{"page":"/blog/ctv-ad-server-options","modified":"2026-11-10","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","columns":["Option","Owner (dated)","What it is","SSAI","Pod handling","Programmatic connections","Published pricing","Profile"],"rows":[["FreeWheel","Comcast; acquired 2014; founded 2007 (FreeWheel)","Ad server plus FreeWheel SSP; \"Streaming Hub\" combines both (FreeWheel)","n/d on public pages","n/d on public pages","Integrates DSPs and SSPs; supports programmatic guaranteed and PMP deals; SSP usable with or without the ad server (FreeWheel)","n/d","/vendors/freewheel"],["SpringServe","Magnite (Nasdaq: MGNI); acquired 1 Jul 2021 for about $31M (Magnite)","CTV ad server; a new platform announced in April 2025 combines it with Magnite's streaming SSP (Magnite 10-K)","Dynamic ad insertion for live events listed among tools (Magnite 10-K)","Ad podding for commercial breaks (Magnite 10-K)","Unified auction across multiple programmatic demand sources (Magnite 10-K)","n/d; Magnite's general model is a share of ad spend, a fixed CPM or fixed monthly fees (Magnite 10-K)","/vendors/springserve"],["Publica","Integral Ad Science; acquired 9 Aug 2021; IAS owned by Novacap since 23 Dec 2025 (IAS 8-K)","CTV ad server for channels, networks and TV makers (Publica)","Lists ad stitching (Publica)","Lists ad podding and ad pod automation (Publica)","Server-to-server video header bidding; unified auction; Viant Direct Access integration from 8 Jul 2026 (IAS)","n/d","/vendors/publica"],["Google Ad Manager 360 with DAI","Alphabet","Ad server with Dynamic Ad Insertion for live and on-demand video (Google)","DAI, for Ad Manager 360 or advanced-contract partners; also stitches third-party ad servers' breaks","Optimised pods with \"ad buffet\" fallback (Google)","Ad Exchange for video (Google)","n/d","/vendors/google-ad-manager"],["Equativ","Private; Bridgepoint named primary investor in 2023; merged with Sharethrough, announced 13 Jun 2024 (Advanced Television)","CTV ad server and SSP; born as Smart AdServer; bought Serverside.AI for CTV ad serving in 2022 (Equativ)","Dynamic Ad Insertion, which Equativ also calls SSAI (Equativ)","Says it replaces fixed pods with audience-targeted campaigns (company description) (Equativ)","Equativ SSP; its SSAI works with a publisher's existing ad server and demand partners (Equativ)","n/d","/vendors/equativ"],["Self-built","The publisher","Open-source parts plus a managed or own stitcher","AWS MediaTailor, Google Cloud Video Stitcher API, or own","Prebid Server video endpoint builds pods for a primary ad server (Prebid)","Any SSP the publisher integrates through OpenRTB","Stitching $0.25 to $0.50 per 1,000 insertions (AWS; Google Cloud)","/vendors/revive-adserver (general-purpose)"]],"sourceUrls":[["https://www.freewheel.com/about","https://www.freewheel.com/publishersuite"],["https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1595974/000159597421000042/a991springservepressrelease.htm","https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1595974/000159597426000007/mgni-20251231.htm"],["https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1842718/000114036125046475/ef20061707_8k.htm","https://getpublica.com/","https://integralads.com/news/viant-integrates-with-publica-by-ias-to-expand-premium-connected-tv-access/"],["https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/6147120?hl=en"],["https://www.advanced-television.com/2024/06/13/equativ-sharethrough-merge/","https://equativ.com/about-us/","https://equativ.com/publishers/ctv"],["https://docs.prebid.org/prebid-server/endpoints/openrtb2/pbs-endpoint-video.html","https://aws.amazon.com/mediatailor/pricing/","https://cloud.google.com/video-stitcher/pricing"]]}