There have been several interesting stories and posts on ad networks and the online ad space recently that are worth mentioning:

• The Economist wrote about why online advertising will emerge “relatively unscathed” from the downturn
• I agree with many points in this post from MikeonAds.com on 11/10/08:
  

  This combined with all of the above show a great picture for technology focused ad networks….. — it is the difficulty of integration that has limited many an online ad technology startup from succeeding. With supply becoming more and more available in more and more programmatic manners — a time is coming when the guy with the best algorithm will actually stand a chance competing against the guy with the best relationships at WPP.

  Relationships like these are not going to go away any time soon. In fact, a lot of the integration work that needs to done can often be sped up when the vendors know the people who make API/integration decisions at some of the big players. Such is our small ad world, still. But I agree, that we should be moving to a world where ad effectiveness can be driven by technology in a much purer, cleaner way than ever before. The results will be a bigger, more efficient market for us all.

• Ashu Garg has a great perspective on the online ad space – here are some of his thoughts on the ad network model