ExchangeWire rounds up some of the biggest stories in the European digital advertising space. And in this week's edition: AppNexus bags $100m in new funding ; mobile overtakes desktop as main channel for publishers; SoundCloud realises it has to make money; United buys into Rocket Internet as the Samwer boys eye a big exit.

AppNexus Doesn't Go Home; But Goes Big In The Ad Tech Platform Wars

AppNexus did a whopper of a raise with its Series E investment round of close to $100 million. It says it has roughly half of its previous raise in the bank. What does it need the money for then?

Consolidation? Product development? AppNexus does have a few blind spots, particularly in video. Given that there does not appear to be a NEUTRAL video platform on the market that ad networks or third parties can use without their business being usurped by oversized media company now running that platform (see RTL and Facebook as prime examples), you wonder if O'Kelley will throw money at video tech.

With untapped demand and high CPMs it looks way more attractive than mobile which - and let's be brutally honest here - is effectively a two company market. Demand for mobile display is negligible from mainstream advertisers and their agency desks. It is domain of app and game developers obsessed with downloads and scale. And this is not good for mainstream publishers.

These big raises by the likes of AppNexus and MediaMath mean that these "platform" ad tech co's are too expensive to be acquired. And in both cases have become strategic acquirers themselves. Will we see a new eco-system of point solutions trying to sell themselves to these new platform.

What would be more beneficial would be companies like AppNexus and MediaMath open up their platforms and encourage this new layer of ad tech to grow. We see too many VC-backed zombie companies in the space. Can a vibrant and profitable eco-system can built on top of the platforms - one that is sustainable and free from the shot term goals of the public markets and VC capital.

This is an area we will be covering in length at this year's ATS London when we sit down with key stakeholders to discuss on September 08.

Mobile Overtakes Desktop; Single Digit CPMs Poses Disaster For Traditional Pubs

A report out from Ofcom this week says that nearly half of all users are consuming content on the top UK newspaper and magazine publisher over a mobile device. While the number of users has grown on mobile the revenue unfortunately has not. Two companies dominate spend on mobile - and neither of them are magazine or newspaper publisher. They are the great aggregators of our time: one with snippets of publisher content; the other of moronic user generated content.

Mobile it would seem is fast becoming the graveyard of digital monetization for mainstream publishers. Mobile web, where most traffic is coming from, simply cannot sustain the content production costs.

And with the app display universe - the real money shot for mobile - all but inaccessible to most traditional text-based pubs, ad-funded content is potentially facing its biggest crisis yet.

Marissa Mayer might be getting it in the neck from activist shareholders at the minute but at least she had the good sense to recognise that utility is key to opening up advertising spend on mobile.

Mobile display appears to be a lost game for traditional publishers. What is likely to work - as well as yield more sustainable CPM pricing - is mobile video. Once a universal ID is introduced publishers will be able to sell pre-rolls at higher prices to agencies and trading desks, allowing them to sustain their ad-funded content models on mobile.

Let’s hope this happens sooner rather than later. A digital advertising world dominated by a bunch of oversized Silicon Valley media companies is not in anyone’s interests - including agencies.

If this does become a big trend, you’d expect some kind of consolidation to happen in the space over the next twelve months. Again, this will all be discussed at ATS London this year. Do you have a ticket yet? You know it’s nearly sold out.

On SoundCloud Debuts Ads On Music-Sharing Platform

Berlin-based SoundCloud this week announced that it is to roll-out advertising features to the music-sharing platform, as it aims to shift doubts over its ability to monetise.

The announcement was made yesterday (21 August) in a blog post penned by Alex Ljung, SoundCloud, CEO, where he was at pains to highlight the benefit the introduction would bring to musicians and listeners alike.

“We’re initially inviting a small group of creators to become premier partners in the on SoundCloud program [sic], enabling them to make money on the platform.

“To make this possible, we’re introducing advertising from select brand partners to SoundCloud. When someone sees and ad, they’re supporting an artist. We will include ads gradually and bring more advertisers as we grow On SoundCloud.

“In addition to supporting creators, ads will keep the service free and open for people to listen to SoundCloud. Audio ads will only be served on the content of Premier Partners with their explicit consent. If you have a Free, Pro or Pro Unlimited account, you will not have any audio ads placed on your tracks.”

With over 175 million monthly users, SoundCloud is one of the largest music platforms in the world, but the German outfit has faced pressure to pay royalties to artists using the platform.

The move also comes after SoundCloud raised $60m in funding earlier this year, valuing the company at close to $700m, and also comes as the traditional audio media channels look to programmatic technology.

Earlier this year the UK saw the launch of Global Radio’s Digital Audio Exchange (dax) which offers inventory from over 30 traditional UK radio stations and streaming services

Global’s announcement of dax means advertisers will be able to buy in-stream ad units across a host of stations within is portfolio (which include Capital, Heart and Classic FM), plus a host of premium third-party services including Spotify, Blinkbox, Mixcloud, audioboo, Bauer Media’s Absolute Radio Network.

Whether SoundCloud will join this collective when it launches its advertising services remains to be seen. But brands increasingly introduce data-driven advertising techniques into their mix, it certainly must be a consideration among SoundCloud’s leadership.

Germany-Based United Internet Takes Stake In Rocket Internet

German internet services provider United Internet this week announced it was to invest $582m for a 10.7% stake in Berlin-based digital start-up incubator Rocket Internet, valuing the company at $5.7bn.

United Internet’s investment consists of €333m in cash and €102m represented by United Internet’s equity participation in the portfolio of Global Founders Capital funds (an investment entity co-owned with Rocket Internet founders the Samwer brothers).

United Internet's investment will be in newly issued shares by Rocket, of the same class and bearing the same rights as shares held by current Rocket investors. Underlining the commitment to Rocket, Ralph Dommermuth, CEO of United Internet, will become a member of Rocket’s nine-person supervisory board.

“I have been very impressed by the quality and scale of Rocket and its network of companies and we are excited to support the further development of the group with additional growth capital,” said Dommermuth.

“Our investment is strategic and long-term in nature and we look forward to working with the Rocket team and the other shareholders going forward.”

Oliver Samwer, Rocket Internet, co-founder, CEO, said: “We look forward to deploying the fresh capital to grow our platform and businesses around the world, and are pleased to be gaining stakes in certain businesses that are well aligned with our focus sectors and geographies.”

The deal comes as Rocket Internet is reported to be seeking an initial public offering (IPO) in Frankfurt, and comes closely after ExchangeWiretook a look at the European ad tech scene noting that while investment may be pouring into the continent, the cases of successful exits here are few and far between.