One year ago, the Council for Accountable Advertising was formed. And we’ve had a remarkable inaugural year! In addition to several Council companies topping industry hot lists as the most innovative companies in 2011, M&A transactions involving Council companies have topped $2 billion in just the past 12 months.

Last June, Google acquired Admeld, the leading supply side platform, for $400M. In November, real-time information and analysis provider Neustar completed its acquisition of TARGUSinfo, the provider of the audience targeting solution AdAdvisor, for $650M. And earlier this month, the merger of media management companies MediaBank and Donovan Data Systems was approved; the resulting company, Mediaocean, has been valued at an estimated $1.5B. These huge acquisitions and mergers testify to the quality and integrity of Council member technologies.

Council members have also been recognized by venture capitalists and analysts for their industry leadership. This past February, AlwaysOn named Collective[i], eXelate, MediaMath, and Peer39 to its OnMedia 100, which identifies “the top 100 private companies that are disrupting the digital media and advertising world with new products and services, while at the same time creating high-growth businesses that offer huge upside potential for investors.” In addition, Lead411 named Admeld, AdSafe, eXelate, and MediaMath to their list of Hottest Companies in New York City and AudienceScience to their list of Hottest Companies in Seattle for having achieved either 100% increases in revenue or $5M in funding over the past 2 years.

How can we build on the success of 2011? The Council’s primary focus in 2012 will be on interoperability and creating a seamless experience for marketers. To that end, we’re developing standardized data integration guidelines and a universal API that makes it easy for technologies from different companies to interface with one another. We’re also in the process of reviewing applications to add new companies to our 12-member roster and will announce the results shortly. Adding companies who have passed our rigorous screening allows the Council to focus additional efforts on educating customers via original content and educational events.

I‘m thrilled with our members’ achievements in the Council’s first year. Their successes speak to the caliber of companies that belong to the Council, and we’re all looking forward to another year, which we know will bring great success as we continue working together.

Sincerely,

Stephen Messer
Chairman, Council for Accountable Advertising
Co-founder & Vice-Chairman, Collective[i]

If you would like to join us at any of our upcoming Council events or if you believe that your company has a best-of-breed technology and A-list vision and management team and should be considered for admission to the Council, please feel free to email us.