Ad-Tech Merger Frenzy?

The advertising technology industry is undeniably hot. By one estimate, over $2.5 billion has been invested in nearly 200 companies spanning 24 categories. The upside to all this activity: innovation keeps coming. The advent of ad exchanges gave birth to demand-side platforms and data exchanges, giving rise to agency trading desks. But it’s also led to innumerable point solutions, like ad verification, tag management and dynamic ad creative. That gives rise to the downside of all this: it’s a complex, messy landscape that’s hard and expensive to navigate. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt said this week, “It’s still too complicated to get a campaign up. It’s just too hard.”

A small step toward consolidation took place with click-fraud detector Click Forensics buying ad verifier Adometry. Our question of the week is, “Will the ad technology market see massive consolidation in 2011?” Put your answer in the comments below, or add your perspective on Quora, Twitter or Facebook. We’ll publish the best responses on Friday.

More in Media

How a ‘TikTok doctorate’ made 26-year-old Griffin Johnson a venture capitalist

Griffin Johnson made it big on TikTok back in 2019, now he runs a VC firm and uses his marketing expertise in the Derby world.

Media Briefing: Publishers debate the value of AI licensing and GEO

Publishers may be gaining visibility in AI search, but execs say the lack of traffic and licensing revenue is raising doubts about the payoff.

Meta’s bid to woo creators to Facebook just might work, despite its recent legal woes

Meta’s recent legal woes likely won’t deter creators from trying out its new Facebook Creator Track, according to marketing experts.