Three years ago, Elizabeth Blair and Andy Atherton were executives at Yahoo, working to move billions of dollars' worth of online advertising inventory, when they noticed a mismatch between how digital businesses were selling and how major brands go about buying. Web portals and online media companies were swimming in excess ad space, with buyers exploiting the spot market to get last-minute deals. Meanwhile, back in the world of old media, things were different. Every spring, the TV networks held the "upfronts," part of a glitzy in-person marketplace where envoys from car makers, banks, and beverage giants could see glimpses of the upcoming fall shows and reserve tens of billions of dollars' worth of airtime in one fell swoop. For sure, it was an old model, but every year, it worked.
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