INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Another legacy carrier built on offering phone services is now taking a deeper dive into the world of advertising and specifically ad tech
to help catapult itself into the next generation of tech and communications
Today, ATT confirmed that it is buying AppNexus, a programmatic advertising marketplace that competes against the likes of Google and
Facebook and describes itself as the world largest independent digital ad exchange.
Today release did not reveal any financial terms, except
to note that the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.An ATT spokesperson has told TechCrunch that ATT is not commenting
on the terms of the deal.
The news caps off a week of speculation after it was reported last week that ATT was eyeing up the company for
about $1.6 billion, and it comes just weeks after ATT closed its deal to buy TimeWarner for nearly $85 billion.
AppNexus reportedly
confidentially filed for an IPO in November 2016, valuing the company at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion although that deal appeared
AppNexus had raised about $344 million from a range of investors including News Corp., WPP, Fidelity, TCV, Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom,
Khosla, and many more.
AppNexus says that some34,000 publishers and 177,000 brands use its marketplace today to connect ads with ad
placements and audiences to see them
The company is also an ad tech play, providing a range of tools to measure engagement and optimise performance of ads.ATT said that it plans
to put AppNexus under its existing advertising and analytics division.
As with Verizon and other carriers, ATT has been working on ways of
expanding its advertising business on top of its existing mobile network and broadband access operations, and now its extensive content
operations.
Carriers like ATT are between a rock and a hard place these days
On one side, their broadband and mobile (and, to an increasingly lesser extent, fixed voice) networks have become increasingly commoditised
On the other side, they are being squeezed by companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, and a plethora of media and other tech companies
These companies dominate in content and &owning& consumers as subscribers, app users and smartphone brands, leaving little room for carrier
to do much.
Buying TimeWarner will have given ATT a seat at the table when it comes to video and other entertainment, and now it is adding
more technology to help monetise that content.
Advertising — and ad tech — represent opportunities for carriers like ATT to grow their
revenues around the data that they already have about their connectivity customers — which in ATT case exceeds 170 million
&direct-to-consumer relationships across its wireless, video and broadband businesses.& Notably, AppNexus is &independent& of any of that
range of media and tech titans
And while ATT is focused mainly on the US market, AppNexus will give it further reach into Asia-Pacific, Australia, Europe, and Latin
America.
(This was also the rationale behind Verizon acquisition of AOL, which owns TechCrunch, and later Yahoo, which together are now
branded as Oath.)
&Ad tech unites real-time analytics and technology with our premium TV and video content,& said Brian Lesser, CEO of the
&So, we went out and found the strongest player in the space
AppNexus has scale of infrastructure, advanced technology and diverse talent
The combination of ATT advertising analytics and AppNexus will help deliver a world-class advertising platform that provides brands and
publishers a new and innovative way to reach consumers in the marketplace today.&
Although ATT could have built this from the ground up,
this bolts on some 400 engineers and IP and an existing business to the company.
ATT says it &will continue to invest in and build on
AppNexus& foundational technology as it integrates with ATT first-party data, premium video content and distribution.&
&Innovation is core
to the heritage of both ATT and AppNexus, and we have an exciting opportunity to chart the future course of advertising together,& said
Brian O&Kelley, CEO, AppNexus, in a statement
&Combining ATT incredible assets with our technology, we will help brands and marketers power new advertising experiences for consumers
It what the market is asking for, and together we&re poised to deliver it.&
ATT ad-supported premium video content portfolio currently
includes Turner Networks,Audience Network, and Otter Media.
