• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, April 15, 2015

Programmatic media buying from Web to television continues to rise, but there's a reason: the flow of consistent data.  The trend continues to drive consolidation across the advertising industry such as AOL's acquisition of Adapt.tv, and Google's acquisition of mDialog.

Automation is making its way into platforms from online advertising to broadcast television supported by companies like AOL, Google DoubleClick, and Videology, as well as Rocket Fuel, which on Tuesday announced a partnership with Marketo to integrate with Ad Bridge. The real push this week points to programmatic media buying for television, with many deals being announced from the National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas.

Programmatic and the use of data continue to change the way brands partner with local media companies. The partnerships create a string of data resources that tie across media platforms and screens. Google in June 2014 acquired video advertising company mDialog, which now connects its media inventory with the DoubleClick Ad Exchange to help content owners sell programmatic ads across multiple screens.  

Brands are becoming more comfortable with programmatic buying platforms. IThe cross-screen platform ONE from AOL on Tuesday officially launched and became one of the first cross-screen programmatic ad platforms that optimize campaigns from Web to television. It did so by consolidating the industry and pulling in Adap.tv and AOP.

Even those companies that have yet to tie the Web to television eventually will. Videa, with deep roots in broadcast television, now provides a supply-side platform for automating data-driven broadcast TV campaigns. It announced a partnership Tuesday at NAB with Videology, which developed software for the demand side that allows users to programmatically plan and buy media similar to the way broadcast television is bought and sold.