Dive Brief: 

• AOL CEO Tim Armstrong reported in a Q2 earnings call that the company's ad sales are up 20% from last year at $451.7 million. 
• The biggest boost came from digital video ad platform Adap.tv, which helped spike third-party sales to 60% over last year — a number that would be at 20% without it. 
• Programmatic buying was also given credit for the healthy ad sales growth, and AOL plans to keep programmatic buying a focus going forward. 

Dive Insight: 

AOL's success is proof that programmatic is here to stay and a worthwhile investment for publishers. The firm's performance is impressive, especially when considering peer publishers, like Yahoo, that aren't seeing the ad growth they would like.