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Amid the hype around the next hot internet property, those online workhorses, the ad networks, keep plugging along. Just ask Time Warner executives, who say the next big thing is one of those unglamorous companies that deliver ads to thousands of third-party websites and keep marketers' campaigns away from unpalatable content.

Not surprisingly, Time Warner owns a major player in the market, AOL's Advertising.com, which is a significant contributor to AOL's growth. In the third quarter, ad revenue at AOL was up 46 percent, to $151 million, 26 percent of which was due to Advertising.com, reports AdAge.

As ad networks rush to monetize online video content, Time Warner Chief Operating Officer Jeff Bewkes heaped praise on the Advertising.com unit and threw some light on the sector. Advertising.com has "real advantages monetizing long-tail fragmented pages should sites like MySpace and Yahoo have to turn to us to sell on display," said Bewkes.

Beyond a handful of established players, such as 24/7 Real Media, the sector is quickly gaining newcomers, including Brightcove, ICM Squared and Tremor Media, all of which focus on slightly different businesses.

"Ad networks are going to be hugely important to the way you aggregate all your station affiliates. All that quantity needs to be qualitatively optimized," said Shelly Palmer, consultant and author of "Television Disrupted."