Publica and Samsung Ads Announce Next Phase of Dynamic Partnership: A Q&A With Publica’s Cameron Mille and Joe Melaragno of Samsung Ads
Publica by IAS, the leading Connected TV ad server for publishers and smart TV manufacturers, has announced the next phase of its multi-year global partnership with Samsung Ads, the advanced advertising division of Samsung Electronics.
Through this collaboration, Publica enables Samsung Ads to enhance its ad-supported service offering with a seamless, TV-like viewer experience while more effectively monetizing video programming across CTV inventory.
In this Q&A, Cameron Miille, Chief Revenue Officer of Publica, and Joe Melaragno, Head of Channel Sales, Samsung Ads, discuss the details of this new phase and its unique elements.
Publica by IAS CRO Cameron Miillie (left), Samsung Ads Head of Channel Sales Joe Melaragno (right)
This announcement is the next phase of your multi-year global partnership with Samsung Ads. On a broad level, how does this new phase build upon and improve previous versions of this partnership?
Cameron Miille: What’s exciting about this next phase is that it really builds on the foundation we’ve established with Samsung Ads since 2020. Together, we’ve already introduced greater transparency, flexibility, and seamless linear-like ad experiences that advertisers and viewers have come to expect from Samsung TV Plus.
Through this renewal, we’re combining Samsung Ads’ massive global reach with Publica’s award-winning ad server and unified auction technology. Advertisers gain tools like unified auctions, smart ad pod decisioning, and linear TV-like ad breaks.
This partnership has always been about creating a win-win-win: more opportunities for publishers, stronger outcomes for advertisers, and better experiences for audiences. Extending our exclusive global collaboration shows that we’re not just maintaining that standard but redefining how premium, ad-supported streaming can drive revenue through performance-driven outcomes on a global scale.
Joe Melaragno: This next phase of our partnership with Publica strengthens our long-standing collaboration by advancing our ability to deliver a more seamless, scalable, and impactful CTV advertising experience.
Since 2020, Publica has enabled Samsung Ads to run demand-agnostic, unbiased ad serving across Samsung TV Plus, helping to power the rapid and global growth of our offering. Now, with expanded capabilities like advanced pod decisioning, comprehensive alternative ID support, and more robust APIs, we’re entering a new era of yield optimization, audience precision, and ad break quality at a global scale.
What are some unique ways that Samsung Ads is leveraging Publica’s ad server and unified auction technology to drive yield, maximize CTV ad revenue, and deliver a superior customer viewing experience?
Cameron Miille: Samsung Ads has really leaned into our ad server and unified auction technology to increase revenue and maximize yield. Our technology enables Samsung Ads to optimize their ad breaks more effectively by allowing all demand sources to compete fairly in a single auction. Samsung Ads is also using our smart ad pod decisioning to give advertisers options like first-pod placement or category exclusivity, helping advertisers maximize impact and manage frequency. From a viewer's perspective, the result is ad breaks that feel more natural and polished, for a more seamless experience that feels as smooth as traditional television.
Joe Melaragno: Samsung Ads leverages Publica’s platform to integrate our supply side platform (SSP) and demand side platform (DSP) partners into a single, unified auction, ensuring buyers get access to our premium CTV video inventory in a fair way, regardless of their path to purchase.
This enables us to optimize pricing and yield, which maximizes streaming ad revenue on Samsung TV Plus, so we can reinvest in more of the high-quality content viewers enjoy. Additionally, Publica as our centralized ad platform allows us to deliver a superior viewing experience without duplicate ads and honoring competitive separation to prevent ad fatigue. These capabilities are particularly important for Samsung TV Plus, the world’s #1 FAST service with over 3,500 channels globally and 88 million monthly active users.
Could you discuss the technology behind the OpenRTB 2.6 framework, which allows Samsung Ads to present inventory more accurately and run a controlled, unified auction?
Cameron Miille: OpenRTB 2.6 is the updated industry standard for programmatic CTV auctions, introducing features like dynamic pod bidding, precise slot descriptions, and revenue per second, a key metric in yield management. For Samsung Ads, that means greater control over how ad pods are structured, which is critical for ensuring competitive separation and effective frequency management. When combined with our unified auction, every slot can be sold in a transparent and efficient way.
Joe Melaragno: OpenRTB 2.6 gives us a standardized framework to signal inventory details with greater precision, ensuring buyers can bid confidently and effectively. With Publica’s implementation, Samsung Ads presents CTV inventory in a unified way that reflects real-time context, viewer engagement, and pod structure.
OpenRTB2.6 also allows Samsung Ads to request a full ad pod from our programmatic partners which leads to improved efficiency and higher win rates for buyers. These all enable us to better manage frequency, maintain auction fairness, and increase demand density, all while providing advertisers with deeper transparency and control.
What are a few of the specific granular controls that will provide advertisers with a way to optimize and deliver a linear TV-like experience? How will this experience differ from linear viewing in the sense of creating digital transparency and precision?
Cameron Miille: Advertisers now have access to granular controls like first-pod placement, category exclusivity, competitive separation, and frequency management. These are the kinds of levers that make ad breaks feel like traditional TV, but with a digital layer of precision. Unlike linear, which is known for a broad reach with inventory purchased at the national level, the addressable nature of CTV delivers highly targeted personalized ads to specific households.
How does Publica’s seamless intelligent ad pod construction work to improve user engagement and retention? In what ways has this increased engagement and retention been measured over time to show improvement?
Cameron Miille: Publica’s intelligent ad pod construction works by creating seamless, linear TV-like ad breaks that keep the experience smooth for viewers. Features like deduplication, competitive separation, and greater brand suitability control mean that pods are curated in a way that feels natural and unobtrusive, which helps improve overall engagement and retention.
When ad breaks are built to respect the viewer, audiences stay engaged longer and are more likely to come back, which drives measurable outcomes for advertisers while maximizing inventory value. CTV’s targeting is a significant leap forward from the broad-based demographic targeting of traditional TV advertising. This evolution has given advertisers greater control over who they reach, while consumers see more relevant ads that drive engagement, and more importantly, outcomes.
Joe Melaragno: It ensures ad breaks mimic the natural pacing of linear TV, but with added intelligence—like de-duplicating creatives, enforcing competitive separation, and respecting viewer fatigue. Repeat ads both within and across streaming apps are one of consumers’ top complaints.
Our unique data, combined with Publica’s capabilities, enable us to serve ads to limit duplicated reach. We have developed our Optimal Reach product specifically to solve for this and empower advertisers to reach viewers they have not yet reached in linear or streaming. For Samsung Ads, this has translated into stronger viewer retention across ad breaks, increased session length, and greater overall satisfaction. We have seen these results consistently reflected in our platform metrics, including time spent on Samsung TV Plus and user return rates across FAST channels.
Related Articles
The latest findings from BrightLine show that consumers are engaging with shoppable CTV ads differently and more intentionally—favoring rich, interactive formats like carousels and branded destinations. In this Q&A with Joshua Blum, Director of Research & Analytics at BrightLine, he delves into further detail about their recent findings and how platforms can adapt their shoppable TV experiences to adjust to these new behaviors.
01 Jul 2025
At IAB NewFronts 2025, Samsung Ads kicked off a suite of announcements, including the debut of STN, the Samsung Television Network, along with unveiling a bold lineup of interactive and innovative, data-driven solutions, including Optimal Reach, GameBreaks, Performance Conversion, and Data+. In this Q&A, Travis Howe, Global Head of New Product Solutions, discusses the details of these new offerings and how they will uniquely benefit advertisers and viewers.
22 May 2025
Samsung TV Plus Unveils Exclusive New FAST Partnerships with the Jonas Brothers, Spotify, and Top Creators Mark Rober and Dhar Mann/ New Suite of Action-Oriented, Data-Driven Solutions Reinvents the TV as a Performance-Driven Powerhouse.
06 May 2025
The community-driven entertainment company Trusted Media Brands (TMB) recently made its popular FAST channel, "At Home with Family Handyman," available on Samsung TV Plus. Jill Goldfarb, SVP of streaming at TMB, discusses the strategic gains of adding the channel to Samsung TV Plus, how they view possible competitors such as YouTube more as partners, and how they best optimize user data for personalized viewing experiences.
25 Oct 2023