Exclusive: Complex Networks launches ad services business

Complex Networks, a lifestyle and entertainment media company, is creating an end-to-end digital advertising consultancy that provides publishing clients with a suite of services to make more digital revenue, executives tell Axios.

Why it matters: Catalyst, as it will be called, is the company's second in-house consultancy. It launched a product development services business last year called Climate.

How it works: Catalyst will work with publishers to improve how they manage and monetize their ad inventory, which includes leveraging Complex Networks' 50+ partnerships with select ad vendors, products and and agencies.

• Complex Networks is essentially combining services that it already provides and formalizing them under a new brand and structure.
• The offering includes ad operations, programmatic monetization, product implementation, measurement, guaranteed brand safety and compliance optimization, yield management, and other ad-related services.

By the numbers: Executives say the company currently works with more than 45 publishers and 50 ad vendors, ranging from product developers, ad agencies, tech platforms, demand partners, ad exchanges and verification vendors data providers — each with their own negotiated terms at the benefit of the publishers it services. Pricing varies based on each publisher's needs.

• Vendor partners include companies like Permutive, publisher data platform and Confiant, an advertising cybersecurity firm.
• Publisher partners include music reviews platform AllMusic, internet news site Daily Dot, meme encyclopedia Know Your Meme, and hip hop news site HipHopDX.

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