Will advertising exchanges kill ad networks?

Since the advent of “Ad Exchanges”, industry speculators have been predicting, as the article does below, that ad exchanges would eliminate the need for ad networks.  While exchanges will serve a role and certainly change the landscape, I think the reports of the networks demise however are greatly exaggerated for a host of reasons.  Here are two of the big reasons.

First, many (most) premium publishers simply won’t auction off their audience and allow the cherry picking of just a handful of users.  The costs of running a publishing organization have to be born across an entire audience, not just a few.

Second, we are entering into the thick of a privacy storm that has been brewing for a while.  Congress and the FTC are moving towards actions, not just words, and behavioral targeting technologies, like those employed with ad exchanges, are right in their sites.

Advertising Exchanges – The New Digital Ad Marketplace – Website Magazine – Website Magazine.

What do you think?