While newspaper publisher Gannett was looking for a new ad server for its web properties, several major U.S. ad servers like DoubleClick and aQuantive were snatched up by larger companies. Although these ad servers promised new resources as a result of new corporate parents, in the end Gannett decided to go with an underdog.

ADTECH, a piece of AOL's Platform-A, will now provide Gannett's online ad serving. Gannett is the first big client for the German-based ADTECH, which has gained popularity since it was acquired by AOL in 2007. Half of AOL's consumer websites now serve their ads with ADTECH, according to AdAge.

Gannett, which owns newspapers across the country, chose the lesser-known ad server because it offered the ability to manage ad inventory both locally and nationally.

"With the ADTECH platform, advertisers of all sizes will be able to easily reach our affluent, active online audience, whether it's through broad national campaigns, audience segmentation, or locally targeted campaigns," Gannett's chief digital officer Chris Saridakis said in a statement.  "Gannett can now enable national and local advertisers to engage with any audience segment they could ever hope to reach."