Small publishers with a niche audience, meet your new boss: ad networks. A report at CNET today confirmed a Valleywag rumor that Glam Media had purchased StyleMob, a street fashion blog with a MySpace-style community element.

The deal, which actually closed earlier this year, highlights a growing trend in the ad network space. While Glam has made clear that it intends to focus on small acquisitions to improve reach, ad networks as a group have been coming under heat lately. Earlier this month, ESPN said it wanted nothing to do with ad networks, citing concerns over its brand image. At the same time, blogger John Battelle criticized ad networks as a "flavor of the month."

But despite the criticism, ad networks seem to continue their meteoric growth, with new entries cropping up on what seems like a weekly basis.

As for StyleMob, terms of the deal were not disclosed.