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Monday, March 2nd, 2026 – 3:00 am
In a strategic move to solidify its position in the increasingly competitive digital advertising landscape, Onetag, a global ad exchange and curation platform, announced today the acquisition of Aryel, an innovative Italian creative ad tech company. This acquisition, finalized on Monday, March 2nd, 2026, signals Onetag’s commitment to evolving beyond the role of a mere transactional intermediary and empowering publishers with advanced tools to optimize their ad inventory and attract higher-value advertising partnerships. The integration of Aryel’s creative technology is expected to significantly enhance Onetag’s existing sell-side curation solution and bolster its upcoming AI-based deal optimization engine, slated for release at the end of March.
The digital advertising ecosystem has been undergoing a profound transformation, largely driven by the escalating adoption of supply-path optimization (SPO). This trend has placed considerable pressure on Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) to demonstrate their value proposition beyond simply facilitating the flow of ad impressions. Publishers are increasingly demanding greater control over their inventory and are seeking partners who can offer sophisticated solutions for managing and monetizing their ad space effectively. This imperative has fueled the rise of sell-side curation, a trend that has gained significant traction over the past few years. Onetag’s acquisition of Aryel is a direct response to this market dynamic, aiming to equip its Smart Curation platform with cutting-edge creative capabilities that can differentiate its offerings and drive tangible outcomes for advertisers.
Onetag’s Evolution and the Drive for Differentiation
Headquartered in Italy, Onetag’s journey began in 2015 as a Demand-Side Platform (DSP). Recognizing the evolving needs of the market, the company pivoted, developing a performance-focused SSP specifically for Procter & Gamble before expanding this offering globally in 2020. The subsequent launch of its sell-side curation platform, Smart Curation, in 2022, marked a significant step in its strategic repositioning.
Filippo Gramigna, co-CEO of Onetag, articulated the challenges faced by platforms in the current market. "The curation market has become crowded with non-differentiated middlemen," Gramigna stated in a recent interview. "The best way to stand out in this increasingly crowded market is to make it easy for advertisers of all sizes to get started with curation and create their own deal IDs." This philosophy underpins the strategic rationale behind the Aryel acquisition, as the integration of Aryel’s creative technologies is designed to simplify and enhance the curation process for a wider range of advertisers.
Aryel’s core competency lies in its ability to adapt existing creative assets into programmatic-friendly formats, a crucial capability in today’s multi-platform advertising environment. The platform efficiently reformats creative assets to comply with industry-standard banner sizes and online video specifications, ensuring seamless integration into programmatic workflows. This technological synergy is particularly valuable for Onetag, which already boasts a curated marketplace of 50,000 high-impact ad units sourced through more than 2,000 direct-to-publisher connections.
The Power of Interactive Creative in Programmatic Advertising
The acquisition of Aryel brings a specialized focus on interactive creative formats, a burgeoning area within digital advertising that offers significant potential for engagement and conversion. Gramigna highlighted the complementary nature of Aryel’s expertise to Onetag’s existing offerings. "Placing interactive ads within already high-performing ad slots should make those placements even more effective at driving outcomes," he explained.
Interactive creative allows brands to move beyond static advertisements and engage consumers in more dynamic and memorable ways. Aryel’s platform offers innovative formats, such as a "try it on" creative for apparel and accessories brands. For instance, an eyewear company could leverage this feature to enable potential customers to virtually try on different frames using their device’s camera. Crucially, this immersive experience occurs entirely within a standard IAB banner format, allowing users to interact without leaving the publisher’s website, thus minimizing friction and maximizing engagement.
Furthermore, Aryel has been actively exploring interactive formats for AI chatbot interfaces. This forward-thinking approach aligns with Onetag’s ambition to tap into emerging advertising opportunities on new platforms, such as conversational AI, which are poised to play an increasingly significant role in consumer interaction and commerce. The integration of these advanced creative capabilities is expected to enhance the effectiveness of Onetag’s curated marketplace, making it more attractive to advertisers seeking innovative ways to connect with their target audiences.
Strategic Growth and Future Expansion
The relationship between Onetag and Aryel has been developing for approximately 18 months, with initial collaborations proving highly successful. This positive track record, coupled with the backing of Onetag’s largest shareholder, Wise Equity, paved the way for the current acquisition, which marks Onetag’s first-ever M&A activity.
While the specific financial terms of the acquisition remain undisclosed, Gramigna confirmed that the deal is complete and that the combined entity achieved $70 million in net revenue based on the previous year’s performance. This substantial revenue figure underscores the combined strength and market potential of the integrated company.
The acquisition not only grants Onetag exclusive access to Aryel’s proprietary creative technology but also brings Aryel’s entire team of 45 employees into the Onetag fold, bringing the total headcount to approximately 130 professionals. The addition of Aryel’s four co-founders to Onetag’s leadership team, including Aryel CEO Mattia Salvi who will assume the role of Chief Growth Officer and Head of Go-to-Market, signals a strategic integration of talent and expertise.
The proximity of Aryel’s operations to Onetag’s tech hub in Tuscany is expected to facilitate a smooth integration of company cultures and workflows. This geographical advantage, combined with a shared vision for innovation, should enable the combined entity to quickly leverage its synergistic capabilities.
Onetag’s long-term strategic roadmap includes solidifying its presence in the European market while simultaneously building a more substantial footprint in the United States. The company currently maintains a modest New York office to serve its US publisher clients, but plans are in place to significantly expand its presence in this key market.
Expanding into New Frontiers: CTV and Beyond
Beyond strengthening its existing display and online video offerings, Onetag is set to expand its curation capabilities into new verticals, most notably Connected TV (CTV). Despite not having a dedicated CTV business previously, Onetag achieved an impressive 34% growth in net ad revenue last year. The integration of CTV into its offering is anticipated to unlock significant incremental growth opportunities, capitalizing on the rapidly expanding CTV advertising market. Industry projections from eMarketer forecast the US CTV ad spending to exceed $30 billion by 2026, presenting a substantial opportunity for platforms like Onetag.
The acquisition has also provided an immediate benefit by bolstering Onetag’s client base on the buy-side, owing to a minimal overlap in their respective client portfolios. This strategic alignment is expected to enhance Onetag’s relationships with media agencies. "That’s another element of why we decided to do this deal," Gramigna remarked. "The fact that they’ve been able to get the brands and the CMOs they typically talk to excited about working in programmatic thanks to these formats helps the narrative when it comes to our relationship with media agencies." By enabling brands to more easily engage with programmatic advertising through compelling creative, Onetag aims to streamline the process for agencies and ultimately drive greater advertiser adoption of its curated solutions.
The integration of Aryel’s creative expertise is poised to empower Onetag’s AI-based deal optimization engine, set to launch later this month. This engine is designed to leverage machine learning to identify and prioritize the most valuable deal IDs for publishers, further enhancing their monetization strategies. By combining sophisticated creative capabilities with advanced optimization algorithms, Onetag is positioning itself as a comprehensive solution provider for publishers seeking to navigate the complexities of the modern digital advertising ecosystem and maximize their revenue potential. The acquisition represents a significant step forward in Onetag’s mission to redefine the role of SSPs in a data-driven and increasingly performance-oriented advertising world.
