"Three shares of leaderboard, please."

A great deal of attention is being focused on projects aiming to make the ad buying and selling process similar to that of commodities, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft, Yahoo and Google are working on ways to compete with smaller players in becoming ad exchanges, marketplaces where ad inventory is offered and snapped up by buyers. These automated systems would be able to connect buyers with what otherwise would have been unsold inventory, a frequent headache for publishers unable to sell leftover spots.

Firms like Right Media, ContextWeb and others have created their own marketplaces by signing blog network partners and other deals. But a large-scale solution remains elusive. Many publishers, especially those tied to traditional media outlets, still rely on sales people and their contacts, a less efficient process that is nonetheless steeped in tradition and politics.

Cynics feel exchange marketplaces will only excel at selling scatter and non-premium inventory since big brands negotiate their own buys. Others contend that there is more than enough inventory to keep a robust ad market happy.