• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, July 19, 2010

"The vast majority of businesses are allowing the buy side to dictate a lot," says Mark Papia, senior vp of performance marketing at Fox Interactive Media, says during the OMMA Ad Nets conference. "The general economic conditions have a lot to do with that."

But ad networks will grow.

"As you see critical mass grow you are also going to achieve an increase in prices," says Anthony Katsur, general manager of MediaMath. "Performance will dictate value. You'll see a stabilization and increase in rates."

Panelists agree, however, until that time, there could be some massive consolidation among the 400 some-odd ad networks out there.