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Innovation is all about greating greater efficiencies. Venture capital is all about profiting from the resulting value migration. The folks at DataXu are on track to do both.

As a long-time user of various ad networks, the inefficiencies have always struck me as an outrageous and unsustainable way of keeping margin firmly on the side of the sellers.

DataXu and its competitors, such as MediaMath (and, it should be said, Google) are at last starting to even the score by introducing real-time bidding across all major systems - a development that should hopefully allow those of us that make our livings online to start seeing some higher gross margins.

Fifteen years ago, when I was selling TV ads for a living, not only did you have to book well in advance for the "proven" spots, but the pricing system was so rigid it made airline price schedules seem relatively simplistic. Back then, it was impossible to do anything in real-time - if more people were watching the show on the channel beside you, there was no moving your spots around the dial - it just wasn't possible.

This is the key benefit - the promise of DataXu that they will play the role of the honest broker, by analyzing traffic and conversions in real-time - so you can move your money in behind the best-performing properties. The testimonials and case studies on their site seem to illustrate that is exactly what is happening.

My only concern is that once these systems grow in size, they will start applying their own versions of volume buy-ins and minimum inventory levels, effectively pushing the small business operator or startup back to the starting position. But then if that does happen, therein lies an opportunity for someone else to innovate.

For DataXu's DealHorizon profile, click here.