In my previous instapost I mused: I'm now thinking that AppNexus has been committed to the supply side (an SSP- platform licensee and are using a "cloud infrastructure" - - to aggregate all that available (yes - in 'real time') inventory - - - - - - - AppNexus have said that it maintains it's (hmm? cough, Microsoft's?) own cloud through three databases around the world & use TWO Netezza machines as a data warehouse solution.
Yet on it's website, it clearly shows that AppNexus is a whole lot much more than my own assumption made.
AppNexus [www.AppNexus.com - our solutions], tells the following:
Real-time is Real
Real-time bidding will be a multi-million dollar business in the next five years. - - Ad networks, demand-side platforms, trade desks and other leading online advertising companies need a core competency in RTB – and a fully white labeled, open API-driven platform designed especially for their needs. - These companies, including eight of the top 15 ad networks, are increasingly tapping AppNexus (comScore, June 2010).
We provide a comprehensive, state-of-the-art platform, and access to the major exchanges & aggregators, as well as cloud infrastructure scalable to billions of ad impressions a day with a layer of real-time decisioning on top.
We don’t operate a media services business and don’t compete with our clients. - - - -Instead, we are a trusted display advertising partner, giving them access to real-time bidding, advanced data acquisition and use, IAB-certified ad serving, reporting and analytics.
AppNexus stays at the forefront of technological innovation in the advertising space through our world-class talent, top-of-the-line hardware and software infrastructure, and elegantly built products.
Core Infrastructure to Run a Successful Business......... AppNexus has built a platform designed as core ad technology infrastructure that our clients can seamlessly plug their businesses into. From onboarding data to buying and selling both real-time and direct inventory, to sophisticated analytics & simplified client billing, we build toolsets for our clients & then get out of their way so they can put their media savvy to work.
- A View of the Entire Internet: Finally — single point access to all user and reporting data. Our clients can track and target users across their managed inventory — and real-time inventory - to every single ad impression on the Internet.
- Valuation Tools: Our algorithms are optimized to inventory, user and media — for any goal our clients have, from CPA to CPC to CPM and more.
- Granular Analytics: From impressions served to clicks and conversions, clients can precisely track campaigns to raise CPMs, accurately bill clients, and manage financial relationships.
- Superior Data Integration: AppNexus is singularly proficient at integrating our clients’ unique data into our platform - on almost every impression, no matter the supply source, through our server-side user data store. Our clients can also plug in any third-party data.
- Global Reach: AppNexus opened a third data center internationally in June to support our growing community of international clients and reduce latency for global inventory. Features like multiple currency and timezone capabilities and 24-hour support round out our commitment to worldwide operations.
In this article [http://lnkd.in/e2QHhM] we are told that Microsoft’s exchange is built in conjunction with AppNexus, a demand-side technology platform (or DSP) built to facilitate real-time ad buying — a practice that promises advertisers the ability to target ads on a user-by-user basis with very little waste.
AppNexus are clearly "the daddy of them all" or, are intended to be. It will separate other Exchanges (for starters) by acting as a 'fire-wall' for each's all important (own) inventory/data.
We're told here [by Dennis Buchheim, who is the GM of scale display for Microsoft @ ClickZ http://t.co/2S0BV4K] that:
...."This move may help Microsoft distinguish itself from chief exchange rivals DoubleClick Ad Exchange and Yahoo's Right Media - - both of which remain relatively open & therefore [they are] somewhat more frightening to major brands."
"Right now we think we're leading the charge in bringing premium inventory into a RTB environment," Microsoft's Buchheim said. But no mention of Facebook, at all. - Where does it fit in to RTB & with who? Or, Twitter, for that matter. - It is clear that Google [Google Suspends AppNexus From Exchange] were not so keen about (what must have been) a 'one way street' in terms of Google's data leakage, I feel.
Google had acquired Invite Media! [http://bit.ly/dLXN0h] And, it's a 'universal buying platform', no?
But the likes of a Mexad, Triggit and AdReady can also (it seems?) get you a 'one click' access to Exchange inventory from say, a Microsoft (via AppNexus), Right Media, OpenX, Google's DoubleClick, AdMeld Pubmatic & 'others' with Triggit (as advised on it's website) offering Agencies/advertisers such immense Scalability, of OVER 12 billion+ real-time impressions a day.
And all likely to be using the AppNexus platform? (Hardly)
The truth most likely is, that when [France's Orange ditched Google's DoubleClick for startup OpenX] it was probably about that same 'point' of guarding data from Google. [OpenX Market - Orange Ad Market]
www.mexad.com/english/
www.adready.com/
www.triggit.com/index.html
Then, there's the likes of Clickable, too. - seekingalpha.com/instablog/36191-looking...
So what global marketplace are those above (for starters?) next, to be 'playing in'? Google are clearly aligned (at present - and, according to traffic from Alexa) within the Looksmart AdCenter marketplace, albeit a very confined marketplace as such. (Check 'ClickStream',here)
www.alexa.com/siteinfo/looksmart.com#
Looksmart have told of concentrating it's 'latest' effort on performance based marketing that would have an emphasis on re-targeting, I feel.
I also feel that AppNexus and Looksmart have a lot 'in common' when you take into account Microsoft's closeness to both technologies. (With the Looksmart AdCenter 'platform' and marketplace built with the aid of both Microsoft & IACI's ask.com. I have so often said (and) it is my opinion, that they had [no doubt] built both AppNexus & a 'clone' of it, in the Looksmart AdCenter marketplace.- current report)
seekingalpha.com/instablog/36191-looking...
Looksmart may well be "re-targeting" at the moment across it's own 'mini' ad network & or (at least), what's generally been considered.. as being companies in the non-proprietary search industry including our company, LookSmart, as well as companies like Ask, AdKnowledge, 7Search, and Advertise.com. - I have noted that 7search.com have only just 'returned' to Looksmart's "Traffic" (to AdCenter), as per Alexa.
seekingalpha.com/instablog/36191-looking...
Confusing? Absolutely! Deceptive? - Well, at the 'end of the day' I will leave that to LOOK shareholders to decide on, but:
It truly is .... a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive”. Sir Walter Scott - Yet in recent times Zach Coelius (the CEO of Triggit) has 'poo-haa-ed' Sir Walter Scott it seems, in making his (in-famous?) quote, that: "ALL Warfare is based on Deception"
seekingalpha.com/instablog/36191-looking...
LOOK: (Mon, Apr 4, 2011) At 3:59PM EDT: $1.75
0.15 (+9.37%)LC
ps; "A diverse set of leading online advertising companies including eBay, Microsoft, and Collective Media use AppNexus to capitalize on its unparalleled global ad serving & RTB infrastructure."bc-NY-AppNexus-appoints 03-28 - Yahoo!
Yahoo's Shashi Seth-SVP of Search products on Search Re-targeting:
"Search retargeting brings the ability to connect the dots between search advertising, which is user intent driven, and display advertising which is creative and emotional in nature."
Yahoo!’s Search Direct May Leverage Search Retargeting Says SVP Seth
Disclosure: Long LOOK and happy to be so....
.