The complexity of digital advertising requires more than current technological capabilities can handle at scale. Still, there's no doubt "the days of spending an entire day pulling and formatting reports from various systems and platforms are quickly coming to an end," according to Centro CEO Shawn Riegsecker.

The CEOs of both Sizmek and Rocket Fuel respond to wide-ranging questions about the acquisition and what it means for the industry as a whole.

Beyond the way fake sites and fake clicks can take advantage of unsophisticated marketers in the overcrowded programmatic market, another industry has entered the fray: financial markets.

Blockchain technology is where ad tech may turn next to address many of the pesky problems that come with programmatic marketing. Using this disruptive technology, marketers may be able to take more control of ad delivery, verification, ensure safe and transparent data storage, and develop a counterweight to the centralized and opaque duopoly that is Facebook and Google.

Marc Goldberg, CEO of Trust Metrics, suggests ways to push back against fake news sites, which have been spreading.