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DataView: The DataXu Blog

Category: innovation

  • Mike Baker in 140 Characters
    07/23/2010 | Categories: , , , , , , , , , ,

    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…

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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!


  • Industry Leaders Collaborate to Make Digital Advertising More Efficient
    07/16/2010 | Categories: , , , , , , , ,

    Digital is the fastest growing and arguably most strategic sector of the advertising market, yet an agency executive recently told me that transaction costs are 300 percent greater than for television.

    As is often the case with rapidly innovating industries, marketers are struggling to master and manage the media planning and buying workflow.  With the recent launch of a coalition dedicated to developing industry standards, it seems that we may finally be able to make the business of digital advertising more efficient.

    The complicated display advertising ecosystem (see diagram here) exacerbates work flow issues for agencies and their clients.  Campaign data gets pushed through third party intermediaries, ad networks and exchanges, demand side platforms and more.  Reporting, tracking and reconciliation tends to be manual and thus very inefficient.

    Last week, Interpublic and Microsoft announced “MOMS” (Media Operations Management System), a program to overhaul the workflow involved in planning and buying digital media. The hope is that The American Association of Advertising Agencies will expand the initiative to a coalition of agencies, marketers, media and technology solution providers; developing standards for streamlining digital advertising with automated technology processes.

    Beyond removing needless cost, initiatives like this inevitably streamline the ecosystem, hopefully weeding out the low value middle men that populate the landscape today, and shining a light on what specific points of value each vendor is providing.  No doubt that these reform initiatives will become increasingly important to the industry’s survival much less growth over the next 5 years, with additional holding companies announcing similar efforts and embracing technology standards that will allow them to better leverage economies of scale in the age of digital data.

    In fact, we’ve seen similar reform efforts in other industries; from Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems streamlining resource allocation in the enterprise, to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) making B2B transactions more standardized and efficient, and even recent efforts in the medical industry to address the security and privacy of health data with the Health Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

    Why is the advertising industry so late to the game?

    - Mike Baker, CEO, DataXu

    (**This piece was also posted on the MarketShare blog at Forbes.com: http://blogs.forbes.com/marketshare/2010/07/16/digital-advertising-efficiency-agencies-ad-networks/)


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

    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…)


  • Agencies Grapple with Ad Technology and its Place in a Services Business
    06/25/2010 | Categories: , , , , , , , ,

    There’s been a wave of innovation in online advertising over the past year; new ad technology made just for ad buyers (DSPs) are quickly gaining traction as a way to improve media effectiveness and realize operational efficiencies.  DSP’s give agencies a powerful new tool, but the emergence of “buy side technology” is forcing them to grapple with a tricky new issue: how best to build a new technology core into an old services business model.

    Some agencies have decided that forming strategic partnerships with external technology providers is the way to go.  Others believe that the best strategy is to try to develop the technology themselves.  While it’s too early to conclude the winning approach, this is an issue that smart clients will monitor as the digital era marches on because it will affect not only agency performance, but also the basic economic structure of the agency-client relationship.

    In-house ad tech
    The in-house technology approach is probably best embodied by WPP, with its 2007 acquisition of ad network and technology firm 24/7 Real Media.  Since the acquisition, WPP has done a nice job of using these assets to grow an internal innovation engine known as MIG (Media Innovation Group).  In a recent interview, MIG’s Brian Lesser explained some of the reasons for their continued investment in proprietary ad technology:

    • More holistic media strategy – can alleviate issues that result from a fragmented media buying approach and result in a more efficient media spend.
    • Data-driven marketing – integration of client data throughout the agency’s decision-making process informs the marketing strategy and results in more valuable insights to guide the clients’ campaigns.
    • Less data exposure – with in-house ad technology, proprietary data is pushed solely through an agency’s platform and is thus able to be leveraged exclusively by the agency.

    Third party ad tech
    Alternatively, Publicis and Omnicom have weighed in as favoring partnerships with external ad technology providers.  Curt Hecht of Publicis’ Vivaki business unit recently discussed with AdExchanger their partnership with Internet giant Google, which includes use of Google’s new “house DSP” Invite Media (acquired by Google last month).  And  Omnicom’s Randall Weisenburger explained to ClickZ that they have opted against building an in-house DSP because of the vast benefits technology partners can provide to clients:

    • Greater access to innovation – when agencies partner with outside technology vendors, they can innovate more quickly and better align with client needs.
    • Focus on core competence – agency resources can be focused on larger strategic considerations that are core to the agency.
    • Less risk of agency bias in media buying decisions – advertisers can be confident that an agency’s recommended technology strategy will not be influenced by an in-house proprietary service.

    Ultimately, these different approaches are still very new and only time will tell what truly makes the most sense for the agency and for its clients.  But just as advertisers want to know about an agency’s creative approach, it’s now best practice to dig into their technology roadmap.

    - Mike Baker, CEO, DataXu

    (**This piece was also posted on the MarketShare blog at Forbes.com: http://bit.ly/d0hEX3)


  • DataXu is the Online Advertising Winner in the 2010 MITX Technology Awards
    06/10/2010 | Categories: , , , ,

    We won! Last Wednesday evening, a group of DataXu’ers including 2 of our founders, Sandro Catanzaro and Bill Simmons, attended the ceremony for the MITX (Massachusetts Interactive Technology Exchange) Technology Awards. We were finalists in the ‘Online Advertising” category alongside strong competitors Nexage, BuySellAds.com and Searchandise Commerce.  And we won!

    Co-founder Bill Simmons said it best “Since our public launch just last September, our team has been working nonstop to continue innovating our platform and growing our company; this recognition from MITX, New England’s leading interactive business and digital media association, makes all the hard work more than worth it.”

    The full press release is available here: http://www.dataxu.com/news/MITX_award_win.php

    We’re absolutely ecstatic about this honor, as the picture below from http://www.facebook.com/MITX.ORG shows.

    Sandro Catanzaro, VP of Products, and Bill Simmons, VP of Technology, show off their shiny new MITX award.


  • We’re MITX Finalists and Yes, We’ll Answer Questions…
    05/20/2010 | Categories: , , ,

    A few weeks ago, the Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) announced their finalists for the MITX 2010 Technology Awards, and we were thrilled to be chosen as a finalist in the “online advertising” category.

    The MITX Technology Awards recognize innovative technologies developed in the New England area, as well as the individuals and organizations responsible for driving these advancements. Having launched only 8 months ago, just being given the opportunity to compete is an honor and privilege.

    As a MITX finalist, we were interviewed for the MITX “What’s Next” blog and the post was published today.   The full post is available here and embedded below is the slideshow of our Q&A.

    Stay tuned for updates from the awards ceremony on Wednesday, June 2nd.  Fingers crossed!

    View more presentations from MITX.

  • DataXu Joins Yahoo’s Demand-Side Platform Pilot Program
    03/15/2010 | Categories: , , , , , ,

    Big news today: Yahoo has today announced their demand-side platform pilot program (see Yahoo’s announcement). This marks a significant milestone in the emergence of demand-side platforms and real time bidding because the industry’s largest publisher is embracing this new paradigm.

    We are pleased to be one of the demand-side platform partners selected to participate. Yahoo has a great history of innovation through leadership when it comes to display advertising, and we look forward to working with them—along with major agencies and advertisers—to create a sustainable ecosystem that makes digital advertising more effective. We share Yahoo’s vision that innovations such as RTB will benefit all participants.