Entry Details

About the Entry

Category: 
Online > Online Breaking News Coverage > Northeast

Title of entry: 
Breaking One Of The Biggest Ad Tech News Stories Of The Year

Issue or Publication date:
June 30, 2023; July 3, 2023; July 6, 2023

Publication name: 
AdExchanger

Publishing/parent company: 
Access Intelligence

View Website home page:
https://www.adexchanger.com/

Description of the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

When MediaMath filed for bankruptcy on June 30, it was one of the biggest events to rock ad tech all year.

And AdExchanger got the scoop.

How? Our coverage of MediaMath’s downfall is a case study in tenacious source development and stick-to-itiveness. Although AdExchanger is small – just six people on our editorial team – we’re able to get results because we prioritize building trust with our sources.

As one of the first-ever programmatic demand-side platforms, MediaMath was an ad tech pioneer, and its story should have had a happy ending. The company courted numerous deep-pocketed suitors over the years. Instead, MediaMath overestimated its own value, waited too long to strike and ended up crashing down to Earth in a flameout that left hundreds of millions of dollars on the table and caused more than 300 people to lose their jobs.

But to rewind, it was an open secret in the ad tech industry for years that MediaMath had failed to live up to its promise. Yet few realized how close it was to the end – even, at first, the company that attempted to swoop in and buy MediaMath’s assets for a bargain in the spring of 2023.

Managing Editor Allison Schiff first got the tip from a top executive at that company – who is also one of her closest sources – that a deal was just days away. Journalists typically aren’t tipped off about deal-making activity before the ink is dry, but Allison’s source trusted her enough to bring her in on the news early.

Allison swiftly wrote a story about MediaMath’s imminent acquisition and checked in daily with her source to confirm that the deal was done. But, behind the scenes, MediaMath’s investors were sabotaging the negotiations. Allison’s source kept her in the loop on every machination.

Finally, deal talks fell apart, and the source told Allison that MediaMath’s only option was bankruptcy. And so she wrote a second story, this one chronicling MediaMath’s downfall.

The next morning, just minutes after an email went around to MediaMath’s employees that the company would shut down immediately, AdExchanger published its story first.

Allison stuck with the story over the July 4 weekend, including follow-ups on MediaMath’s liabilities and an interview with MediaMath Founder and former CEO Joe Zawadzki.

The original story about MediaMath’s bankruptcy published on June 30 was AdExchanger’s most trafficked story of the year, with 73,000 clicks overall. That story generated 34,000 clicks within the first 24 hours alone and just under 62,000 over the July 4 holiday weekend, which is usually a slow time for traffic in the B2B publishing world.

The follow-up piece detailing MediaMath’s liabilities was one of our Top 5 most trafficked stories of 2023.

This is what we mean when we say AdExchanger isn’t just a trade publication about the online advertising industry. We cover the news and we analyze it, but we also break it – and when we do, our reporting is fast, wide and deep.

Links to entry URLs

Please note: These URLs are only required for entries in the Online division categories, or digital entries in appropriate Overall Excellence, Design or All Content division categories.

Entry URL(s), if applicable:
Please enter a URL that will direct judges to the entry: 
https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/mediamath-files-for-bankruptcy-after-acquisition-talks-fall-apart/
Additional URLs, if needed:
https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/mediamath-owes-more-than-100-million-to-at-least-200-companies-including-magnite-and-pubmatic/
https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/mediamath-founder-joe-zawadzki-weighs-in-on-the-companys-bankruptcy-and-his-third-act/

Username/password required to view entry?
Yes
Username: AzbeeJudges
Password: X3gVhZnZuSiYEtt