The programmatic ad industry's "flight to quality" may be overstated -- at least at this juncture -- with GroupM's cold shoulder to open real-time bidding (RTB) exchanges being the most common, and perhaps overused, example of a "trend" starter. However, it may not be hackneyed to the point of complete loss of significance -- as it shouldn't.

M&A activity in the ad tech space has continued through summer and into fall with MediaMath, a major demand-side platform (DSP), on Thursday announcing its acquisition of Upcast, a social ad tech platform. In the "build, buy, partner" debate, ad tech companies seem increasingly content with buying to round out or otherwise add to their "tech stacks."

Many in the digital ad industry believe the Media Rating Council (MRC) standard for viewability of 50% of an ad being in-view for one continuous second -- and two seconds for video ads -- is simply a starting point and not strong enough to elicit growth. In fact, some recent data suggests the viewability rates have actually regressed.

If, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, then this video is worth about 10,000. Actually, this video is worth 10,000 of something: It's a two-minute video (a time-lapse of 24 hours) showing an ad fraud bot racking up 10,000 impressions on an infected computer.

Two of the largest holding companies in the world -- Publicis Groupe and Interpublic Group -- made headlines this morning, and programmatic advertising was part of the reason why. The combined announcements also show that programmatic, tech-driven ad buying is no longer relegated to the slums.

PubMatic, a supply-side platform, this week announced it is moving into the old New York Times building located at 229 West 43rd Street. While it's not quite "out with the old and in with the new" -- the New York Times recently upgraded to a brand new building -- the announcement offers a tinge of that sentiment.

When Twitter announced this morning that it is launching a new set of native ad features -- using Namo Media's technology, which it acquired in June -- my first thought was not of Twitter, MoPub, or really any type of advertising. My first thought was about the weather.

Real-time advertising -- whether it be via programmatic campaigns, tweets during live events, or "right time" offers sent to a mobile phone -- has taken off in the advertising world, but it turns out advertisers aren't the only ones impacted by the instant gratification-ation of the world.

Programmatic advertising is expected to help fuel growth in the U.S. online display advertising marketplace over the next five years from $19.8 billion to $37.6 billion, and the "flight to quality" is a major reason why. The numbers come from a Forrester report projecting the growth of the U.S. online display ad space through 2019. The report says exchange-based programmatic advertising has gone "mainstream," and will "seduce an increasing number of advertising and publishers in the years to come."

Havas, an agency holding company heavily invested in the programmatic ad space, last week launched what it is calling a "meta DSP," or demand-side platform. Real-Time Daily wanted to learn more about the "meta DSP" and spoke with Lawrence Taylor, global head of Affiperf, the new programmatic division within Havas in which the "meta DSP" is housed.