ad technology

Rubicon Project Buys Mobile Ad Start-Up Mobsmith for $10 Million

Peter Kafka in Media on May 23 at 7:06 am PT

The pitch: Now publishers can manage mobile ads in “real time.”

Adobe Moves Deeper Into the Ad Business

Peter Kafka in Media on November 1, 2011 at 7:18 pm PT

The software company has spent $2 billion on three deals over the past two years to break into the ad business. Expect more to come.

Google Will Keep Washington Regulators Busy With $400 Million AdMeld Deal

Peter Kafka in Media on June 9, 2011 at 2:34 pm PT

Google’s full employment program for anti-trust regulators continues: The search giant is in the final stages of a deal to purchase ad tech company AdMeld, a deal that will automatically generate scrutiny from Washington.

Metamarkets Raises $6 Million To Help Big Web Publishers Corral Big Data

Peter Kafka in Media on May 31, 2011 at 4:00 am PT

A ad tech startup that promises to help Web publishers make sense of all the data their ad sales generate.

Peer39 Raises Another $5 Million for Ad Targeting That Promises Not to Invade Your Privacy

Peter Kafka in Media on May 19, 2011 at 12:58 pm PT

The display ad company adds fuel with an inside round.

News Byte

Yet More Money for Ad Tech: Turn Raises $20 Million

Peter Kafka in Media on January 5, 2011 at 9:25 am PT

A lot of smart people think there’s already too much money jammed into advertising technology start-ups, but more keeps coming, anyway. The latest infusion is a $20 million funding round for Turn Inc., a “demand-side platform” that’s supposed to help advertisers buy lots of display advertising inventory. Turn has raised $57 million to date, which means any exit is going to have to be very big to make investors happy. Reminder: Google bought DSP Invite Media for $81 million last year. And Microsoft, another potential acquirer, has thrown its weight behind rival DSP AppNexus.

Google Cuts Off AppNexus, and the Ad Tech World Shudders

Peter Kafka in Media on November 30, 2010 at 4:57 pm PT

AppNexus, a high-flying ad technology start-up, just had a very bad few days. The next few weeks could be rough, too.

The Ad Tech Boom, Explained

Peter Kafka in Media on November 1, 2010 at 3:30 am PT

And parodied. Because in this case, “We provide scalable advertising solutions to integrated demand-side platforms that deliver serious ROI” is a joke. But normally, it isn’t.

Google’s Final Price Tag for Invite Media: $81 Million

Peter Kafka in Media on June 9, 2010 at 11:55 am PT

That’s less than some ad-tech players would like, but it’s plenty for Invite’s employees and investors.

Exclusive: Google Buys Invite Media

Peter Kafka in Media on June 2, 2010 at 6:18 am PT

Google has indeed bought ad technology start-up Invite Media, I’ve confirmed with multiple sources. As I wrote last month, Invite is a three-year-old “demand-side platform” designed to help buyers navigate high-volume display-advertising exchanges–like the one Google launched last year.