• by Felicia Greiff , December 28, 2015

Real-Time Daily had an eventful year, with ad blocking, acquisitions, layoffs, native ads, conversions -- and of course, the ever-evolving journey from analog to digital -- capturing readers' attention. Viewability sparked debate and inspired new guidelines. Big players took programmatic in-house. Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion in a move focused on data and ad technology. And the industry continues to take in big dollars--eMarketer’s 2015 Programmatic Advertising report predicted that by 2017 programmatic video spending will total $7.4 billion, 65% of the total video spend.

Without further ado, here are Real-Time Daily's five most-read stories published in 2015:

1. Gravity4 Bids $350 Million To Buy Ad Tech Firm Rocket Fuel: In May, Gravity4 placed a $350 million bid to buy Rocket Fuel. In a letter sent to Rocket Fuel’s board of directors, Gravity4 CEO Gurbaksh Chahal said he observed that "Rocket Fuel has hit a road block in this environment, and continues to struggle with its declining gross margins." Rocket Fuel rejected the May offer and a second one from Gravity4 in September.
2. ESPN To Launch TV DMP: Will Enable Brands To Target Audiences, Not Ratings: In a testament to the changing world of TV buying, ESPN became the first major TV network to provide a proprietary data management platform (DMP) enabling advertisers and agencies to plan and buy programming based not on traditional sample-based TV ratings, but in a way akin to how agencies and trading desks buy audiences online.
3. Nielsen Acquires DMP eXelate, Enters Programmatic Audience-Buying Marketplace:Nielsen acquired a leading DMP for somewhere in the $200 million range -- an important move for the company (especially if data-based targeting will one day usurp sample-based measurement planning and buying).
4. Gleason: Xaxis Focused On 'Programmatic Direct' After 'Nearly' Abandoning Open RTB: Brian Gleason, CEO of Americas at Xaxis, told Real-Time Daily that the company wouldn't abandon ad exchanges and RTB, but acknowledged that up until a few months ago, Xaxis was "almost led down that path." 
5. AOL Launches Cross-Screen Programmatic Ad Platform 'One': AOL launched its one-stop-shop programmatic ad platform, "One By AOL," including media-buying technologies for display, video and television, inventory access, audience management, as well as measurement and analytics.