As the ad network landscape continues to become ever more complex for advertisers and publishers alike -- with new ad networks popping up on what seems to be a daily basis and established entities changing and improving their technologies at a similar frequency -- Right Media is attempting to level the playing field for smaller publishers by creating a new point of entry into their Right Media Exchange, "Right Media Direct."

An ad exchange is an auction-based system, like Google AdSense, whereby publishers put their non-premium or commodity inventory into a NASDAQ-like system and advertisers or ad networks bid on the inventory, with the highest bid winning.

While the larger Right Media Exchange boasts 50 ad networks, Right Media Direct has nine -- Accelerator, Active Response Group (ARG), Adtegrity, Banner Connect, CPX Interactive, Directa Network, Oridian, Remix Media and Rydium -- that compete for a publisher's inventory in a real time auction. Publishers can also add other ad networks -- with which they have relationships --- into their Right Media Direct accounts, enabling them to manage all their inventory sales through the exchange.

During Right Media Direct's private beta period, 750 publishers set up accounts, over 11 billion ad impressions were served and more than $1.4 million in publisher revenue ran through the exchange.

So what's in it for advertisers?
Right Media's Director of Business Development Patrick McCarthy had this to say: "RMX Direct is just one part of the main Right Media Exchange, so advertisers don't have to change the way they buy from our exchange whether it's through ad networks or on the exchange directly. The benefit that RMX Direct provides for them is they now have access to the highest quality inventory that these publishers have available because the publishers use RMX Direct to manage all the inventory they are sending to ad networks. Through the nine networks participating in RMX Direct, advertisers can bid and win all the publisher inventory they desire, instead of just being able to bid on the portion of the inventory that the publisher would normally give to just one ad network."

McCarthy continued, "The benefit for the networks themselves is the same in that they are able to bid on all of a publisher's inventory and buy what they want, instead of just being sent one portion of their inventory."

Publishers writing on the Right Media blog were enthusiastic about the new exchange:

"For me it's more about the management interfaces than the revenue. I'll take the extra money, but look at all the work I don't have to do! Nine networks, one reporting system, one creative filter, one set of ad code. It's a no-brainer really. Our eCPM is up. Our revenue is up. I'd have to guess the last 30 percent comes from the automated bidding," said Bruce Davey of Fastmail.FM.

Still not sure what an ad exchange is?
For more on ad exchanges -- including Right Media -- check out this panel discussion, "Ad Exchanges: Online Inventory's Future?" from September, 2006, as well as this podcast from ad:tech New York in November, 2006, "The Move to Auction-Based Media & the Demise of the Upfront."