They say the discussions have been taking place for some time - but now it seems it is to be close to the end game. If a deal has been done, Google owns the entire stack. It was missing the SSP - and has now, according to Michael Arrington, bought Admeld. Admeld is one of the biggest RTB exchanges in the market - and has been one of the first movers in the fast growing real-time display space. This is a huge development for the industry. Google now owns the entire stack from publisher ad server to advertiser ad server. What it means for the nascent exchange eco-system is yet to be seen. Admeld has gained a lot of traction with the private exchange offering in the US - and were causing Google problems in terms of on-boarding premium publisher inventory on Adx. There was also whispers of big publisher deals in the European market - which Google will now look to close. But I think there is more to this deal than just online display. Admeld had been working closely with GSMA on a possible data exchange for the mobile market - dovetailing nicely into the big G's mobile strategy. What publishers will make of this is yet to be seen. But it could be a big opportunity for Rubicon, OpenX, Pubmatic and Improve Digital. Looking forward to the debate tomorrow morning.