Verizon Media Becomes Microsoft’s Preferred Global SSP

Verizon Media and Microsoft today announced an expanded relationship, with Verizon Media taking over as Microsoft’s preferred global SSP.

Display inventory for Microsoft properties MSN and Outlook.com will now be monetized through Verizon Media’s supply platform. Prior to the deal, Verizon Media was only the SSP for Microsoft’s video supply across US, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Brazil. In taking on MSN and Outlook.com display, Verizon Media now manages all of Microsoft’s inventory globally.

According to the blog post unveiling the partnership: “Microsoft can now take advantage of our market-leading omnichannel SSP capabilities, including holistic inventory management across devices and screens, and access to our premium and exclusive demand partners including 3,000+ advertisers, agency partners, and demand side platforms (DSPs). Since onboarding was completed in September, Verizon Media SSP has helped drive improved CPMs for Microsoft across its inventory.”

Verizon Media says “onboarding was completed in September,” meaning they have been the SSP of record since that time. Previously, Microsoft relied on AppNexus (Xandr) for programmatic monetization globally, while Verizon Media provided sales support for hand-sold inventory. The video SSP deal then came later. The new partnership gives Verizon Media everything.

“We believe that aligning our Display Supply Side Platform with our Display Sales partnership in our largest markets is beneficial to advertisers, who are looking for more seamless access to our unique audiences,” says Kya Sainsbury-Carter, VP, Global Partner Sales, Microsoft.

Verizon Media and Microsoft reach over 226 million unique users monthly across devices, and over 196 million uniques monthly on mobile devices, per Comscore.

Adam Roodman, SVP, Verizon Media Exchange, says, “We’re excited to deepen our relationship with Microsoft, and to deliver on our promise of building trust and engagement with our customers and users. Our expanded partnership allows us to not only help Microsoft increase revenue, but also provides even greater direct access to premium video and display inventory for our advertising and agency partners.”