When brands and agencies were recently asked where they buy their online video ad inventory, the most common answers was ad networks and direct from publishers. However, the growth in the use of both has remained relatively flat from last year. The more interesting story is the substantial rise in inventory sourcing via automated environments.

It would appear that advertisers are demanding pricing efficiency and are finding it from a mix of suppliers including exchanges (29 percent vs. 15 percent in 2011), demand-side platforms or DSPs (32 percent vs. 15 percent in 2011) and trading desks (27 percent). Trading desks were included for the first time as a choice in this year’s study but came out of the gate right from the start.

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Tags: ad networks, data, DSP, exchanges, industry, research, trading desks, video advertising