Walmart has agreed to buy Vibe.co, a self-serve CTV ad platform focused on mid-market advertisers.
The deal will bring Vibe.co’s CTV buying platform into Walmart Connect, Walmart’s retail media adtech business, with the goal of making streaming TV advertising easier to buy, activate, and measure.
Ultimately, this is an access play. More SMBs and midmarket can buy through owned pipes offered by Walmart.
(No deal terms were disclosed.)
Why This Matters:
The deal is another step in Walmart’s effort to build a larger commerce/retail media ecosystem. By combining Vibe.co’s tech with Walmart’s first-party data, measurement capabilities, and VIZIO assets, Walmart can position itself to offer advertisers a more integrated path from ad exposure to conversion.
It also highlights a growing industry trend we’ve been talking about for a year — making CTV advertising more accessible to smaller advertisers. While CTV has become an increasingly important channel, many SMBs and mid-market brands still view it as complex and difficult to buy. (TV = big brands only, historically.) Vibe.co’s platform was built to simplify campaign activation and optimization, bringing a paid social-style experience to streaming TV.
Experts React:
The deal was announced in the thick of Cannes Lions — here’s what Vibe Co-Founder & CEO Arthur Querou had to say on X after the news broke.
It’s official: @Walmart to acquire @vibedotco !
What the Vibe team has built since our inception is phenomenal.
Not just an ad platform but a full infrastructure that unlocked real performance on CTV.Joining forces with Walmart, the largest US retailer and second largest US ecommerce retailer as well as Vizio’s ecosystem, will open up endless opportunities for the people we fight for every day: publishers and advertisers.
We unlocked Performance TV. Now it’s time to make it as big as Search & Social.
And we couldn’t have dreamed of a better home than Walmart to do so.But if anyone is to be celebrated in this deal, it’s our team.
Absolute legends. Insane concentration of talent.To be clear though, this is not the finish line for us. It’s a massive accelerator for our mission to transform TV advertising forever.
We can’t wait to join forces with the Walmart and Walmart Connect teams, along with John Furner, Seth Dallaire, Ryan Mayward and so many more brilliant minds.
It’s Day 1, 10am. Back to work!
- Arthur, a proud future Walmart associate
Our Take:
This deal strengthens Walmart’s position in the both retail media and CTV. Since buying VIZIO and expanding partnerships with platforms like Yahoo DSP, Google DV360, and Magnite, Walmart has steadily added more pieces to its adtech stack. This is a big move to continue that build out.
The addition of Vibe.co gives Walmart a self-serve entry point for smaller advertisers that may not have the resources or expertise to run traditional TV campaigns or work with a large DSP.
Finally, we’ve always been fans of Vibe.co and their marketing. Hopefully, that continues in some form!
