1994
What Is the Internet, Anyway?
NBC Today Show anchors Katie Couric, Bryant Gumbel, and Elizabeth Vargas struggle to answer the pressing question of the day, “What Is the Internet?”
1999
Yahoo! Buys Broadcast.com
Yahoo! buys Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion, the most expensive acquisition Yahoo! has ever made, and the first big acquisition in streaming media.
2000
Dot-Com Bubble Bursts
The tech stock market bubble that blew up during the 1990s gives up all its gains, shuttering popular online brands and media companies.
2001
BMW Creates Branded Content Ad Series
BMW hires Fight Club director David Fincher to create a series of short films promoting its brand and makes them available for Internet download.
2003
First Broadband Upfront
Starcom MediaVest Group hosts the first broadband upfront, spending $5 million on online media.
2004
Broadband Enterprises Founded
Matt Wasserlauf launches Broadband Enterprises, the first online video company.
2006
Google Purchases YouTube
Google purchases streaming video giant YouTube for a record $1.6 billion.
2009
Reckitt Benckiser Pivots to Online Video
Consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser moves $20 million of its television ad spend into online video.
2009
Programmatic Advertising Begins with The Trade Desk
Jeff Green and Dave Pickles start The Trade Desk as a solution for programmatic ad buying.
2010
Broadband Enterprises Creates First Video Ad Server
BBE has also developed VINDICO, the industry's first ad-serving and tracking platform dedicated exclusively to video.
2017
Association of National Advertisers Releases Whitepaper on Fraud
The Association of National Advertisers releases a whitepaper exposing an epidemic of fraud in the digital ad industry.
2019
Blockboard Founded
Blockboard, the first video accountability platform, is launched at its very first UpNext at the legendary Friar’s Club.
2022
Netflix Gets into Advertising
Netflix, looking for top brands to advertise on its service, launches an ad-supported model.
2023
Association of National Advertisers Releases Whitepaper on Lack of Transparency
The Association of National Advertisers releases a whitepaper on programmatic media and the lack of transparency in the supply chain.
2023
Blockboard’s New CTV Ad
To remedy the lack of transparency in programmatic media’s supply chain, Blockboard launches a CTV ad.
2024
Blockboard Launches BlockAI
Blockboard’s Matt Wasserlauf announces launch of BlockAI with Digiday in Cannes.