Right Media

Right Media was a United States online advertising technology company founded in March 2003 by Michael Walrath, with brothers Noah Goodhart and Jonah Goodhart participating as investors and board members. The company developed advertising tools intended to improve the way digital campaigns were served, priced, and optimized. Its early business included digital media buying for AOL brands and Match.com, which helped finance the development of its first ad-serving technology. The initial platform, known as Manage, was designed to optimize performance-oriented campaigns. In summer 2004, Right Media introduced dynamic cost-per-thousand-impression pricing, or dCPM. Whereas conventional display campaigns commonly used a flat CPM and optimized inventory against campaign performance goals, the new approach evaluated and adjusted the price associated with individual ad opportunities. The company subsequently introduced an ad server called Yield Manager, which applied this pricing and yield-optimization model at the level of each ad call. Other advertising networks began licensing Yield Manager, extending Right Media's technology beyond its own media-buying activities. Right Media then developed the Right Media Exchange, commonly abbreviated RMX. The exchange was conceived as a marketplace where advertisers, publishers, and advertising networks could trade digital media. Technology providers could connect to the exchange through application programming interfaces, creating an infrastructure that combined ad serving, inventory management, auction-like transactions, and network participation. An early version entered beta in the third quarter of 2004, and the exchange officially launched on April 1, 2005. It expanded substantially during the following 18 months and became the company's principal strategic asset. Yahoo! made a strategic investment in Right Media on October 17, 2006. At the time, the investment reflected the growing importance of automated advertising marketplaces and the value of technology that could help publishers monetize unsold inventory while giving advertisers and ad networks broader access to digital supply. On April 30, 2007, Yahoo! announced an agreement to acquire Right Media in a transaction valued at approximately $680 million. The acquisition closed in July 2007. Right Media customers included Yahoo! and Fox Interactive Media, and the company was subsequently integrated with Yahoo!'s advertising offerings, including services aimed at small businesses. Following the acquisition, Yahoo! placed Right Media under the Yahoo Ad Network, which was responsible for supporting Yahoo's advertising sales revenue. Yahoo later began rebuilding its broader advertising technology stack. As that process progressed, the open-exchange strategy associated with Right Media received less emphasis. Founder Michael Walrath departed, and later leaders Bill Wise and Ramsey McGrory also left in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Former Right Media CTO Brian O'Kelley and former director of analytics Mike Nolet left around the acquisition's completion and co-founded AppNexus in 2007. Although Yahoo! did not continue to pursue Right Media's open-exchange strategy in its original form, the acquisition reportedly helped Yahoo materially improve the yield from unsold inventory, referred to within Yahoo as Class 2 inventory. Yahoo shut down the Right Media Exchange in January 2015, citing a focus on premium and owned-and-operated inventory. The shutdown ended the exchange's operation as a distinct marketplace, and Right Media is therefore best understood as a defunct advertising-technology brand and an important predecessor in the development of automated digital advertising exchanges.

Right Media emerged during the early development of automated digital advertising. Michael Walrath founded the company in March 2003, with Noah Goodhart and Jonah Goodhart serving as investors and board members. To support the creation of its initial advertising technology, Right Media operated a digital media buying service for AOL brands and Match.com. This early activity gave the company practical exposure to campaign delivery and performance measurement while helping fund product development. The first ad-serving solution was called Manage and focused on optimizing performance campaigns. In summer 2004, Right Media introduced dynamic CPM pricing, known as dCPM. Traditional display campaigns often used a fixed price for impressions and optimized the allocation of inventory according to performance objectives. Right Media's approach sought to adjust the value of individual ad opportunities dynamically. The company built this concept into Yield Manager, a new ad server that optimized the price attached to each ad call. Other ad networks began licensing Yield Manager, giving Right Media a technology business beyond direct media buying. The company used this technology as the foundation for the Right Media Exchange. An early version of the exchange entered beta in the third quarter of 2004. The platform enabled advertisers, publishers, and ad networks to transact digital media in a shared marketplace, while outside technology providers could build services connected through APIs. The Right Media Exchange officially launched on April 1, 2005, and grew rapidly over the next 18 months. Its model was notable because it attempted to organize multiple sides of the digital advertising market within a common, technology-mediated environment rather than limiting transactions to a single advertising network. Yahoo! became a strategic investor on October 17, 2006. On April 30, 2007, Yahoo! announced that it would acquire Right Media for a transaction valued at approximately $680 million. The deal closed in July 2007. Yahoo! integrated Right Media with its advertising products, including offerings for small businesses, and placed the business within the Yahoo Ad Network. Customers associated with the platform included Yahoo! itself and Fox Interactive Media. After the acquisition, Yahoo! began rebuilding its overall advertising technology stack. In that environment, the original open-exchange strategy became less central to Yahoo's priorities. Michael Walrath eventually left the company. Bill Wise and Ramsey McGrory also departed in 2010 and 2011. Brian O'Kelley, formerly Right Media's chief technology officer, and Mike Nolet, formerly its director of analytics, left around the close of the Yahoo transaction and co-founded AppNexus in 2007. Yahoo! did not continue the Right Media Exchange as an independent open marketplace, but the acquired technology was associated with improved monetization of Yahoo's unsold, or Class 2, inventory. Yahoo shut down the exchange in January 2015, explaining the decision through a shift toward premium and owned-and-operated inventory. The closure marked the end of Right Media's principal standalone platform. Its historical significance lies in its contribution to ad-server optimization, dynamic pricing, and the early exchange model that influenced the development of programmatic digital advertising.

• 2015

  Right Media Exchange is shut down

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Yahoo! closed the exchange while refocusing on premium and owned-and-operated inventory.

• 2007

  Yahoo! announces and completes acquisition

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Yahoo! announced the approximately $680 million acquisition in April and completed it in July.

• 2006

  Yahoo! makes a strategic investment

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Yahoo! invested strategically in Right Media on October 17.

• 2005

  Right Media Exchange officially launches

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  The exchange formally launched on April 1, creating a marketplace for digital media transactions among advertisers, publishers, and ad networks.

• 2004

  Dynamic CPM pricing is introduced

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Right Media launched dynamic CPM pricing and developed Yield Manager to optimize pricing at the individual ad-call level.

• 2004

  Right Media Exchange enters beta

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  An early version of the Right Media Exchange entered beta during the third quarter.

• 2003

  Right Media is founded

  [1]Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Michael Walrath founded Right Media in March 2003, with Noah and Jonah Goodhart participating as investors and board members.

Right Media positioned itself as an advertising technology intermediary that connected advertisers, publishers, and ad networks through automated campaign optimization and an open digital media marketplace.

• Ad serving and campaign management

  Manage

  Manage was Right Media's initial ad-serving solution. It was developed to support performance campaigns and formed part of the company's early effort to improve campaign delivery and optimization. The platform was developed while Right Media also operated digital media buying services for AOL brands and Match.com.

• Ad serving and yield optimization · 2004

  Yield Manager

  Yield Manager was Right Media's ad server for dynamic pricing and yield optimization. It applied the company's dCPM approach by optimizing the price associated with each ad call rather than treating all campaign impressions as having a fixed CPM. Other ad networks licensed the technology.

• Digital advertising exchange · 2005

  Right Media Exchange

  The Right Media Exchange, or RMX, was a marketplace connecting advertisers, publishers, and ad networks for digital media transactions. It supported participation by technology providers through APIs and became Right Media's central platform after its official launch in 2005. Yahoo! shut it down in January 2015.

• 2015

  Yahoo! closes the Right Media ExchangeStrategy

  Background

  Yahoo! was rebuilding its advertising technology stack and had shifted emphasis away from the original open-exchange model.

  Action taken

  Yahoo! shut down the Right Media Exchange in January and cited a focus on premium and owned-and-operated inventory.

  Aftermath

  The exchange ceased operating as a distinct marketplace, ending Right Media's principal standalone platform.

  Source

• 2007

  Yahoo! agrees to acquire Right MediaM&A

  Background

  Right Media had developed an exchange and ad-serving technology that connected advertisers, publishers, and ad networks. Yahoo! had already invested strategically in the company.

  Action taken

  Yahoo! announced an acquisition valued at approximately $680 million and completed the transaction in July 2007.

  Aftermath

  Right Media was integrated into Yahoo's advertising operations. The open-exchange strategy was later deprioritized as Yahoo rebuilt its advertising stack.

  Transaction value. Approximately $680 million (Announced April 2007; completed July 2007)

  Source

1. 1Right Mediaen.wikipedia.org