AOL has seen a boost in programmatic buying from 4% a year ago to nearly 34%, says\u00a0Bob Lord, Global CEO of AOL Platforms<\/a>,\u00a0in an interview with Beet.TV. That growth is driven by two trends — more understanding of the benefits of programmatic buying, and the availability of data management platforms to parse out and analyze data.<\/p>\n The marketing and media business now understands that programmatic buying means automation in efficiency and optmization, and the understanding of those principles has accelerated growth, Lord says. “The second trend pushing us is the ability we have with data management platforms that can collect the data and provide insight into the use of it,” he adds. As part of the push for multi-touch attribution, AOL recently purchased ad tech company Converto<\/a>, a marketing optimization platform that helps brands understand which ads and channels drive users to buy.<\/p>\n As the ad business expands deeper into real-time buying, agencies can bring value to marketers with buying power and data strategy, he says.<\/p>\n