Data
Ad tech M&A and earnings tracker
Data as of
The headline number
The August 2026 read: Nielsen is buying DoubleVerify for $2.15 billion, and the Q2 earnings season split the industry, with double-digit growth on the sell side (Magnite and PubMatic, both up 11%) while the demand side slowed (The Trade Desk up 3%, Criteo down 11%).
M&A: announced deals
| Announced | Acquirer | Target | Terms | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | Nielsen | DoubleVerify | $2.15B all-cash ($13.60/share, a 30% premium) | Measurement and verification consolidate into one vendor; close expected Q1 2027 pending approvals |
| Aug 5, 2026 | Klaviyo | Agency (Elias Torres’ AI startup) | Undisclosed | A martech platform buying an AI-agents startup, the AI-native acquisition pattern of the season |
| Jul 16, 2026 | Brunner | AdSkate | Undisclosed | An independent agency buying AI creative-intelligence capability instead of renting it |
Deals verified against the acquirer’s own announcement or multiple trade reports before listing.
Q2 2026 earnings, reported August 4-6
| Company | Revenue | Change YoY | The one-line read |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Trade Desk | $715M | +3% | Growth decelerated sharply for the demand-side leader |
| Criteo | $428M | -11% | Revenue and net income both fell as large clients pulled back |
| DoubleVerify | $193.8M | +3% | Slowing growth, then the Nielsen offer the next day |
| Magnite | $192.8M | +11% | Sell side outgrowing demand side, CTV led |
| PubMatic | $78.6M | +11% | Back to double-digit growth ahead of schedule |
Figures from each company’s own investor-relations release for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Two stories run through the season. The first is consolidation at the measurement layer: Nielsen paying $2.15 billion for DoubleVerify a day after DoubleVerify reported a 3% growth quarter says the standalone-verification era is ending, and measurement is re-bundling. The second is the demand-side squeeze: the companies that buy ads for advertisers grew slower than the companies that sell publisher inventory, an inversion of the last decade’s pattern.
This page updates monthly as deals are announced and quarters are reported; every entry is dated and traceable to the acquirer’s or reporter’s own release. The conversation-side view of the same story, which themes carry ad tech chatter and who owns them, refreshes daily inside Waldo.
Compiled August 12, 2026, from company investor-relations releases and cross-checked trade coverage. Corrections welcome; every row carries its date.
Questions teams ask
Why is Nielsen buying DoubleVerify?
The announced logic is one measurement stack: Nielsen’s audience measurement plus DoubleVerify’s verification and brand-safety layer. The timing also mattered: the offer, at $13.60 per share in cash, landed a day after DoubleVerify reported 3% revenue growth for the quarter.
Who grew fastest in ad tech in Q2 2026?
Of the majors that reported in early August, the sell side: Magnite and PubMatic both grew revenue 11% year over year, while The Trade Desk grew 3% and Criteo declined 11%.
How often is this tracker updated?
Monthly, and after major announcements. Each update is dated, and superseded entries stay in place so the record reads as a timeline rather than a snapshot.
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