Trading desk giant Xaxis announced recently that it is taking a multiplatform approach to programmatic display ad buying. This is a powerful signal that the approach is prevailing over the single-platform alternative. But what does multiplatform mean -- and if it so advantageous for clients, why aren't more agencies doing it right now?

When the news broke about NewsCorp.'s announcement that it would no longer be releasing inventory to the ad nets, commentary from the industry got heated. Would this move dramatically affect the media business?Were networks and exchanges suddenly relegated to the sidelines and forced to compete for heaps of low-quality inventory? Or was this actually a change for the better, something networks and exchanges have been pushing for? A world where publishers would take the high road, selling fewer, premium ads at a higher CPM?

Everyone knows that ad technology is a remarkably fragmented and complex industry. As the Lumascape shows, the ecosystem is filled with small companies focused on dominating niche categories and new business models. So conventional wisdom (and the prediction of every analyst) is that consolidation is coming soon. According to this viewpoint, consolidation will be good for marketers, who are looking for simplicity that rivals TV ads. And the consolidation will supposedly be good for publishers, who are frustrated by the number of middlemen in between their inventory and the marketer's money. Despite this conventional wisdom, consolidation is neither inevitable nor …

You know those rumors you keep hearing about RTB, that 85% to 95% of all ads will be bought and sold programmatically by 2018? If the rate at which programmatic is growing this year is indication, those rumors may actually be accurate. As I shared in my recent presentation at OMMA RTB, while only 17% of ads among the top 1.000 brands were placed programmatically this past September, today that number has risen to 23%, and 70% of the top 1,000 advertisers are participating in programmatic. Let's be optimistic and hope that's indicative of more efficient trading in the years …

As Gabe Gottlieb from Adomic pointed out a few weeks back, even the brand advertisers working in programmatic today are leveraging it for direct-response campaigns. "We're still seeing advertisers concentrating their RTB budgets on lower funnel and more transactional goals, while reserving their brand spending for traditional direct channels," he'd said, noting that most of the inventory sold programmatically consisted of IAB legacy banners and buttons.

Mario Diez rejoined PointRoll earlier this year as CEO, after growing the New York market for the company nearly a decade ago. The man has a pretty informed perspective of the premium market, not only through his role at PointRoll, but also because Quadrant One, his previous employer, was among the first premium private exchanges. Yet, to his mind, the definition of premium RTB continues to evolve. "It is becoming less about the inventory and more about intelligence," he comments. "Advertisers will always be willing to pay more for ads that do more."

If there's one thing that all media sellers love, it's upfronts. Buyers commit a year to 18 months in advance to spend large amounts of money with specific companies, which now have a predictable revenue stream. Buyers have simplified their lives. Everyone wins. Or do they? Let's look at the three components:

Alanna Gombert may not think she's a pioneer, but she kind of is. Look at her job title: "Senior Director, Programmatic and Trading -- Cond Nast." How many premium publishing companies have entire teams dedicated to premium programmatic? How many people in this industry have a director-level title within those departments?

Properly harnessed, site retargeting can be a fantastic marketing tool. Our problem today is that few brands and agencies seem to be getting the most out of their retargeting campaigns. Useless measurement techniques, inflated budgets, and excessive margins are undermining what should be a highly effective marketing technique.

You'd think that Media6Degrees' (m6d) Andrew Pancer would envision a future for premium RTB centered on targeting. After all, m6d, the company for which Pancer serves as COO, began as a social targeting play, and now leads with its ProspectRank(TM) platform, which delivers ads only to "your next best customers." But that's not what Pancer thinks at all. In fact, his view of what defines premium is far more focused on execution than any aspect of targeting. His vision for RTB's evolution is also broader than you'd think.