Who Owns Walmart Connect?

Walmart's advertising business existed for years before Walmart Connect, but it was run largely through external partners. For much of the 2010s, Walmart worked with Triad Retail, an external advertising agency that sold ad inventory on Walmart.com. The arrangement gave Walmart ad revenue but limited its control over the product and the data.

Walmart refocused its strategy starting in early 2019. The company cut ties with its external advertising partner and took the advertising business in-house as Walmart Media Group. The move reflected a broader industry shift toward retailer-owned retail media networks, as brands sought first-party shopper data to replace cookie-based targeting that was being constrained by privacy changes. Walmart built its advertising technology and sales organization internally.

In January 2020, Walmart debuted the Walmart Advertising Partners Program, a self-serve ad portal that let suppliers and brands manage their own campaigns. The self-serve platform accounted for about half of the business and lowered the barrier for smaller advertisers. By the end of 2020, Walmart reported that net new advertisers grew 40% year over year.

On January 28, 2021, Walmart rebranded Walmart Media Group as Walmart Connect. The new name reflected an expanded vision beyond on-site display and search ads. Walmart announced three strategic focus areas: growing ad offerings across Walmart's digital properties including Walmart.com, the Walmart app, and pickup and delivery; building in-store advertising through assets like TV walls and self-checkout screens; and expanding off-site media using Walmart's first-party shopper data to target ads across the web. Walmart partnered with The Trade Desk to build a demand-side platform for off-site advertising, choosing The Trade Desk over Xandr after a competitive process.

Walmart set a goal of growing the advertising business by more than ten times over five years and becoming one of the top 10 advertising platforms in the United States. The company emphasized its closed-loop measurement, which could connect an online ad exposure to an in-store purchase days or weeks later, a capability that traditional digital advertisers lacked.

Walmart Connect grew steadily through 2022 and 2023, adding programmatic capabilities, API access, and self-service tools. The business grew 30% in FY2024 (ended January 31, 2024). In February 2024, Walmart announced the acquisition of VIZIO for approximately $2.3 billion, aimed at accelerating Walmart Connect through VIZIO's SmartCast connected TV operating system and its advertising business. The deal closed in 2024 and brought VIZIO's more than 500 direct advertiser relationships and over 18 million active SmartCast accounts into Walmart's advertising portfolio.

The VIZIO acquisition gave Walmart Connect a connected TV advertising capability, letting it sell ads on smart TVs and compete with Roku, Amazon, Google, and Samsung in the streaming ad market. It also attracted non-endemic advertisers, brands that do not sell on Walmart but want to reach viewers on VIZIO TVs, broadening Walmart Connect's advertiser base beyond its supplier ecosystem.

In FY2025 (ended January 31, 2025), Walmart's global advertising business grew 27% to $4.4 billion, with Walmart Connect U.S. up 24%, aided by 50% growth in marketplace seller advertiser counts. In FY2026 (ended January 31, 2026), global advertising revenue reached approximately $6.4 billion, up 46%, with Walmart Connect U.S. growing 41% in Q4. The acceleration reflected VIZIO's contribution and strong growth in marketplace and connected TV advertising.

Walmart Connect continues to expand its full-funnel offering, combining on-site search and display, off-site programmatic, in-store, and connected TV advertising. The business competes with Amazon Ads, which generated $68 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, though Walmart's ad revenue remains less than 10% of Amazon's. Analysts view Walmart Connect as a high-margin growth engine within Walmart's lower-margin retail business.