JAPAN’S LEADING NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER NIKKEI EXPANDS REACH VIA PROGRAMMATIC PARTNERSHIP WITH PUBMATIC
Nikkei Inc. is Japan’s leading economic media group, centered around The Nikkei and the Nikkei Online Edition. Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026, the company delivers trusted content across digital platforms, magazines, books, video, and cultural events to audiences worldwide. The Nikkei Online Edition has over one million paying subscribers, with a total of around ten million registered Nikkei ID members. Nikkei also owns the Financial Times (FT), with total digital paid subscriptions reaching 3.7 million.
THE CHALLENGE
Nikkei Inc. aimed to further expand its advertising revenue and create new growth opportunities. The company had long relied on direct ad sales, with most revenue coming from traditional display advertising. Despite the growing demand for programmatic advertising, Nikkei faced challenges in fully responding to that demand. To reach a broader range of advertisers, including those difficult to approach through its internal sales team, the company needed new channels and partnerships.
A key challenge was building stronger connections with global advertisers. The company was looking for a trusted partner with a proven track record in international markets and a local presence across key regions to support high-quality buyer access and campaign execution. Maintaining a balance between monetization and reader experience, while ensuring transparency and ad quality, required a partner with both deep expertise and a strong industry reputation.
THE SOLUTION: PUBMATIC AS A PREFERRED SSP
Since 2015, Nikkei Inc. has partnered with PubMatic and now prioritizes PubMatic as its Preferred SSP. In recent years, Nikkei has focused on expanding its reach to overseas advertisers and buyers who are difficult to engage through direct sales. Programmatic delivery via PubMatic plays a key role in supporting this strategy, and by virtue of this preferred partnership, Nikkei saw their programmatic revenue increase by over 3X in the first half of 2025 vs. the same period in 2024.
Through the Preferred SSP Partnership, in which publishers select and prioritize the most trusted partner among multiple SSPs based on technology, profitability, and transparency, Nikkei has attracted new advertising demand internationally, resulting in increased ad revenue. In particular, new partnerships with global buyers, including major international tech companies, have increased. Awareness that Nikkei’s premium inventory is available not only through direct buys but also programmatically has grown significantly, especially among international advertisers. To maintain quality and brand safety, all programmatic transactions are strictly limited to PMP deals rather than the Open Market.
For overseas buyers who typically activate campaigns programmatically, PubMatic provides the exclusive path to access Nikkei inventory. The ability to run Nikkei campaigns through existing DSPs in the same way as other programmatic campaigns offers significant value to advertisers. PubMatic is recognized as a trusted partner for its flexible and attentive support aligned with Nikkei’s delivery methods and operational policies. Its global teams also play an important role in supporting international campaigns run through Nikkei’s overseas offices and in strengthening mutual trust between the two companies.