Mantis Ad Network is a programmatic advertising platform for cannabis, CBD and hemp brands, built in Los Angeles by co-founder and CEO Matt Price. It runs a self-serve demand-side platform for advertisers and a supply-side platform for publishers. Its site lists more than 250 endemic publications on the network, and its LinkedIn page now gives Denver, Colorado, as its base.
The company dates its founding to 2013. Its about page calls it "the largest digital ad network focused on the cannabis industry."
A CPC network out of Los Angeles
Medical Jane, the cannabis publication Price was also running, announced the network on February 27, 2014. At launch Mantis worked as a cost-per-click network serving only the cannabis industry. Publishers earned a guaranteed rate for every click, and advertisers built campaigns across partner sites. "We guarantee a CPC rate with our publishers, so they get paid for every click," Price said at the time.
Price co-founded the company with Paris Holley, who served as CTO, according to its Gust profile. That profile described the early network as more than 40 publishers reaching over 1.5 million unique users each month. Price has founded five companies across different industries. The network started with display ads before adding video, sponsored content and self-serve tools.
Filling the gap Google and Facebook left
Mainstream platforms including Google and Facebook restrict ads for cannabis and CBD, which shuts much of the category out of standard programmatic buying. Mantis built its exchange and publisher relationships around that gap. Its pitch is "unique cannabis & CBD interested audiences unavailable via any other DSP, SSP, or ad exchange."
Advertiser categories include licensed dispensaries and delivery services, CBD brands, Delta 8 and Delta 9 THC brands, and accessory retailers. A 2023 company post positioned the network as an alternative to buying placement on a single platform like Weedmaps, reaching cannabis audiences across the open web instead.
Display, video and sponsored content
Advertisers can run display, video, sponsored content and retargeted display campaigns. Video spots run under 60 seconds, as pre-roll or in-article placements. Campaigns are managed from a self-serve dashboard with real-time tracking of impressions, clicks and conversions. Bot traffic and invalid clicks are filtered by default.
Targeting runs from national down to state, metro, ZIP code and radius. Buyers can also layer contextual interest categories, time of day, device type and operating system. Custom audiences come from an advertiser's own first-party email lists. Retargeting follows people who already visited a brand's site, and audience extension reaches endemic audiences on other properties.
Mantis Direct and Mantis Exchange
The platform splits its supply into two products. Mantis Direct connects advertisers straight to integrated publishers, a supply path the company says removes "costly third party intermediary fees." Mantis Exchange places ads on mainstream web properties outside the endemic network, where additional fees may apply. There are no monthly spend minimums and no long-term contracts.
The publisher side
Publishers join the Mantis SSP for free and add ad tags to their sites or apps. Formats include banner placements, a native content-recommendation widget that pays on referrals, and video under 60 seconds. Payouts land at the beginning of each month. Because advertiser media spend is prepaid, the company says publishers carry no default risk.
An audience-extension option lets publishers place the Mantis pixel and earn when media buyers activate that data on other sites and apps. Publishers can accept or deny any campaign on the network. A publisher dashboard tracks earnings and performance.
Leafly, MJBizDaily and the publisher roster
A 2023 announcement listed Leafly, MJBizDaily, Grasscity, All Bud, Strainly, Medical Jane and THC Farmer among the publications integrated with Mantis. Ganjapreneur's business directory lists the network as launching in summer 2014.
Industry coverage has placed Mantis among the few programmatic platforms open to cannabis. An August 2022 Cannabiz Media post by Susan Gunelius named Mantis and Traffic Roots as platforms that cater specifically to the industry.
The El Planteo deal and Spanish-language reach
On April 6, 2023, Mantis partnered with El Planteo, the Spanish-language cannabis news outlet co-founded by CEO Javier Hasse. The deal gave advertisers direct access to Spanish-speaking cannabis readers through the Mantis network. "El Planteo got 10x the ad revenue working with Mantis than we were getting previously with Google," Hasse said in the announcement.
Official channels
Mantis Ad Network runs its advertiser and publisher platforms at mantisadnetwork.com, keeps setup guides in its help center and posts company updates on LinkedIn.