AdVessel — Media Buying Operating System

Project Overview

AdVessel is a Media Buying Operating System — a marketplace and workflow platform that connects advertisers with print and niche media publishers. Often described as "the Stripe for print media," the platform brings modern SaaS convenience to an industry that has traditionally relied on spreadsheets, PDFs, and phone calls. We built the full platform from the ground up.

The Problem

Buying ad space in print publications is a fragmented, manual process. Advertisers have to track down individual publishers, request media kits by email, negotiate rates over the phone, and submit creative with no automated way to check it meets spec. Publishers, meanwhile, manage inquiries through inboxes and spreadsheets with no centralised view of availability or pipeline. AdVessel needed a platform that digitised the entire workflow for both sides.

Key Features

• Publisher Marketplace — A searchable directory of print and niche media publications with audience data, pricing, and ad format details.
• Media Kit Import — Publishers upload existing media kits and the platform parses them into structured, searchable listings.
• Spec-Guard™ — A proprietary validation tool that checks ad creative against publication specifications before submission, catching issues before they reach the press.
• Publisher Dashboard — A single interface for publishers to manage inquiries, bookings, and inventory availability.
• Talent Discovery — Advertisers can find creative professionals and media buyers with relevant industry experience.
• Enterprise & Agency Solutions — Multi-client management, API access, and embeddable widgets for teams running campaigns at scale.

Technical Implementation

The platform is built with Next.js and React, leveraging React Server Components for efficient data loading and server-side rendering for strong SEO performance. The application ships with a dark-mode interface by default, giving it a polished, professional look suited to its B2B audience.

The architecture is designed around a marketplace model with distinct experiences for advertisers and publishers, each with their own dashboards, workflows, and permissions. The API-first approach means the platform can be extended with third-party integrations and white-label widgets.

Results

• A fully functional two-sided marketplace connecting advertisers and publishers.
• Automated creative validation via Spec-Guard, reducing rejected ad submissions.
• Streamlined media buying workflow replacing email and spreadsheet coordination.
• Modern, responsive interface with dark-mode support across all device sizes.
• Extensible API enabling enterprise and agency integrations.