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The perennial challenge of publishers losing billions in digital advertising revenue to programmatic intermediaries during election seasons is facing a potential paradigm shift with the introduction of sophisticated sell-side curation. In a significant move designed to empower publishers and offer political advertisers more precise targeting capabilities, supply-side platform OpenX, in collaboration with data provider Givsly, has launched a new curation and targeting solution specifically tailored for political campaigns. This innovative tool moves beyond traditional party affiliation data, enabling political advertisers to connect with voters based on their deeply held values across a curated selection of premium Connected TV (CTV) and digital publishing environments that permit political advertisements.
The strategic alliance has already secured key launch partners, including prominent media outlets like Newsweek and established CTV platforms such as Plex, Xumo, and Scripps. This initiative arrives at a critical juncture, coinciding with an election cycle projected to witness unprecedented levels of political ad expenditure. Industry forecasts from AdImpact paint a vivid picture of the financial stakes involved, projecting a staggering $10.8 billion in political ad spend for the current year. This figure represents a substantial 20% increase compared to the 2022 midterms and narrowly trails the $11.1 billion allocated during the 2024 presidential race, underscoring the immense financial opportunity and the pressing need for publishers to regain greater control over their ad inventory and pricing.
The Evolving Political Advertising Landscape
Historically, the digital advertising ecosystem, particularly during the heightened activity of election periods, has been characterized by a complex web of programmatic transactions. While this model offers efficiency, it has often resulted in publishers receiving a diminished share of the advertising dollars spent, with a significant portion siphoned off by various intermediaries. This dynamic has fueled a growing demand among publishers for greater transparency, control, and a more direct relationship with advertisers.
The introduction of curated deals represents a significant departure from the traditional "spray and pray" approach that has often defined programmatic political advertising. This shift is driven by a dual imperative: for publishers to secure more stable revenue streams and maintain brand integrity, and for advertisers to ensure their messages reach the most relevant audiences with minimal waste and without undesirable brand adjacencies.
Predictability and Precision: The Promise of Curated Deals
Danielle Varvaro, Chief Revenue Officer at Newsweek, highlighted the transformative potential of these curated deal structures. "Curated deal structures introduce predictability into what’s historically been a chaotic ‘spray and pray’ programmatic political advertising marketplace," Varvaro stated. She further emphasized that this approach "helps reduce duplication in the supply path and supports more stable pricing."
This enhanced predictability allows publishers to move beyond the pursuit of short-term revenue spikes during election seasons and instead focus on achieving "sustainable yield." For publishers like Newsweek, sell-side curation offers a more strategic and controlled entry into the political ad market. "It gives publishers greater control over how they participate in the political ad market, so we can access the incremental spend while maintaining our governance, our compliance, and our brand integrity," Varvaro explained. This control is crucial for maintaining brand reputation, especially for news organizations that aim to present themselves as neutral and trustworthy sources of information.
How the Value-Based Targeting Solution Works
The technical underpinnings of this new solution involve a sophisticated integration of data and technology. Givsly leverages data signals derived from over 500 non-profit organizations to construct audience segments based on shared values. These values can range from broad categories like women’s empowerment or environmental sustainability to more specific social or economic issues that resonate with particular voter demographics.
OpenX then utilizes its robust identity graph to match these Givsly-derived value signals, identifying and aggregating these specific audiences across its network of publisher clients. These precisely defined audience segments are then packaged into "deal IDs," which can be seamlessly activated by political advertisers through either direct or programmatic buying channels.
Amanda Forrester, SVP of Marketing and Communications at OpenX, elaborated on the multifaceted nature of the targeting capabilities. "Givsly’s data is one enrichment layer," Forrester explained. "Buyers can also target specific geos and ZIP codes and zero in on particular voting districts." However, she cautioned that combining the values-based data with third-party audiences from other vendors could potentially constrain supply, suggesting a strategic approach to audience layering.
The primary advantage of this values-based data is its ability to empower political campaigns to connect with voters whose core beliefs align with their candidate’s platform, even in the absence of direct party affiliation data. This is particularly valuable for identifying and engaging new potential voters in areas where campaigns might have extensive party affiliation data but lack deeper insights into individual values and motivations. The system is designed to activate new voters rather than solely reinforce existing supporter bases, a crucial strategy for expanding electoral reach.
Furthermore, the solution provides advertisers with granular reporting capabilities, offering localized insights into reach and frequency at the county, Designated Market Area (DMA), and ZIP code levels. This allows for sophisticated campaign optimization, enabling advertisers to drive specific outcomes, such as increasing clicks to campaign websites or encouraging voter registration.
A Convergence of Industry Shifts
The development of this new solution is rooted in two significant trends that have reshaped the programmatic advertising landscape in recent years. The first is the ascendancy of sell-side curation, which has empowered publishers to take a more active role in the programmatic dealmaking process. This trend has been closely followed by a growing emphasis on audience precision over sheer volume, a shift that aligns perfectly with the needs of political advertisers seeking measurable results.
Varvaro echoed this sentiment, noting that political advertisers are increasingly focused on achieving demonstrable outcomes, a demand that has become evident in recent negotiations for midterm ad buys. "Historically, political buying could be highly transactional, particularly within the programmatic channels during peak seasons, when buyers are competing aggressively for limited supply," she said. "But this cycle, political advertisers are much more focused on curated access to that supply path, and also transparency and compliance."
For Newsweek, participation in OpenX’s curated political packages serves a dual purpose: safeguarding its supply chain during periods of high demand and reinforcing its positioning as a premium, centrist news publisher. While Newsweek is amenable to running political ads across its digital properties, it has opted out of placing such advertisements on CTV inventory managed by Adprime, a healthcare-focused demand-side platform it acquired. This strategic exclusion stems from the fact that this specific supply is not part of its partnership with OpenX, underscoring the granular control publishers can exert over their inventory.
Addressing Publisher Hesitation and Ensuring Brand Safety
The political advertising arena is not without its challenges, with ongoing polarization and persistent concerns about brand safety leading some media companies to approach political ad placements with caution. Similarly, political buyers often have specific preferences regarding the publishers they choose to support. OpenX has proactively addressed these hesitations on both sides of the supply chain by embedding robust controls within its system.
Through the OpenXSelect curation platform, advertisers can define their own custom brand standards and create "allow lists" of publishers that meet their criteria. A key advantage of this sell-side curation approach is that buyers can activate these curated lists across any demand-side platform without the need for repetitive configuration for each individual platform.
On the publisher side, OpenX provides advertiser approval lists, ensuring that curated packages do not inadvertently compete with or devalue existing direct deals. Publishers also retain the ability to review ad creative to ensure alignment with their editorial values and can dictate the stringency of this review process. This flexibility allows publishers to choose their level of engagement, with some opting to vet every political ad while others prefer to whitelist trusted advertisers to streamline the process.
Participation in the program is entirely opt-in, according to OpenX, and a significant majority of its publisher partners have already enabled political advertising. Even within this framework, publishers maintain the ability to block political ads from specific site subsections or domains. Crucially, political campaigns can only bid on inventory that has been explicitly approved by the publisher, ensuring a high degree of publisher control.
OpenX aims to encourage publishers who have previously withdrawn from political advertising due to concerns about brand alignment, data governance, and privacy compliance to reconsider their stance. "If you can deliver a solution that has strong guardrails and protections, and that keeps content aligned with other quality publishers, then people are more comfortable providing access," Forrester concluded. This emphasis on safety and control is paramount in rebuilding trust and fostering a more sustainable and ethical political advertising marketplace.
The implications of this innovation are far-reaching. For publishers, it represents a vital opportunity to reclaim lost revenue and exert greater control over their digital ad businesses. For political campaigns, it offers a more sophisticated and values-driven approach to voter engagement, moving beyond broad demographic targeting to connect with audiences on a deeper, more resonant level. As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, solutions that prioritize transparency, control, and precision are poised to become the new standard, particularly in the high-stakes environment of political campaigns.
Update 2/25/26: This article was updated to clarify how OpenX matches Givsly’s values-based data to its identity graph.
