AppNexus Deepens Investment In The United Kingdom With Hire of Digital Media Pioneer Nigel Gilbert

LONDON, December 15, 2011 -

Co-Founder of UK’s First Publisher Network Brings Significant Expertise, Experience and Contacts to AppNexus

AppNexus, the world leader in real-time advertising technology, announced today that Nigel Gilbert, a seasoned executive and pioneer in the digital media space has joined the company as its new UK Country Manager. Gilbert will lead AppNexus’ London office, appoint new hires, build relationships with the leading buyers and sellers of digital advertising in the UK, and help drive expansion across Europe. 

AppNexus President Michael Rubenstein said, “The United Kingdom is critical to AppNexus’ international growth and we already enjoy many valuable client relationships in that market.  We could think of no one better than Nigel to lead our UK operations, given his wide industry network and deep understanding of real-time bidding.”

Gilbert most recently served as Head of Orange Ad Market (UK & FR) for France Telecom.  He was responsible for all commercial operations at Orange Ad Market, the real-time bidding (RTB) exchange. Previously, Gilbert was a co-founder of Unanimis, the first and largest digital publisher network in the UK.  As head of sales for Unanimis, Gilbert established and managed sales operations for eBay, BBC, Channel 5, and the London Stock Exchange, among others.  At the time Unanimis was acquired by the Orange France Telecom Group in 2009, it was one of the largest digital buying points in the UK.

“It’s quite an honor to join the team at AppNexus at such a critical time in its international growth. Having been very close to the RTB market in the UK for some time now, it is clear that AppNexus is leading the charge and making many exciting inroads for the industry,” said Gilbert.  “I look forward to working with all its innovative clients in this region, and helping many more realize the exciting opportunities in real-time advertising.”

AppNexus’ London office opened in July 2011 and is one of four global offices, including the company’s New York headquarters, Seattle, and Tel Aviv; additional AppNexus global locations are slated to open in 2012.  Key clients in the UK and Europe currently include Adconion, BannerConnect, Harvest Digital, Hi-Media, Infectious Media, Media iQ, mexad, and WebAds.

Led by the UK, the European market for RTB is growing rapidly, with nearly 25 billion monthly advertising impressions served in Europe alone.*  By 2015, AppNexus predicts RTB growth in the UK will explode to 25 percent of global share, almost on par with the US which AppNexus projects will reach 27 percent.

*AppNexus proprietary reporting

About AppNexus

AppNexus is the world leader in real-time advertising technology, serving the largest and most innovative buyers and sellers of online advertising, including Microsoft Advertising Exchange, Collective and Technorati Media.  Led by the pioneers of the Web’s original ad exchanges at Yahoo!’s Right Media and Google’s DoubleClick, AppNexus offers the industry’s most advanced technology platform that empowers companies to build, manage and optimize their entire online advertising businesses.  Based in New York City, AppNexus is backed by an outstanding group of investors including Microsoft, Venrock, Kodiak Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and Ron Conway.  For more information, visit www.appnexus.com.

Julia Schoessler, julia at schoesslers.com, +49-1-726-897-064