• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 26, 2012

OMMA RTB programming chair got today’s event in Los Angeles off on a depressing note. He cited the Great Depression. Specifically, he struck analogies between some of the industrial changes that took place as a result of the Great Depression, and likened them to some of the changes taking place now because of things like RTB and programmatic trading, especially the rise of automation.

Noting that the Great Depression was also known as the rise of the “machine age,” Smith told attendees that raises controversial questions for all sides of the online display ad marketplace.

“Not only automation,” he said, “but whether it makes a more efficient market for everyone.”

Citing a popular version of the term RTB used by publishers, Smith noted some call it “race-to-bottom,” as opposed to the more common usage: Real-time-bidding. Of course, OMMA may be sending its own bias, dubbing it “real-time buying,” a decided buy-side perspective.