Former Microsoft And aQuantive Exec Scott Howe Joins Turn Board, Hints At New Startup

Demand-side platform Turn announced that Scott Howe has joined its board of directors. A former aQuantive/Atlas/DrivePM exec who joined Microsoft as part of the multi-billion dollar aQuantive acquisition in 2007, Howe should provide Turn with deeper relationships with both agencies and marketers among other benefits. Read the release.

Howe discussed his new board duties as well as his own plans and views about the digital ad ecosystem.

AdExchanger.com: Where does the demand-side platform fit in the digital ad ecosystem over the next 1-3 years? Will it become commodotized as a business model?

Every online advertising forecast that’s been released suggests that digital advertising is expected to post continued strong growth, and new formats (e.g. video, mobile, social) are going to grow at an even faster rate. Within that growth, the one common denominator among all advertisers is the need to purchase and evaluate their media effectively. In a world of increasing choice and complexity, the role of the DSP becomes critical. And while most agencies are carefully evaluating options and the competitive space may seem crowded, this isn’t an industry that I would expect to quickly commoditize given the size of the prize for companies who can unlock better advertising performance. In other words, the driving purchase criteria won’t be the cost of the DSP technology, but rather the value the DSP can provide to the overall media plan....