Matt Greitzer is VP and Global Discipline Lead of Search Marketing at Razorfish.
MG: I think it represents an industry tipping point. Google has already proven that they are the lead player in auction-based ad monetization. I think everyone is excited to see how they can apply their expertise to the next generation of biddable display. Their revamped exchange also keeps the pace of innovation high; Yahoo and others will have to respond so I wouldn’t be surprised if we start to see a bit of an arms race in ad exchange features and capabilities similar to what we saw in the search marketing industry in the peak years of innovation in ’05 and ’06. Beyond that, this provides deeper access into a huge pool of inventory via Google’s AdSense network. We’ve had great success with the AdSense network for years now, so the ability to micro-segment, de-average pricing, and apply advanced targeting capabilities to this inventory will be a sure bet.
I’ll be very interested to see, however, if Google is any more effective in getting their premium DFP publishers in the DFP client base to put their inventory on the exchange than they have been in the past. If this happens, I think we may see a replay of search, with Yahoo’s early lead squandered and Microsoft sitting on the sidelines as Google eats up the category. But if the DFP publishers balk, the door will still be wide open.
