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Category: Google

• Mike Baker in 140 Characters
  07/23/2010 | Categories: advertising, demand side platform, digital advertising, digital media, DSP, events, Google, innovation, media buying, trends, Yahoo!

  Per our recent blog post, DataXu CEO Mike Baker was a busy man this week. He was in L.A. Monday for an OMMA AdNets panel in the afternoon and Dapper panel in the evening. Then off to Chicago on Tuesday for a panel at the Right Media Open.

  With 3 panels in 2 days, Mike had plenty to say; in fact the Twittersphere did a great job of capturing some nuggets from each of Mike’s panels. But if you weren’t at the events, we thought these 140 character sound bites might be confusing, see the below for some additional context and detail from Mike Baker…

  • @audiencescience tweeted “#ommanets We’re at a time where every new feature is a company – Mike Baker – DataXu”

  • MB: This was part of a discussion regarding the increasing complexity of the media buying and ad technology space. Here I was making the point that instead of existing companies innovating to include new features, what seems to be happening is that entirely new companies are popping up with products that could have simply been rolled into existing technology platforms thus the space gets more complex and crowded.

  • @YahooAdBuzz tweeted (to the wrong DataXu handle – we’re @dataxuinc) “Mike Baker @dataxu says machines can do a better job than people at consolidating a media plan #RMO”

  • MB: At the Right Media Open, I was on a panel about the evolution of agencies in the digital media world. I’ve always been of the mind that machine-learning technology, like that of DataXu, can handle the tactical execution of media buying and planning, allowing overburdened media buyers  to focus their energy and time on more strategic marketing initiatives.

  • @gregoryhills tweeted “M. Baker appreciates volume discoutn [sic] OMG got from GOOG, but doesn’t understand why they’d use tech from supply side to do allocation #RMO”

  • MB: As I wrote about on Forbes.com a few months back, Google’s acquisition of Invite Media and expansion into the DSP (Demand Side Platform) space is exciting and validating for DSP technology, but there are still some concerns around Google’s neutrality.  Google is the largest digital media seller, yet they’re going to remain an impartial  buy- side advocate for OMG?  Seems unlikely.

  Stay tuned for more event news and updates and remember, you can always find us on Twitter at @dataxuinc!

  
  
• DataXu’s Expanding Sales Team and Bi-coastal Presence
  07/08/2010 | Categories: Google, innovation, sales

  Today, we’re thrilled to announce the expansion of the DataXu sales team nationwide.

  DataXu’s roots, like the USA’s, will always be in Massachusetts (we’re based in Boston and our technology was developed at MIT), but just as the pioneers ventured West, so too must we.  Adding to our already existing Boston, New York and San Francisco teams, we now have a sales presence in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, and have also added an additional member to our Boston-based sales team.

  (more…)

  
  
• If 6 Turned Out to Be 9
  05/24/2010 | Categories: algorithms, audience buying, data, demand side platform, DSP, Google, Invite Media, media, media planning, online display advertisers

  It’s no secret that Google has been shopping for a so-called Demand Side Platform (DSP) for some time.  With the AdMob acquisition signed off by the Feds, the rumors are that Google will acquire Invite Media (http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100523/with-admob-out-of-the-way-is-google-set-to-buy-invite-media/), a DSP known primarily for a user interface that enables audience buying across exchanges.  This move seems sensible enough as a way for Google to shore up its exchange user interface, which even Google concedes needs more care and feeding.  But would it undermine the core value proposition of the DSP?

  A history lesson: before DSPs, online display advertisers have had to rely on the sellers of media to target, price, and optimize media.  That’s why agencies have become so reliant on ad networks.  And that’s why their clients increasingly are questioning the value added and the fees paid for media planning in the digital era.  Enter the DSP.  Using a DSP like DataXu, an agency and its client can for the first time effectively crunch their own proprietary data, develop their own campaign algorithms, and seek price/performance optimality across multiple sellers, effectively breaking the reliance on the seller to deliver all the value.

  So the question is: would buyers rely on the largest digital media seller for their media investment allocation decisions?  Would a Google system ever have a buyer take money out of Google media and allocate it to Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple or other supply-side aggregators?  Consider the potential similarities to Google’s search engine marketing model – very efficient, but advertisers must accept the one-size-fits-all approach and seller-controlled black box algorithms.  If you’re a managing director of a digital agency, consider how much value you are creating for yourself and your clients if you leave the work to the seller.  Isn’t that how the agencies got into the current pickle in the first place?  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out!

  (**Another history lesson: For those who may not be Jimi Hendrix fans, the title of this post references one of his greatest tracks – and the potential role reversal of sellers becoming buyers.)

  - Mike Baker, CEO, DataXu