AppNexus Buys in LatAm, Joins 'Trust', Puts Out APB

New York-based ad tech company AppNexus has agreed to acquire RealMedia Latin America (RMLA) - its fifth company buy in twelve months - giving it a strong foothold in the continent. Separately, AppNexus has joined comScore's 'Trust' initiative and launched a new tool.

São Paulo-based RMLA was founded in 2002 and offers marketing and technology solutions to online advertisers and publishers. The company has operations in Mexico, Argentina and Chile and brings a strong roster of Spanish-language and Portuguese-language publishers.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the third quarter. AppNexus acquired rival firm Yieldex for a reported $100m in March, and cross-device technology firm MediaGlu last December. Three months before this, it received $25m in funding from WPP, and in turn agreed to acquire the Open AdStream (OAS) ad serving platform from the marcoms giant's Xaxis audience profiling and targeting division.

Of the latest buy Michael Rubenstein, President of AppNexus comments: 'AppNexus already has a strong commercial presence in Latin America. The acquisition of RMLA extends our physical footprint to key locations in the region and positions us to create an independent powerhouse in a fast-growing part of the programmatic market. Latin American buyers and sellers of online advertising need a state-of-the art technology platform if they're to build strong, independent businesses that can compete locally and globally. AppNexus is thrilled to join forces with RMLA and its outstanding team to bring our offerings to companies across Latin America'.


Separately, AppNexus has joined comScore's online ad quality effort, the Industry Trust Initiative. launched in the US in January and Canada in April, the scheme allows media buyers to use the firm's ad metrics when planning and buying programmatically, and sellers to gain insight into how their properties are represented in programmatic platforms.


AppNexus has also been active on the product development front of late, last week announcing the launch of AppNexus Programmable Bidder (APB), which enables advertisers and agencies to upload their proprietary algorithms directly to the AppNexus open platform and test and refine their own algorithmic strategies to optimize campaign outcomes, using a new language called Bonsai which the company says is similar to the established language Python. Company CEO and co-founder Brian O'Kelley (pictured) said of the launch: 'Our underlying thesis is that open beats closed. We don't just allow - we invite - the most innovative technology companies to build their tech on top of ours. It means that buyers can fashion campaigns that deliver the right message to the right audience, without turning their data over to a black box'.

Headquartered in New York City with 23 global offices, AppNexus employs more than 900 staff and is online at www.appnexus.com .