• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 17, 2011

Lining up a solid list of publishers, supply-side platform PubMatic on Tuesday announced the acquisition of ReviNet. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We believe that ultimately, there are going to be a handful of platforms at scale," said Rajeev Goel, co-founder and CEO of PubMatic. "There are multiple inventory sources out there, but high-quality inventory and audience at scale -- and with specific verticals built out that are open to real-time bidding -- gives PubMatic an advantage."

Considered a relatively small ad optimization provider, ReviNet still boasts partnerships with 57 publishers, including The Christian Science Monitor, Boston Herald, The Sporting News and A.H. Belo.

With the deal, PubMatic says its U.S. reach is now 218 million unique users -- or 95% of the U.S. Internet population.

For a share of earned ad revenue, PubMatic -- along with rivals like The Rubicon Project and AdMeld -- factors in pricing data, available inventory and publisher guidelines to determine which ad network is sent an ad impression.

With the addition of ReviNet's 15-person team, PubMatic says it also achieved its hiring goals of doubling to 200 employees in 2011. That said, PubMatic's future remains far from certain.

Earlier this year, Donovan Data Systems sent a shock wave through the industry after it unveiled a new platform for media planners and buyers to buy top online inventory directly from their computers.

Developed in partnership with The Rubicon Project, the Direct Publisher Gateway is so imposing because Donovan is the industry's top supplier of systems and software used by Madison Avenue to process media buys.

According to Goel, "PubMatic's greatest challenge moving forward is the same challenge our category has had from the beginning, and one we're making huge progress on -- changing the online advertising dynamics so publishers have the same advantages that advertisers have had for a decade."

In addition to the deal, PubMatic is currently building out its European presence and is doubling its engineer base to over 100.

"In 2011, publishers have the most control over their inventory and pricing that they have ever had since 2000," Goel added. "We are now on the brink of a seller's market."

A privately held company, PubMatic is backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Nexus Venture Partners, and Helion Ventures.