Adtech company PubMatic lays off staffers as it tightens focus on growth areas like connected-TV ads

• PubMatic conducted a layoff last week as part of a plan to focus on growth areas.
• The layoff affected over a dozen employees, or around 1% of staff.
• PubMatic said it plans to increase its overall head count by 15% despite recent challenges.

PubMatic, the publicly listed adtech company, last week conducted a layoff as it looks to reorient its business toward growth areas like connected-TV advertising, according to four people familiar with the matter. These people asked to remain anonymous to protect business relationships.

One of those people said the reduction affected at least a dozen staffers in New York City. A spokesperson for PubMatic confirmed the move, saying it represented about 1% of the workforce, though they didn't provide a specific figure about the number of people affected.

The company stated in its financial filings that it had 948 employees, 290 of whom were located in the US, as of December 21, 2023.

"PubMatic is optimizing operations to focus on high-growth areas such as supply path optimization, CTV, and commerce media," the spokesperson said in a statement. "By streamlining and enhancing collaboration under consolidated leadership, we will foster innovation, reduce complexity, and maintain our commitment to growth and operational excellence."

The spokesperson added that the company had more than 50 open positions it is actively hiring for and that it plans to grow its overall head count by around 15% this year.

Founded in 2006, California-based PubMatic operates what's known in the advertising industry as a supply-side platform, which helps publishers organize and sell their ad inventory in online ad auctions.

It has since expanded its offering into areas like video, connected TV, retail media, and supply path optimization, which helps advertisers streamline the buying process by forming direct relationships with publishers and cutting out intermediaries.

The company went public 2020 and had a market capitalization at the time of writing of about $730 million.

PubMatic's stock took a dive when the company reported its most recent quarterly earnings in August. While revenue grew 6% and gross profit grew 10% year-over-year, the company revised down its full-year revenue guidance after one of its demand-side platform partners, in May, changed the way it bid on advertising auctions. AdExchanger later reported the DSP was Google's DV360.

PubMatic also said in August that its outlook assumed "continued softness from certain ad verticals," which included sectors such as technology, automotive, travel, and entertainment. However, the company's chief financial officer, Steve Pantelick, described the weakness as an "air pocket" that wouldn't significantly impact the remainder of the year.

The company's stock price is down around 8% year to date.