Who is dictating the ad network business? Look to the economy -- past and future. "The vast majority of businesses are allowing the buy side to dictate a lot," says Mark Papia, senior vp of performance marketing at Fox Interactive Media, says during the OMMA Ad Nets conference. "The general economic conditions have a lot to do with that." But ad networks will grow. "As you see critical mass grow you are also going to achieve an increase in prices," says Anthony Katsur, general manager of MediaMath. "Performance will dictate value. You'll see a stabilization and increase …

It's a brave new world for media buying, online at least, according to Jared Lansky of Admeld, who predicted that "the majority of media will be transacted in a real-time fashion" in the not-too-distant future.

Ad agencies are threatened with competitive obsolescence because of their inability to buy into new technology, according to Josh Wepman of GCA Savvian, who cited structural reasons for this inability. Large holding companies tend to buy with stock and borrowed cash with prices based on earnings and a precise calculation of future prospects. New technology, which is by definition full of as-yet-untapped (and therefore difficult-to-quantify) potential. This will make it harder for publicly traded hodling companies to justify purchases to their shareholders. However, more technology-oriented companies (both public and private) will recognize this potential and be able to act more …

New York investment banker Joshua Wepman, vice president at GCA Savvian, provided some insight into the ad display landscape. During OMMA Ad Nets, he called the market "overcrowded" with 24 categories supported by 192 companies where venture capitalists infuse about $2.5 billion in funding for the $8 million display market. Compare that with the $17 billion search advertising market. There will be consolidation, he told attendees. Wepman also confirmed data is the new currency in the targeting world, but not all data is traded equally. Social sharing produces the most value data, followed by search intent, and retargeting. …

"The effect of audience targeting has to be devalue the importance of context," according to Joshua Wepman, VP of GCA Savvian. Wepman acknowledged that premium content will always be important and command some sort of premium price, but "Why would someone pay for the front page of the New York Times... when you capture the same person" elsewhere for less money.

Courtesy of Cory Trefilleti, summing up the conclusions of the first panel: 1) technology matters, including new targeting techniques that allow audience targeting as well as various mixes of audience and contextual targeting, but 2) content is still king, because crappy content just doesn't work as well, and 3) clients need to pay more. Elaborating this last point, I would say "clients need to pay more to get more," as publishers, networks, and agencies begin offering more sophisticated ways of reaching and measuring audiences.

For all the changes wrought by the Internet, the quality of content and the scale it offers in terms of audience reach are still paramount concerns for large advertisers, according to the panelists at the OMMA AdNets conference hosted by MediaPost. Dave Martin, senior vice-president of Ignited, amended his original invocation of the cliche "content is still king" to "good content is still king," adding "a crappy video will never compete" with well-produced, professional content. The continuing need for scale and quality, in turn, means that there is still an important role for ad and media agencies, even as some …

Cory Treffiletti, president and managing partner of Catalyst: SF, at the OMMA Ad Nets conference, questioned whether too much automation in the digital world may be creating a different role for digital media agencies. "We a spend on labor; I don't see that going away," says Dave Martin, senior vp of media for Ignited. "I want my clients to need me -- whatever it takes." This means even if the agency doesn't always makes money on it. That also means meeting and learning many new technologies and platforms to give clients the most alternatives. "We want our …

Cory Treffiletti, president and managing partner of Catalyst: SF, at the OMMA Ad Nets conference, questioned whether too much automation in the digital world may be creating a different role for digital media agencies. "We a spend on labor; I don't see that going away," says Dave Martin, senior vp of media for Ignited. "I want my clients to need me -- whatever it takes." This means even if the agency doesn't always makes money on it. That also means meeting and learning many new technologies and platforms to give clients the most alternatives. "We want our …

Agencies have begun to rely more on technology. People hammer the agency business and say it's broken. They don't have enough expertise in technology. But what happens when the agency needs to hire technology strategists to drive these sophisticated platforms. How will the agencies step up, asks Cory Treffiletti, president and managing partner at Catalyst:SF. Dave Martin, SVP, Media, Ignited, says margins are slim enough already. He doesn't think Ignited will swap out a media planner for a Ph.D., and pay more for the expertise. "We charge for time and doubt our customers will pay more," but how do these …