Stagwell Snaps Up Freestar to Bolster Owned Media Ambitions

The adtech firm's publisher inventory and audience data will be integrated into the holdco's AI Media Machine

two hands with the stagwell and freestar logos shaking hands — Freestar will maintain its name, and all of its staff will be retained.Stagwell, Freestar, ADWEEK

Stagwell, the public agency holding company helmed by former pollster and political strategist Mark Penn, has acquired Freestar, which helps digital publishers monetize with ads.

Freestar claims to handle 50 billion ad requests monthly, and works with more than 1,000 publishers. Among them are giants such as Boston Globe Media, Fortune, The Associated Press, and Essence.

As part of the acquisition, announced today, Freestar’s tech, publisher inventory, and audience data will plug into Stagwell’s agentic operating system, the AI Media Machine. In essence, it gives Stagwell more access and more knowledge; the holdco says the deal will create “a more streamlined supply path” and a more efficient route to activating media for advertisers.