CBS Dumps Ad Networks - Or Did They?

It seems to me the reporting on CBS's announcement earlier this week that it would cease doing business with ad networks and sell its display inventory directly made its rounds of the blogosphere without noticing something important.

CBS's complete announcement spells out something more subtle: not all ad networks are being shown the door.

Mr. Ashe said CBS will also pull its inventory from some, but not all, online ad exchanges. CBS will continue to offer inventory to Yahoo's Right Media Exchange, Google's DoubleClick and demand-side exchanges such as Publicis Groupe unit Vivaki's Audience on Demand. "What we are careful not do is open our inventory to third parties that may have data interests not aligned with our own," Mr. Ashe said.

So the move has less to do with CBS disassociating from ad networks as a whole, but rather choosing those ad networks whose commercial interests are locked in with CBS's - including  an agency-owned player.  Some in the industry would do well to notice this because it demonstrates that the market for display advertising isn't in this case shifting to the supply side, but is rather an example of the increasing importance of the agency / demand-side in the evolution of the industry.  Sometimes when you read something more closely, it tells a different story.