In terms of automating the variations, that can be done ahead of time with photoshop scripting/etc, and then leaving it up to the adserver's optimization algorithms to serve the best-performing creative.
you're talking a couple generations behind what we're doing. there is a huge difference between plugging 10 variations into an ad server and using a genetic algorithm to quickly and efficiently find a local (or global) maxima in a search space of over 1 billion possibilities with constantly shifting preferences.
smartads is also a very different product, very focused on offer optimization, with a rigid system that doesn't expand well beyond the specific verticals they've created templates for. most players in this space have fairly limited optimization abilities, ie a/b testing, which does not scale up.
e.g. http://www.rightmedia.com/solutions/ad-server/
Then there are the folks doing personalized dynamic text/etc on ads, e.g:
http://mediaplex.co.uk/dynamic_messaging.shtml http://advertising.yahoo.com/marketing/smartads/