Yaron Galai
Co-Founder and CEO at Outbrain
Galai is known for co-founding and scaling Outbrain into a global native advertising powerhouse, and for being a persistent advocate for open web publisher monetization as a counterweight to Big Tech's dominance in digital advertising.
Last updated May 30, 2026 by the ATDb Editorial Team
Yaron Galai is best known as the co-founder and CEO of Outbrain, one of the world's pioneering content discovery and native advertising platforms. Since co-founding the company in 2006 alongside Ori Lahav, Galai has shaped how publishers monetize editorial content and how brands reach audiences across the open web, helping to define the native advertising category itself. His leadership has positioned Outbrain as a critical infrastructure layer for thousands of premium publishers globally. Under Galai's stewardship, Outbrain navigated a near-merger with rival Taboola in 2020 that ultimately fell apart, before charting an independent path that included going public on Nasdaq in 2021. He has consistently championed the open internet as a viable and brand-safe alternative to the walled gardens of Google and Meta, advocating for publisher independence and sustainable monetization models. His strategic vision culminated in the transformative 2024 merger between Outbrain and Teads, creating one of the largest scaled programmatic and native advertising platforms outside of Big Tech. Prior to founding Outbrain, Galai founded Quigo Technologies, an ad targeting company that was acquired by AOL in 2007, demonstrating an early and consistent track record in building AdTech businesses from the ground up. He is widely regarded as a veteran entrepreneur and operator in the digital advertising space, frequently speaking on topics ranging from the future of the open web to publisher monetization and the ethics of digital advertising.
Founder and CEO
Quigo Technologies (2000-2007)
- B.Sc. Computer Science, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
- Co-founded Outbrain in 2006, growing it into one of the world's largest content discovery and native advertising platforms serving thousands of premium publishers
- Led Outbrain's IPO on Nasdaq in 2021 under the ticker OB
- Orchestrated the 2024 merger of Outbrain and Teads to create a major scaled open web advertising alternative to Big Tech
- Previously founded Quigo Technologies, which was acquired by AOL in 2007
- Navigated and ultimately exited a high-profile proposed merger with Taboola that was called off in 2020