Sometimes I think we get so caught up by the hype about how ad tech is, or will, transform advertising that we forget it is fundamentally is about tech.

This morning, I received a dispatch from Prague-based ad network and programmatic market operator R2B2, including an analysis of 2018's programmatic market activity based on its "RTB Index." I cannot begin to suggest the index is representative of other markets, especially the U.S. So take these findings with a relative grain of salt depending on what marketplace you operate in.

With economists once again uttering the "R" word, there has been surprisingly little discussion about how a new recession would impact the advertising marketplace. That's probably because historically, the ad industry lags going into economic recessions, But there is one segment of the industry that likely will feel an immediate impact -- so-called "ad tech" -- and maybe that won't be such a bad thing.

This week, the ad industry will take a major step toward so-called "omnichannel" integration as MediaMath rolls out a system with digital out-of-home platform Place Exchange that enables advertisers and agencies to buy desktop, mobile and digital out-of-home screens from a single dashboard.