There is yet another story of a large agency setting up a specialised data unit. This time, it’s Omnicom Media Group (OMG). They plan to offer clients a better understanding of how to reach customers with BT. Clearly this means more exchange marketplace media buys and more leveraging of client and third party data to improve display ad campaign performance. You can read more on OMG’s plans at Mediapost.

Leading yield optimisation firm, Admeld, which works with Discovery, FOX News, Huffington Post, IAC, Thomson Reuters and WWE, has secured further funding of $8 million. Admeld plans to open a London office and data centre, and push its market-leading ad optimisation service to publishers in Europe. More detail on the news can be found on Admeld’s site FarneyMedia will also be featuring Admeld in more detail next week and will be chatting to the company’s man in London, Tom Jenen.

The Guardian reports that Microsoft and Publicis have agreed a deal to use data from TV set-top boxes to deliver highly-targeted advertising. Curt Hecht, president of Vivaki Nerve Centre, sees the partnership as bringing accountability to the medium: "It is about more accountability in TV advertising, which is long overdue, using data and technology. On the content side, it will allow companies to better build brands and we are also looking to the future of advertising with new formats." Publicis will use this data to enable their clients to buy audience-specific ads. They are also working on new ad formats, including a pre-roll advertising format. Will other companies, with similar data like BSkyB, be in the market for new partners? You'd expect more joint initiatives in data-sharing to follow as TV advertising becomes more targeted. What does it mean for the exchange marketplace? TV’s move to digital will facilitate real-time tv ad trading. In the same way it's now possible to buy and sell online inventory on open platforms, advertisers will be able to bid on ad spots in between programming. The exchange marketplace would provide content providers access to a greater number of buyers. And companies like BSkyB and Virgin Media could end becoming both platform and data provider. Specualative - but this partnership could be the start of the move to that model.