You need to know this:

• US$1.17 billion deal will make Magnite the main indie player in a major growth market.
• Australian market set to triple within three years.
• Magnite also working with independent adtech alliance to develop post-cookie ID solution.

Magnite is aiming for a bigger slice of the video and connected TV advertising market, striking a US$1.17 billion deal for fellow video ad server SpotX.

Magnite last year became the world’s largest indie sell-side platform on the back of the merger between Rubicon Project and CTV specialist Telaria.

Aiming to conclude the cash plus stock deal in Q2, it will become the biggest independent CTV and video advertising platform.

In Australia, PwC predicts ad-supported broadcast video on demand could become a $640m market within three years, almost triple current ad dollars.

Globally, big TV advertisers are flocking to CTV in a bid to combine brand building reach with digital measurement. As such, Magnite reported 50% CTV revenue growth in its most recent quarterlies, which COO Katie Evans described as “just the beginning of the tipping point”.

The combined company will work with video majors including Discovery, Disney/Hulu, Electronic Arts, Fox, fuboTV, Microsoft, Newsy, Philo TV, Pluto TV, Roku, Samsung, Sling TV, Tubi, ViacomCBS, Vizio, Vudu, WarnerMedia and Xumo.

Locally Magnite works with the likes of Seven West Media, which last week signed up to use its technology to bring together direct and programmatic demand.

Meanwhile, the firm is aligned with other independent platforms including The Trade Desk on a post-cookie ID system as the ad industry faces a privacy pinch from regulators around the world.

That threat, compounded by major browser and app tracking changes planned by Google and Apple, will have major implications for the current digital ad ecosystem over the next 12 months.