PubMatic reports growth as buyers run more agentic ad campaigns
PubMatic reported third-quarter revenue of $79.6 million, a 17% increase from the same period a year earlier, as the supply-side platform provider pointed to growth in connected TV and mobile app advertising alongside investment in artificial intelligence.
On the company’s earnings call Monday, CFO Steve Pantelick said connected TV accounted for 21% of quarterly revenue, with that business up 30% year over year. Mobile app revenue grew nearly 40% and represented about 27% of revenue. The figures indicate that both channels contributed materially to the quarter, while the company also emphasized changes in how advertising campaigns are executed.
Agentic campaigns move from launch to use
PubMatic said buyers have run more than 120 fully agentic campaigns using AgenticOS, its operating system for agentic advertising, since the product launched in January. About one-third of those campaigns took place in the third quarter. The company expects usage to increase, though it did not provide a forecast for the number of campaigns.
Investor questions on the call addressed how much of campaign work is currently handled by people and which tasks remain beyond AI systems. CEO Rajeev Goel described clients as occupying different positions on an adoption spectrum: some are willing to rely heavily on AI, while others want to review campaign steps manually. Goel suggested that tasks not yet automated could be automated in the near future.
That range of preferences matters for buyers evaluating agentic tools. PubMatic’s campaign count signals that some customers are already using the system to execute campaigns, but it does not establish how much decision-making those systems handled in each case. Nor does the total indicate how widely adoption is distributed among clients. The call’s description of differing levels of human review points to an implementation question as much as a technology one: buyers must decide where automated execution fits into their own campaign processes.
Control and consumer interests remain part of the debate
Concerns about automated decision-making also surfaced at an IAB roundtable on advertising in the agentic era. Jonathan Roberts, head of innovation at People Inc., warned that delegating purchase choices to AI could concentrate outcomes among a small number of brands. He also raised the risk that systems could over-rely on information consumers have shared or on past behavior that may no longer reflect what they want.
Roberts argued for recommendations that balance personalization with current information and privacy protections. His comments were broader than PubMatic’s product and earnings update, but they underscore the stakes as agents become more involved in decisions that affect which products consumers see or buy. For advertisers and their technology partners, the challenge is not simply whether campaigns can be automated; it is also how to preserve meaningful oversight and avoid treating an individual’s past choices as permanent preferences.
PubMatic’s results combine growth in two important advertising channels with early evidence of campaigns running through AgenticOS. The company’s account of adoption remains qualitative beyond its total campaign count, and the extent of human involvement will vary among clients. As use expands, buyers will be weighing the operational appeal of automation against questions of control, privacy and how agent-led choices distribute attention among brands.
