 2023 growth rate — with CTV revenue more than doubling and reaching 20% of total revenue by Q4. Adjusted EBITDA grew 23% year-over-year in FY 2024.
Activate ranked #1 for political inventory delivery: PubMatic's Activate platform emerged as the top-performing DSP for political inventory — validating both the product and the go-to-market approach built around it.
Infrastructure built to last beyond one cycle: The landing pages, auction packages, targeting segments, and cross-functional playbook built for 2024 didn't get shelved after Election Day. By early 2026, PubMatic was already tracking ahead of plan in political spend with strong performance in states with early primaries, validating the localized race strategy. The 2026 midterms are projected to surpass 2022 in political ad spend. The groundwork is already laid, and we continue to build on the momentum with a sizzle introducing our Agentic AI capabilities.
