That is one of the observations Wall Street analyst Brian Wieser draws in a new report sent to investors this morning summing up the recent spate of advertising technology deals, including some high-profile IPOs, and an even higher profile acquisition (AOL's deal to purchase Adap.tv). At least part of all this activity, he says, is being rationalized by the notion that programmatic media buying -- and selling -- is beginning to transform the way Madison Avenue operates.

Personalized ad tech provider ChoiceStream has released their August Audience Cost Calendar (with July data), which is a report that looks at segments trading programmatically, the average cost of impressions within each segment, and then gives a value (or index rating) relative to all segments. So a "100" rating indicates that a particular segment is trading at the average of all segments. A "120" would indicate trading 20% above average, etc. One of the biggest risers was Hyundai, which rose 226 spots to 56th. While not the only Automotive segment to see big gains (Buick rose 229 spots, Suzuki rose …

U.S. media spend on real-time bidding (RTB) dropped 13% in July, and total impressions saw a 7% decrease, according to new data from Rubicon Project's real-time marketplace app. July marked the fourth straight month that impressions decreased. Additionally, July had the largest month-over-month decrease in spend since December 2012 - January 2013. On the global scale, spend decreased 12% and impressions were also down 7%. Looking at the bar graph depicting U.S. spend (see below), the totals are about the same now as they were back in November 2012. After major fluctuations around the holiday season, RTB spend has remained …

"Future developments will, however, not just depend on technology, but also, most importantly, on people being comfortable with interactive technology." The quote comes from Kaveh Memari, CEO of Renew Orb, who posted it on the digital out-of-home media company's website Monday after it discontinued a test in London that served personally targeted ads on digital trash bins that could detect and identify individuals based on the MAC address of their smartphones. The test generated a flurry of coverage in the U.K, but nary a word in the U.S. trade press. But Mamari is right. It ultimately will depend on people …

Centro this morning announced the addition of Michael Radovancevich as chief technology officer. Radovancevich joins Centro from Oracle, where he served as group vice president of development. He is one of several senior execs to join Centro in the past year and a half, including Kelly Wenzel (CMO) and Scott Neslund (EVP). RTM Daily was able to ask Radovancevich some questions, including what draws him to the ad tech industry, who he would pick first in an ad tech fantasy draft, and what company other than Centro he would want to be CTO for. After congratulating him on his new …

In the programmatic marketplace, one topic that always leads to a good conversation is brand safety. What makes something brand safe? Who decides whether or not it qualifies? Will there ever be a point in time where almost everyone is at ease with the topic? "'Brand safe' is not 1 or 0 value," Sauls said. "It's basically a set of cautions and approaches to buying media to make sure you are placing your brand next to content that [will have a] positive impact." The fact that different advertisers will find different things important in their quest for brand safety only …

Yesterday's big news in the advertising world - and especially in the programmatic advertising world - was AOL's $405 million acquisition of online video ad platform Adap.tv. Rumors had been swirling around about a potential IPO for Adap.tv before new rumors about a potential AOL buyout (which ended up being true) surfaced. RTM Daily had the chance to ask Adap.tv's CEO Amir Ashkenazi a couple of questions about the deal, including why Adap.tv went the acquisition route rather than the public route, what will change at the company as a result of the deal, and what it means for the …

I wrote in RTBlog last week that the ad tech marketplace has begun consolidating, and today's AOL/Adap.TV news only solidifies this. The programmatic online video ad platform was purchased by AOL for $405 million via a mix of cash and AOL stock. But the purpose of this blog isn't to tell you about the acquisition (Online Media Daily has you covered there). This post raises the issue of consolidation, "end-to-end solutions," and why companies with high aspirations need to start planning where they really see themselves in five years (note: Adap.TV was founded in 2007, just six years ago). Despite …

New research from Nielsen validates what marketers have been banking on for awhile. There is a relationship between Twitter conversations about a specific TV program and the number of tune-ins. Actually, it's a two-way relationship. Ratings cause tweets and tweets cause ratings. However, the relationship only appears to be good for the TV broadcasters, not outside brands looking to brand-jack the event. I feel as though the Oreo Super Bowl tweet only seems like the biggest deal in the world because of the industry we are in. And as more and more brands try to recreate that moment, the more …

It's time to rethink how we use the word "digital," and how it relates to the ways we plan, buy, and yes, even programmatically trade, media. Let me begin by asking you a simple question: When I say the word "digital," what media come to mind? Most likely, it's online, and associated platforms like social and mobile. Or maybe it's formats like display, video, or apps. But do you also think about other media, including television, magazines, newspapers or even out-of-home? Maybe not, but you definitely should be, because they are increasingly -- or in the case of television, mostly …