Two smaller ad exchanges have announced signing some big name publishers to take part in their programs, providing them with momentum for the long road to success, reports Adweek.

Both ContextWeb - which offers the ADSDAQ exchange - and TRAFFIQ have secured major publishing partners for their respective exchanges. SI.com, AEtv and Local.com have signed with ADSDAQ in a recent momentum build, while TRAFFIQ secured inventory on LATimes.com and TVGuide.com.

Both announcements are major coups for both exchanges, which compete with Yahoo's Right Media platform and other more established players.

How successful these ad exchanges will be over the long-term is largely anyone's guess. While advocates say they can be powerful tools due to their targeting capabilities and transparent buying models, others say it's too much of a cookie-cutter process.

The latter complaint is backed by the conviction that adopting a "stock exchange model" for advertising hinders a brand's ability to do more inventive things to get consumer attention.