Rubicon CEO predicts ad tech will both consolidate and boom

“Probably [there will be] only a few, full-stack marketplace plays,” he said, obviously indicating that Rubicon, a digital ad buying-and-selling automated exchange, would be one. Around these will grow a new ecosystem of companies, he said, not unlike the way there are a few, full-service stock exchanges but thousands of financial firms that are built up around them.

Forrester analyst Susan Bidel pointed out that the evolution of this sector into an ecosystem-around-hubs “depends on whether VC [venture capital] money is available” for more ad tech plays.

One of the factors driving the ongoing trend in ad tech acquisitions, she noted, is “a lot of companies have been around five, seven, nine years and investors are [now] looking for an exit.”

Another driver, she said, is that “larger entities prefer to work with larger entities” rather than a variety of point solutions, especially since automation is making it “very hard to figure out who’s offering a process or product that’s distinguishable.”

Source: VentureBeat

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