The hottest trend in online advertising today is the rapid automation of ad sales through exchanges like those run by Google, Yahoo, and Facebook. This so-called programmatic trading works something like equities trading on a stock exchange like the Nasdaq, and it’s growing like crazy.
But to Bill Lederer‘s mind, the job was never finished. Lederer, former CEO of early e-commerce company Art.com and executive at the WPP-owned media, marketing, and data services firm Kantar, has just announced a $6 million Series A round of funding for a new company, MediaCrossing, that he claims will do just that. In the process, it also could disrupt a lot of existing players in the online ad business, from Google and Facebook to a raft of ad tech companies.
In an exclusive interview on the new company, founded with former Wall Street technologist and entrepreneur and MediaCrossing Chief Technology Officer Ted Yang, Lederer says the Stamford, Conn.-based company is the first true digital media trading company. “We take the best of Wall Street and the best of Madison Avenue and put it together in a trading business,” says Lederer. “We haven’t seen that yet.” …
Since Lederer isn’t opening up the inside workings of the technology (though you can get a little more detail here), and few outsiders have delved into it to offer an independent assessment, it’s difficult to assess his claim to have created something entirely new that will shake up the online ad industry. Jeff Zabin, founder and research director for information technology research firm Gleanster, who was briefed on the company’s plans, says MediaCrossing is “fundamentally changing the game for digital media buying.” …
Robert Hof 