Microsoft and AOL observers have a lot of questions in the wake of the companies’ landmark search and display ad deal, announced Monday. Here’s a big one: How will AOL, a company of some 4,500 employees, possibly absorb 1,200 new sales, marketing, biz dev and engineering people? Once the partnership is consummated, AOL will have […]
In a new 10-year search-and-advertising alliance, Microsoft will transfer the lion’s share of its display ad business to Verizon-owned AOL. Under the deal, approximately 1,200 Microsoft employees will get offer letters from AOL, most of them in ad sales. Additionally, AOL will end its search distribution relationship with Google in order to accept Bing search and ads on […]
In the latest chapter to a rather convoluted M&A tale, AppNexus will snap up ad tech firm Real Media Latin America (RMLA) from Peter Gervai, the Brazilian entrepreneur who paid $1 some 13 years ago to take it off 24/7 Real Media’s hands. The companies didn’t disclose the deal price or Sao Paulo-based RMLA’s revenues, but its […]
Two months into a quality control effort designed to curb fraud, domain masking and other sketchy practices in its marketplace, AppNexus has offered some details on those cleanup efforts – and even given them a name. The company’s supply hygiene initiative, dubbed IQ, consists of three measures aimed at boosting transparency and accountability of media sold […]
Even as marketers increasingly see native programmatic as a part of the core digital arsenal – alongside video, display and mobile – industry leaders like Sharethrough have encountered a lag in adoption from major DSPs. Part of the problem is that the existence of technology solutions hasn’t had a chance to sink in with brands […]
Six months after it came to light that AppNexus has a problem with invalid inventory, the New York-based company is imposing more transparency on ad networks and websites that use its platform to sell media. AppNexus confirmed to AdExchanger that it has started inserting a new snippet of JavaScript into its ad tag in order to […]
AppNexus has acquired Yieldex, whose platform provides publishers with analytics, forecasting and sales management tools. The deal might help strengthen AppNexus’ relationships with media sellers at a time when direct deals between marketers and publishers represent a growing portion of the programmatic ad pie. The Wall Street Journal placed the deal’s value at approximately $100 million in cash and […]
Facebook has decertified more than half the seat holders on its Facebook Exchange (FBX) as part of a revamp of its marketing partner program, unveiled Tuesday. Among the partners no longer badge-certified to buy on FBX are some very big ad platform players, including Adobe, Advertising.com (AOL), Rocket Fuel, IgnitionOne and Dotomi/Conversant (Epsilon). In total, […]
Just a few months after it hired Digilant COO Nathan Woodman to take charge of its demand-side business, IPONWEB has nabbed another well-known ad tech guy. The 13-year-old ad platform company has hired Bob Walczak, VP product at PubMatic, to oversee BidSwitch, its ad exchange-like product. At IPONWEB, Walczak will run sales and business operations for BidSwitch, a […]
Last month AdExchanger reported on plans by AppNexus to roll out a “Certified Supply” stamp of approval for demonstrably valid impressions, and thereby cut off the flow of spend to impressions that are fraudulent, nonviewable or otherwise undesirable. The certified program came amid growing industry concerns about the persistence of fraud in the AppNexus supply. […]
The digital ad sector has made some tangible progress in the war on fraudulent ad impressions, thanks to new detection methods and improved hygiene from many sell-side platforms. But one of the biggest exchanges has added rather than subtracted invalid impressions, and buyers are complaining. AppNexus, the industry’s uber-exchange and one of the most promising […]
An AdExchanger story published Wednesday describes the persistent problem of fraudulent ad impressions in the AppNexus inventory supply, and the company’s plans to fix it. Its plan of attack includes a new certified supply program that will clearly label inventory AppNexus has deemed “valid.” Buyers can choose to purchase only the good stuff, while ignoring the uncertified […]
Once upon a time, Microsoft seemed to be positioning itself as both a publisher, via its network of owned and operated sites, as well as an ad tech provider – sort of like where AOL is today. In 2007, it bought aQuantive for just north of $6 billion, which included major digital marketing players like […]
Millennial Media needed a good story around programmatic, and now it has one. The publicly traded mobile ad tech platform has signed an agreement to buy mobile exchange player Nexage for $107.5 million in cash and stock. The deal enhances Millennial’s credentials as an independent programmatic platform connecting advertisers with mobile supply sources, including app […]
AppNexus wants to rethink the publisher ad server as a holistic platform for yield management, and it’s starting with a rather old piece of technology. The company will acquire Open AdStream (OAS) from Xaxis as part of a major transaction with WPP Group that will also give the holding company a $25 million stake in […]
Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail can forecast revenue and optimize yield across its direct-sold and programmatic inventory, using a partnership between yield management firm Yieldex and ad tech company AppNexus. When the publisher signed up with Yieldex at the beginning of the year, it didn’t support AppNexus until The Globe and Mail requested it, […]
The independent ad tech company that powers more than 30 billion ad impressions per day through its platform is now, officially, a $1 billion-plus business. AppNexus revealed Monday it has closed a $60 million investment round from an unidentified Boston public equity and asset management firm, valuing the company at about $1.2 billion. At the […]
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner confirmed the social network wants to enable customers to prospect and nurture leads well beyond its own walled garden during the company’s Q2 call Thursday, though he stopped short of calling it an ad network. “As big a network as LinkedIn is – and they’re adding exponential numbers of people everyday […]
The world’s largest independent ad tech company broke character this week. Before snatching up Paris-based ad viewability firm Alenty, as AdExchanger was first to report, AppNexus had been historically inclined to build rather than buy owing to its strong engineering culture. But that may be changing as bargains present themselves in the form of mature […]
Two months after the Media Ratings Council (MRC) green-lighted viewable impressions as a viable metric for transacting display ads, real-time bidding platform AppNexus has acquired French viewability vendor Alenty for an undisclosed sum. The deal closed Monday, AppNexus confirmed to AdExchanger. Paris-based Alenty was founded in 2007 by CEO Laurent Nicolas and CTO Nicolas Thomas. It claims to […]
Note: Story updated to point out Forrester analyst Susan Bidel, who authored the report, is a former PubMatic employee. Bidel tells AdExchanger she does not hold equity in the company. Forrester Research‘s Wave reports are harrowing events for tech startups, which find themselves labeled Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders or – heaven forbid – Risky Bets. And those labels often stick. […]
AppNexus has laid off half its 44 part-time auditors as the company looks to streamline its operations in that area. The auditing department is responsible for hundreds of thousands of creative executions and pieces of inventory that run through AppNexus’ system. The team was constructed of a mix of full- and part-time auditors and contractors […]
Oracle’s deal to acquire Responsys comes with a key question: What will Oracle’s future hold for digital advertisers? When Oracle snapped up Eloqua for $810 million last December, a chain reaction of subsequent purchases followed, from Salesforce.com’s acquisition of ExactTarget to Adobe’s Neolane buy mere months later. As competitors rush to build or acquire digital […]
Over the past few months, French real-time bidding (RTB) services provider AlephD has expanded work with AppNexus with particular focus on French publishers. Maxime Agostini, AlephD’s CEO, said that despite greater adoption of programmatic methods by advertisers there aren’t many services aimed at the sell side. Although AlephD is already integrated with AppNexus, Agostini said […]
Millennial Media reported Q3 earnings after business close today, including updates on its acquisition of competitor Jumptap, its new mobile ad exchange, and Omni Measurement tools. The mobile ad network’s new exchange product, Millennial Media Exchange (MMX), was created through a partnership with AppNexus. More than two dozen buyers including DSPs, agency trading desks and […]
If you made it to AppNexus’ New York Summit on Wednesday, you might have come away feeling that the programmatic frontier has been largely colonized — at least as pertains to traditional display — and the remaining work to be done is along the lines of tree clearing and swamp draining. VC investment has slowed […]
There are plenty of reasons, mostly technological, why integrated desktop/smartphone/tablet campaigns are tough to pull off for brand advertisers. Throw in an exchange-based ad strategy and the complexity goes through the roof. Ryan Christensen, AppNexus’ VP of product, teamed up with Julienne Thompson, VP for programmatic business at mobile ad network (and AppNexus partner) Millennial […]
Supply-side platform PubMatic has created an advisory unit as it looks to differentiate itself from other publisher technology providers. As CEO Rajeev Goel tells it, publishers’ use of programmatic is expanding in a variety of ways and many want to take more control with a “do-it-yourself” sensibility. “Our industry is at a tipping point, as […]
While the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act registration is at the center of the US government shutdown and has faced criticism over technology glitches this week, healthcare-oriented contextual ad network Precision Health said its expansion into real-time bidding and “audience extension” through AppNexus has gone off without a hitch. Precision Health’s work with AppNexus has […]
Mike Nolet has stepped down from AppNexus, where he has served as CTO since the company’s founding six years ago. He will remain an advisor but vacate his board seat, which will be filled by President Michael Rubenstein. Nolet is a foundational character in the programmatic story, having helped build the world’s first ad exchange […]
