YouTube's Trampled Foes Plot Antitrust Revenge
- Former allies, rivals in video ads seek trustbuster attention
- Google unit says it competes in broader market, including TV
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg
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Brian O’Kelley built AppNexus Inc. to help companies advertise anywhere on the internet. Its software plugged into virtually every digital ad-trading hub, including those from Google, the biggest ad seller, and Google’s YouTube video service. By 2014, AppNexus was valued at $1.2 billion.
Then, in 2015, Google stopped letting companies buy ads on YouTube using outside software. The move got more marketers to use Google ad services. It also created a glaring hole for AppNexus: The startup could no longer give customers access to the largest supply of online video. It never really recovered.