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PubMatic Partners with Internews to enable ad investment in quality journalism on a global scale
Mumbai: PubMatic (Nasdaq: PUBM), an independent technology company delivering digital advertising’s supply chain of the future, has today announced a partnership with Internews, an international non-profit supporting independent media in over 100 countries. The partnership makes advertising across responsible content accessible on a global scale, allowing brands to embrace news-encompassing marketing strategies that produce social impact, and economic returns and enable them to reach and gain affinity with more customers.
The partnership is underpinned by Internews’ Ads for News Initiative, which employs in-country media experts to vet local news websites, ensuring the quality of supply. This non-profit work is conducted globally, using extensive evaluation criteria including the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) brand safety and suitability standards.
Via PubMatic, the quality news sites and domains vetted by Ads for News, can be accessed directly through a local market inclusion list, private marketplaces (PMPs) or a package of inventory against a biddable price.
Leveraging leading-edge technologies from both companies, the collaboration will include integration with the upcoming Internews-led Media Viability Accelerator initiative, enabling PubMatic to access a wealth of insights and pull curated lists of trusted media into its own systems according to specific content thematics such as gender, environment and health news and information.
This partnership aims to instil confidence in buying responsible news, making it easier for advertisers to buy media against content quality criteria and credible news sources to support quality journalism. With over 14,000 vetted, quality online news publishers, in 54 international markets, the initiative’s scale of supply is unmatched in the industry.
“A thriving, open internet must be based upon an ecosystem that is built to deliver positive outcomes for everyone. PubMatic is committed to both responsible operations and supporting responsible media, “said Eric Bozinny, Senior Director, Marketplace Quality at PubMatic. “Quality journalism is vital to the health and well-being of our society – more so today than ever. Top tier brands have made a strong commitment towards supporting credible news sources via their advertising activities, but they must be able to do so with the utmost confidence that their budgets are going toward quality, brand-safe outlets and coverage.”
Internews’ Chris Hajecki, Director of Ads for News, said “Brands and their agency partners are investing more responsibly and evolving their old ways of working. One of these evolutions is towards the inclusion of quality journalism in media planning— particularly as more brand safety assurances are now on offer. Supporting quality journalism is a pillar of responsible ad investing and results in more sustainable and transparent supply chains, higher economic returns for advertisers, and positive impacts on society.”
MAM
Madison World to launch AI platform M BrAIn for media planning
Agency group invests about $1 million as it shifts to AI driven growth planning.
MUMBAI: If media planning once ran on spreadsheets and gut instinct, the next chapter may run on algorithms and curiosity. Madison World is preparing to roll out the first version of its proprietary artificial intelligence platform Madison M BrAIn in early April, as the independent agency group accelerates its transition toward AI driven planning and product led media services.
The platform, expected to involve an investment of around $1 million, is designed to reshape how the agency approaches strategy by combining internal knowledge, external data sources and advanced AI models into a single intelligence ecosystem.
According to Madison Media, OOH and Hiveminds partner and group CEO Ajit Varghese the initiative forms part of a larger structural rethink within the organisation. “Traditionally agencies built frameworks around media planning and allocation. We are redesigning that structure into what we call a Growth Planning System (GPS),” Varghese said.
The shift reflects a growing belief that effective media strategy must begin earlier in the decision making process. Instead of jumping directly to channel allocation, planners must first decode the market itself identifying consumer barriers, purchase triggers and the core challenges facing a brand.
Once those insights are mapped, agencies can build clearer growth agendas for clients and design media strategies that connect more closely with business outcomes.
To support that approach, Madison has built Madison M BrAIn as what it describes as a human AI cognitive ecosystem. Acting as a central intelligence hub, the platform aggregates proprietary insights alongside external data sources and large language models, enabling planners to access deeper market intelligence before building campaign strategies.
Varghese said one of the core objectives is to democratise knowledge across the organisation. “In the past, this level of understanding was largely available to senior leaders or experienced strategists. With Madison M BrAIn, even a junior planner should be able to access the same intelligence and approach clients with a far more informed perspective,” he said.
The agency has already implemented the new planning philosophy internally and completed three months of testing for the AI platform, with early trials showing encouraging results in terms of learning capability and system performance.
While the first version relied on global large language models, Madison is now developing its own proprietary Small Language Model (SLM) to serve as the core of the M BrAIn ecosystem.
“The SLM will be able to read global LLMs, but the LLMs cannot read the SLM,” Varghese explained. “That ensures all the intelligence we build remains within the Madison ecosystem and strengthens our proprietary knowledge base.”
The first version of Madison M BrAIn is expected to go live in early April, with a more refined version targeted by the end of June. Over time, the platform will integrate additional external data streams and APIs including consumer insight platforms, social listening tools and client datasets.
These integrations are expected to enhance the system’s learning capability and enable it to generate increasingly sophisticated strategic recommendations.
Although the platform is currently being deployed for internal use, Madison sees potential for it to evolve into a licensable product in the future.
“At the moment, our focus is to stabilise and strengthen M BrAIn internally. But over time there is potential for this to become a product that could be licensed externally,” Varghese said.
The AI platform is also part of a wider technology transformation underway at the agency group. Alongside M BrAIn, Madison is building a broader digital infrastructure called the Catalyst operating system, which aims to integrate operational processes, data and product platforms into a unified ecosystem.
This broader technology stack could require an additional $1 million to $1.5 million investment over time, though spending will be phased and reviewed regularly.
“We are evaluating progress every three months and prioritising the most critical capabilities first,” Varghese said.
Madison expects the full AI and operating ecosystem to be fully functional within 12 to 18 months, positioning the agency to combine human strategy with machine intelligence as the advertising industry enters its next data driven phase.
