Enter the Stack

July 13, 2011 • 1 min read • By Carla Rover

What it is: A stack is the collection of products, services and technologies. Taken together, the layers make up an entire solution to a client’s needs. For example, Google’s advertising stack includes a demand-side platform, ad network, ad exchange and soon supply-side platform and data exchange.

How it Works: An ad technology provider’s stack enables it to build out products and services that meet the needs of its clientele. As those needs change, companies either employ new technologies to adapt to industry demand or acquire other companies, as Google did with AdMeld, to add capabilities. Companies without a sufficient technology stack to provide core services end up dependent on third-party technology providers, as do their clients. This means less control, and sometimes less transparency, for clients in their relationships with the technology vendor.

Why it Matters: Technology vendors’ desire to build out their technology stack is fueling industry-wide consolidation. This means that advertisers, in theory, get a comprehensive product range as well as more interoperability with other platforms. This has led to the birth of new hybrid models of online ad service, incorporating ad exchange, ad targeting and third-party analytics, built on the stacks of ad technology vendors.

Assessment: There is no doubt that the ad tech industry is heavily fragmented. There are many providers who are FNCs — features not products. Consolidation, in the form of the stack, is inevitable from big players like Google, Microsoft, AOL and even others like Adobe, IBM and SAP. Clients may end up with an industry featuring a few providers incorporating most ad services.

https://digiday.com/?p=3805

Digiday Top Stories

Navigating Economic Instability
Newsletter publishers say they continue to see uptick in revenue despite advertising slowdown
At a time when larger media companies are feeling the pressure of the economic downturn and advertising slowdown, newsletter businesses continue to be in a period of revenue growth.
Brand Safety
TikTok’s CEO faces bipartisan skepticism in first Congressional hearing on security concerns
The hearing comes amid calls to remove TikTok from government devices and in some cases even ban it entirely.
Member Exclusive
Media Briefing: What to expect at the Digiday Publishing Summit
As DPS draws nearer, top pain points for publishers are coming to light.
Sponsored
How ironSource’s hybrid mediation solution is enhancing mobile ad monetization
Produced in partnership with Marketecture The following article highlights an interview between Nimrod Zuta, ironSource’s senior vice president of product, and Eric Seufert, general partner at Heracles Capital. Register to watch more of the discussion and learn how advertisers are leveraging hybrid mediation solutions to fuel more effective ad monetization. Advertisers are facing a particular […]
Content & Commerce
New app launches through Apple hoping to win with ‘zero-party data’ when others haven’t
Caden's new app lets users connect data from their Uber, Amazon, Netflix and other accounts in exchange for money. Will it take off?
Gaming & Esports
‘The next level for us’: The New York Times eyes better retention for games in subscription drive
The games division is focusing on finding new ways to mine the inherent competitive nature of games like encouraging people to play multiple games in a single session or through new achievements and rewards for progression.