Join us Sept. 14-16 in Miami to connect with top publishing leaders
AOL is beefing up its ad tech capabilities further with the acquisition of video ad network and exchange operator Adap.tv. The move follows AOL’s recent attempts to reposition itself in the market at as a leading ad tech provider and a challenger to Google’s “stack” of ad buying and selling technologies.
According to the company’s earnings, which it also released today, third-party network revenue was one of the fastest growing areas of AOL’s business last year. Overall ad revenue rose 6.9 percent, but network revenue growth outpaced it at 8.9 percent. AOL hopes the addition of Adap.tv will add to that growth.
AOL has doubled down on ad tech in the past few months. It hired former Razorfish CEO Bob Lord to head up its Networks division, which houses its ad tech assets, in July.
CEO Tim Armstrong also told reporters a couple of weeks ago that the company has been investing heavily in its technology products, and that acquisitions were likely. He also said the company plans to start selling access to its programmatic buying tools in something akin to an TV upfront.
It remains to be seen if marketers will ever buy services from it in that manner, but it’s clear that AOL now wants to be seen as a major ad technology contender. It’s an area in which it’s historically failed to impress despite some high profile acquisitions.
More to follow.
More in Media
Molson Coors ditches its TV-era workflow to move at creator speed, quadrupling engagement
Molson Coors partnered with Movers+Shakers’ new consultancy group to completely overhaul its approach to creators, and it’s working.
Media Briefing: Publishers are rebuilding their newsrooms for the post-Google era
Publishers like USA Today Co. and NYT are reshaping audience teams and creating new roles to prepare for an AI search future.
How 11 retail media networks are trying to differentiate themselves to advertisers
With the launch of myriad retail media networks, these new divisions of various consumer-facing companies are now fighting for ad dollars.