The week in programmatic buying and ad tech at a glance
Google announces premium video exchange, adds direct buying to DoubleClick
Google announced a new premium exchange called Google Partner Select, which will auction inventory from a “select set” of top video publishers in the tech giant’s network. The names of participating publishers haven’t been released, but Time Inc. is quoted in Google’s blog post announcement. Google also said it’s adding programmatic direct sales capabilities to DoubleClick so advertisers can buy reserved inventory at negotiated fixed rates. Competing sell-side tech players like AppNexus, Rubicon and Pubmatic have all made similar plays for programmatic direct dollars in recent months.
Read more at Forbes
MediaMath now has $175MM to play with
Demand-side technology company MediaMath has raised an impressive $73.5 million series C funding — more than five times the amount it raised in the previous round ($14M). On top of the new funding, it borrowed more than $100 million through Silicon Valley Bank, bringing its total cash assets to $175 million. Expect to see a lot of expansion in the near future.
Read more at Advertising Age
AppNexus acquires Alenty for MRC-accredited viewability measurement
Since the Media Ratings Council approved viewability measurement for widespread use in March, the market has seen a frenzy of measurement partnerships in display and video. Exchange provider AppNexus is the latest to get in the viewability game, by acquiring measurement provider Alenty for its MRC-accredited viewability measure. The announcement came shortly before AppNexus’ London Summit, where the company played up its 500% year-over-year mobile revenue growth, and rumours swirled about a potential $100 million funding round.
Read about AppNexus at Ad Exchanger
GroupM wants out of open ad exchanges
In an interview with Beet.tv, GroupM Chief Digital Investment Officer, North America, Ari Bluman said that WPP’s media agencies plan to make a collective exit from open exchange buying by the end of this year. From now on, “100% of programmatic will be private deals,” he says, meaning GroupM will stick to premium channels like programmatic direct and private exchanges.
Watch the interview at Beet.tv
Trade Desk adds Nielsen OCR
The Trade Desk, a top-five demand-side platform in Canada by trade volume, has added Nielsen’s Online Campaign Ratings performance measurement to its display and video buying platform. OCR measures reach, frequency, viewability and other core metrics across digital ad campaigns. The addition makes the Trade Desk the latest in a slew of DSPs to integrate the product, including BrightRoll and Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager.
Read the release
Twitter buys Namo Media for native
Twitter’s push into native mobile ads is no secret, and its latest acquisition, Namo Media, will help publishers integrate the ads into their mobile apps. The company offers adaptive templates that developers can use to create custom ad placements.
Read more at The Next Web
Around the Web
The week’s best features and opinion
• Pay attention: Net neutrality rules could shake up online advertising (Advertising Age)
Expect longer ad load times and increased publisher rates to subsidize better service
• Seven transparency questions advertisers need to ask their agency (Media Post)
According to the ANA, 43% of U.S. marketers feel transparency concerns have increased in the last year
• Procter & Gamble aims to buy 70% of digital ads programmatically (Advertising Age)
Inside the strategy of the biggest CPG brand in programmatic
