Millennial Media Has Just Done A Huge Mobile Ad Deal With AppNexus

Millennial Media, one of the larger mobile ad companies, has joined with AppNexus to create a formidable joint venture it is calling the Millennial Media Exchange.

The move is yet another indicator that the mobile adtech space is consolidating fast into a handful of big players. Twitter, for instance, just acquired mobile adtech company MoPub for $350 million in stock.

The deal would create a mobile marketplace that, by one measure, would make it bigger than the one offered via Google. Millennial previously claimed that its acquisition of Jumptap put it level with Google in market size for so-called "third-party display" ads, meaning ads that show up in mobile apps.

AppNexus is one of the largest New York-based digital adtech companies, with 500 employees and $141 million in venture funding. Its strength is in web buying and only recently did CEO Brian O'Kelley turn the company to focus more on mobile. It is widely expected to be considering an IPO in the near future.

Millennial IPO-ed in 2012, and recently acquired Jumptap. It now has roughly $241 million in combined annual revenues and 350 employees. Jumptap gave Millennial a real-time bidding, "programmatic" buying platform to add to the premium publisher inventory it was offering in its ad networks.

In simple terms, the deal with AppNexus gives AppNexus's ad buying clients access to Millennial's sales inventory and its Jumptap buying platform. It combines a huge array of buyers with a huge array of sellers, in other words.

The companies did not put any dollar numbers on the scope of the deal.

In a statement to Business Insider, Millennial CEO Paul Palmieri said:

"By adding the industry-leading technology of AppNexus to the existing RTB exchange foundation that we have already built and acquired, the MMX will leapfrog existing solutions in the market and unlock tremendous value for our partners ... Our full ad tech stack will be one of the most powerful in the digital advertising industry, with further innovations already under development."

In a press release, O'Kelley said:

"In April, we made a commitment to solve the challenges that have kept mobile from reaching its full potential. ... When a large, premium advertising company and a leading technology provider come together, it accelerates the market into rapid expansion. Our partnership with Millennial Media will unlock their scale, high quality supply and unique data to ignite the mobile marketplace."

Read the release here.