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AdTech AdTalk

Adam and Gareth

Buy Side Meets Sell Side.

Live Q&A with CEOs telling the truth about where Ad Tech is headed.

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  • 22 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 1 min
  • English

Episodes 22

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  • S1 · E66
    Friday · 59 min

    The Remedies Episode

    Adam Heimlich and Gareth Glaser tackle the unsealing of the government's 108-page Google ad tech antitrust remedies document. Adam and Gareth break down the core structural issue in digital publishing: why every major website is forced to maintain two separate demand setups—Google Ad Manager (GAM) for Google demand and Prebid/TAM for everything else—rather than running a single unified auction. Gareth explains that if AdX and AdWords are forced to bid into Prebid on equal terms, up to 80% of publishers who lack direct sales teams could abandon GAM entirely, speeding up web page loads and opening up true competition among sell-side ad servers. The hosts dive into Scott Messer's viral analysis highlighting a glaring loophole in the remedies that permits AdWords to continue favoring AdX whenever Google claims it provides superior advertiser value, privacy, or fraud protection. Adam counters with a historical parallel to the 2001 Microsoft Windows antitrust settlement, arguing that behavioral remedies can succeed when executive leadership tires of regulatory litigation and chooses to compete on product quality rather than illegal ties. To wrap up, the hosts analyze an Ad Age report detailing OpenAI's path toward a $100 billion ad business. They examine why top early spenders like Capital One and Expedia are experiencing disastrous direct-response performance on ChatGPT. Gareth and Adam explain that unlike Facebook or Fox News, where passive scrolling environments drive impulse clicks, reading-focused LLM users simply do not engage with performance ads. KEY TOPICS The DOJ Remedies Document & The "One Line" Unified Auction: Adam and Gareth analyze the government's 108-page antitrust filing, explaining how forcing AdX to bid directly into Prebid could allow the 80% of publishers without direct sales teams to abandon GAM entirely. Scott Messer's Loophole & AdWords Favoritism: The hosts discuss Scott Messer's warning that Google can exploit a remedy clause allowing AdWords to prioritize AdX whenever Google asserts that AdX delivers higher ROI, better data, or superior privacy. Microsoft 2001 Parallels & Corporate Mindset Shifts: Adam draws a direct comparison to the 2001 Microsoft Windows settlement, predicting that Google's executive leadership will eventually tire of fighting regulators and choose to win through genuine product innovation. OpenAI's Ad Revenue Dreams vs. Diabolical DR Performance: The hosts dissect ChatGPT's ad network ambitions, noting that top early spenders like Capital One and Expedia are seeing terrible direct-response results because LLM users are actively studying rather than browsing for impulse buys. Legacy Ad Server Latency & Taboola's UK Acquisition: Gareth highlights Taboola's £27 million UK publisher acquisition, while Adam points out that legacy GAM implementations artificially add 600 milliseconds of unnecessary latency to every page load on the internet. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Show Intro & Mind Sticker Pre-Roll 01:05 Reading the 108-Page DOJ Google Antitrust Remedies Document 02:39 The "Two Lines" Problem: GAM vs. Prebid 05:14 Can Publishers Move to a Single Prebid Line? 07:52 Why 80% of GAM Users Don't Actually Need an Ad Server 11:46 Large Publisher Legacy Infrastructure & Offboarding Hurdles 15:10 Scott Messer's Loophole: How AdWords Can Still Favor AdX 21:48 Microsoft 2001 Parallels: Will Google Leadership Just Stop Cheating? 25:47 Why Google Harvested Third-Party Publisher Data 32:48 Tobin's Question: Buy-Side Policy & Thin Auctions 38:32 Capital Inflows & The 600ms Ad Server Latency Tax 44:11 Ad Age OpenAI Story & ChatGPT's Top Ad Spenders 46:50 Why LLM Users Don't Click DR Ads (The Fox News Comparison) 52:28 Innovid, Video Ad Serving, & Taboola's £27M UK M&A 57:48 Top Ad Tech Nations & Next Week Preview

  • S1 · E65
    September 11 · 1 hr 1 min

    Consolidation & Aggression

    On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Adam Heimlich and Gareth Glaser open with personal reflections on the anxiety of "Anthrax Night" in New York City before pivoting into a fiery breakdown of the latest ad tech shake-ups. Gareth kicks off the sell-side conversation by breaking down why "buying traffic" is finally shedding its MFA stigma. He explains how smart publishers are utilizing paid marketing for "user exfiltration"—extracting users from walled gardens like Facebook to build direct audience relationships and measure lifetime value. The buy side is just as turbulent. Adam reveals that Amazon is aggressively pitching its Bedrock Agent Core to major agencies and publishers, positioning itself to be the "master UI" that controls all other AI agents. This sparks a critical debate on whether tech giants like Google and Meta will ever allow Amazon's master agent to manage their platforms, or if they will freeze them out. The hosts also dive into the brutal consolidation happening at the publisher "last mile," discussing Raptive and other Prebid management platforms throwing around aggressive revenue guarantees in a race to conquer the mid-to-long tail of the open web. Wrapping up, the duo takes aim at the hypocrisy of agency holding company conflicts after Publicis snatched the Pepsi account while still servicing Coke in certain regions. Referencing industry legend Mark Ritson, Adam and Gareth point out the absurdity that agencies are forced to build physical walls between competitor teams, while Silicon Valley tech giants pool the data of bitter rivals into a single algorithm without anyone batting an eye. This sets the stage for a compelling argument on the true value of isolated, per-advertiser modeling. KEY TOPICS • Publisher Paid Traffic & "User Exfiltration": Gareth explains how the perception of publishers buying traffic is shifting away from MFA spam, viewing it instead as a legitimate arbitrage strategy to pull users out of Facebook and build direct lifetime value. • The Death of RSS & Clunky Newsletters: The hosts lament the loss of Google Reader and RSS feeds, criticizing the modern pivot to email newsletters as a clunky, disorganized user experience compared to unified feed consumption. • Amazon Bedrock's Aggressive Master Agent Play: Adam reveals that Amazon is moving quickly to sign deals with agencies for Bedrock Agent Core, attempting to become the central "master UI" that governs all other advertising AI agents. • Prebid Management Consolidation & Revenue Guarantees: Gareth outlines the intense, knife-fight competition among outsourced publisher ad stack managers, where massive revenue guarantees are sparking suspicion and driving rapid market consolidation. • The Hypocrisy of Holding Company Conflicts: Following Publicis winning the Pepsi account, the hosts laugh at the double standard where advertising agencies must build physical walls to separate competitors, while Google and Meta pool rival data into the same black-box algorithms without scrutiny. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Vintage Coffee Commercial & Show Intro02:06 9/11 Memories and the Forgotten "Anthrax Night"05:46 The End of the MFA Stigma for Buying Traffic08:39 User Exfiltration: Stealing Audiences from Walled Gardens11:46 We Need RSS Feeds Back: The Clunky Newsletter Problem19:41 Amazon Bedrock's Aggressive Master UI Deals24:37 The Agent Wars: Will Google Talk to Amazon's Agent?27:48 Chalice's Bet on Modular Enterprise Architecture30:38 Brian O'Kelley's Scope3 Vision vs. Big Tech's Reality34:50 Holding Company Agent Swarms vs. Big Tech38:19 Publisher Prebid Management: Suspicious Revenue Guarantees45:12 "Competing with Knives": Consolidation in the Publisher Last Mile48:24 Amazon Publisher Services and the Death of S2S Header Bidding51:22 Publicis Wins Pepsi: The Hypocrisy of Agency Conflicts55:46 Clean Rooms and the Value of Per-Advertiser Data Isolation58:23 Back to School Season & Getting Kids to the Bus

  • S1 · E64
    September 4 · 1 hr 3 min

    They Didn't Win Sh_t

    Adam Heimlich and Gareth Glaser return for an action-packed episode following a chaotic 36 hours of breaking ad tech news. Adam kicks off the show by calling out Hightouch's recent case study against LiveRamp, explaining why claiming higher match rates than Google for CRM email uploads is fundamentally flawed and missing LiveRamp's true purpose as a modular identity translation layer. The hosts also examine Publicis' acquisition of LiveRamp alongside Epsilon and Conversant, building a fully integrated holding company tech stack while stealing the massive Pepsi account from Omnicom.The conversation pivots to a fiery breakdown of the Google antitrust ruling. Adam and Gareth dismantle the public misconception that Google "won" anything, detailing how Google's defense was laughed out of court by an 80-year-old judge and how Google launched Buyer Direct at 10% out of desperation. They analyze why a structural breakup failed, comparing the DOJ's potential behavioral remedies to the historic 2001 Microsoft Windows settlement. They also expose how Google Campaign Manager and Meta rely on probabilistic "modeled conversions" on iOS to trick automated AI budget allocators into handing them unearned attribution credit.To wrap up, Adam and Gareth break down the FTC's lawsuit against Amazon Sponsored Ads for artificially inflating winning bids in private second-price auctions, and recount how Meta's "Jedi Blue" deal with Google crippled mobile Prebid adoption. Finally, the hosts outline a joint plan to build guaranteed direct sales rules directly into Prebid, creating a open-source alternative to Google Buyer Direct.KEY TOPICSIdentity Translation vs. CRM Match Rates: Adam roasts Hightouch's case study against LiveRamp, explaining that uploading CRM lists directly to walled gardens requires no middleman, while LiveRamp's real value lies in modular identity handoffs above platforms.Publicis, LiveRamp, and the Pepsi Account Stunner: The hosts analyze why Publicis acquired LiveRamp to protect its per-advertiser modeling pipeline, while celebrating Publicis snatching the global Pepsi account from Omnicom.Google Antitrust Reality & "Modeled Conversion" Scams: Adam and Gareth explain that Google lost its antitrust trial badly, while exposing how Google and Meta use probabilistic "modeled conversions" to manufacture fake attribution credit on iOS devices.FTC Suing Amazon Over Second-Price Auction Gaming: The hosts break down the FTC's fraud lawsuit against Amazon Sponsored Ads for placing phantom second-price bids against buyers to artificially inflate final auction prices.Building a Prebid Direct Sales Competitor to Google: Gareth and Adam map out how priority direct-serving logic can be built into Prebid in weeks, giving publishers and buyers a way to execute guaranteed deals outside GAM.00:00 Grease Opening & Show Intro01:55 Hightouch vs. LiveRamp: The Flawed Case Study03:50 Publicis Acquiring LiveRamp & The End-to-End Stack09:22 Publicis Wins Pepsi Account from Omnicom12:23 Google Antitrust Ruling: "They Didn't Win Sh_t"17:00 Why Divestiture Failed & The Microsoft Remedy Model22:58 Google Campaign Manager & Fake "Modeled Conversions"28:06 Incrementality Modeling & Chalice Seed Controls31:00 B2B Programmatic & The Challenge of Tech Buying40:10 FTC Sues Amazon Sponsored Ads for Auction Gaming50:44 Meta, Jedi Blue & The Collapse of Mobile Prebid58:03 Building Guaranteed Direct Sales into Prebid

  • S1 · E63
    August 21 · 1 hr 2 min

    Rock Bottom = Good News

    Fresh off vacation, Adam Heimlich and Gareth Glaser return for an unfiltered look at digital advertising’s shifting landscape. The show opens with an honest discussion on leadership friction, founder existential dread, and the contrasting "publisher dread" currently gripping the open web. Gareth likens the current state of digital publishing to being stuck on a 150-year-old sinking ocean liner, exploring how publishers are navigating traffic declines, Google AI Overviews, and the transition toward lifetime value (LTV) tracking and direct audience relationships. On the buy side, Adam reveals a hilarious yet frustrating trend: major agency holding companies are sending Chalice RFIs that verbatim repeat Chalice’s own modular AI pitch back to him after seven years. The hosts dissect why agency data aggregation models inherently output average performance for enterprise brands, while analyzing the broader macroeconomic shift as traditional consumer ad spend contracts and migrates into growth sectors like pharma, GLP-1 weight loss drugs, sports betting, and gaming. The episode climaxes with a deep dive into Taboola’s game-changing deal to manage NBC Universal’s programmatic sales. Gareth and Adam evaluate Taboola’s closed-loop performance model, its massive SMB advertiser scale, and why Wall Street is severely hypocritical in its valuation of Taboola compared to trade DSPs. They close with a spirited debate on agentic ad tech protocols, Beeswax history, and why AI will inevitably accelerate the in-housing of $500M+ enterprise ad budgets. KEY TOPICS Publisher Existential Dread & The Traffic Plateau: Gareth described open web traffic decline as a sinking 150-year-old liner, noting that while traffic has hit rock bottom, bright spots exist in local news adopting LTV tracking and gaming sites with direct type-in audiences. Agency RFIs & The Flaw of Data Aggregation: Adam shared that agency holding companies are sending him RFIs repeating Chalice's exact modular AI pitch back to him, noting that generic agency stacks aggregate data to output average results rather than custom enterprise optimization. The Rise of Pharma & Shifting Consumer Economies: Adam and Gareth noted that traditional consumer brand categories like beer and snacks are contracting in a slowing economy, shifting ad spend into growth sectors like pharma, GLP-1s, sports betting, and gaming. Taboola’s NBC Deal & The Closed-Loop Performance Model: Gareth highlighted Taboola taking over NBC Universal's programmatic sales, arguing that Taboola's closed-loop 65/35 revenue split and SMB onboarding infrastructure make it a massively undervalued performance powerhouse. Agentic Ad Tech & Accelerating Brand In-Housing: The hosts discussed how AI agents will streamline campaign execution, predicting an accelerated wave of brand in-housing that will challenge traditional agency fee structures. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Golf Shop Pre-Roll & Show Intro 01:10 Leadership Team Meltdowns & Founder Dread 05:43 State of the Open Web: Sinking Liners & Traffic Drops 07:32 Publisher Survival: LTV Tracking & Gaming Sites 12:13 Google AI Overviews & The Review Site Dilemma 17:30 Yahoo Finance, Weather & Black-Hat SEO Traffic 19:25 State of the Buy Side: Agencies Quoting Chalice's Pitch 22:22 Why Aggregated Agency Data Outputs Average Results 24:17 Contracting Economies vs. Pharma & GLP-1 Ad Spend 28:06 Free Trade, Inflation & TV Price Deflation 31:33 DSP Custom Algorithms & Beeswax History 37:47 Taboola Takes Over NBC Universal's Programmatic Sales 42:04 Why Taboola is Massively Undervalued vs. DSPs 49:01 The Open Web vs. Taboola's Publisher Guarantees 54:03 Agentic Ad Tech, ADCP & Swivel Debates 59:21 Reaching Rock Bottom: Reimagining the Open Web

  • S1 · E62
    August 14 · 1 hr 8 min

    In Defense of Defensibility

    Fresh off a vacation in Fire Island, Adam Heimlich joins Gareth Glaser for an episode that balances hilarious observations on human status-seeking—complete with a story about Brooklyn zoo-goers misunderstanding baboon mating habits—with deep strategic analysis on the future of ad tech defensibility. The hosts open by examining what happens to the internet as Google Search's dominance wanes, predicting how publishers will pivot toward "orthogonal" content (highly uncorrelated, novel, or real-world local news) and why Google will artificially feed referral traffic to prevent publishers from blocking AI crawlers.The core of the episode tackles software defensibility and enterprise ad tech architecture. Gareth shares inside details from defensibility meetings at Chalice, challenging engineers to scope out what it would take for a $100M competitor to clone their tech, while highlighting how engineers think in "mind castles." Adam breaks down the fifth and final installment of his "Two Architectures" blog series alongside a new Bayer case study, explaining why modeling on the joint outperforms standard lookalikes, why all ad tech data science problems are edge cases, and why pure SaaS models fail in enterprise ad tech compared to custom per-advertiser infrastructure.The hosts wrap up with a tour through industry news and earnings. They dissect the ongoing backlash against The Trade Desk and CEO Jeff Green, defending Green's long-term conviction around DSP longevity, data privacy, and agentic prompt interfaces. They also critique ADCP and audit chains, evaluate Mark Ritson and Byron Sharp's "share of search" metrics, discuss Martin Sorrell's take on agency holding company defensibility, and celebrate Uber's ad business success story under Mark Grether.00:00 Oatmeal Court Audio & Fire Island Vacation03:16 Baboon Mating Myths & Human Status-Seeking06:48 Accused of AI Writing & The Post-Search Internet14:43 "Orthogonal" Content & Local News Production20:00 Local News Attribution & Google Spotlight Tags22:05 Gareth’s Defensibility Meetings & Engineer "Mind Castles"28:15 Adam’s Bayer Case Study & Data Science Edge Cases32:15 The Myth of Pure SaaS in Enterprise AdTech34:27 Pooled Averages vs. Per-Advertiser Custom Models37:50 AWS Fabric, ARTF Adoption & Measurement Lock-In43:25 Google Buyer Direct, ADCP & The Audit Chain Myth47:11 Share of Search, Byron Sharp & The Dark Lord of Penetration51:20 Martin Sorrell & Holding Company Compute Aggregation55:08 In Defense of The Trade Desk & Jeff Green's Conviction1:01:06 Collapsing Agencies & DSPs into Agentic Systems1:04:00 The Seismic Leak Story & Uber's Ad Success

  • S1 · E61
    August 7 · 1 hr 3 min

    Revenge of the SSP

    Adam Heimlich (representing the buy side) and Gareth Glaser (representing the sell side) dive into a packed earnings season episode examining major structural shifts across digital advertising. The hosts open with a deep dive into the emerging "infrastructure layer" thesis, comparing cloud plays like AWS Fabric and Amazon Publisher Services (APS/TAM) to Prebid setups. They analyze how Amazon gains auction advantages by running proprietary code on publisher pages outside Prebid’s rules, while also highlighting Amazon Bedrock's leadership in multi-LLM model management.The central theme of the show turns to the "Revenge of the SSP". Gareth and Adam break down why supply-side platforms are reinventing themselves as ad tech infrastructure providers through real-time containerization (ARTF) integrations with companies like Chalice across Index Exchange, OpenX, PubMatic, and Magnite. They explore PubMatic's stellar earnings driven by a 30% reduction in infrastructure costs, Magnite's hybrid cloud/on-prem strategy, and how curation accidentally achieved the true goals of Supply Path Optimization (SPO).The hosts also contrast DSP data-hoarding with SSP log-file transparency, dissect Nielsen's acquisition of DoubleVerify alongside Cybids and Rockerbox, and engage in a spirited debate over biddable media versus packaged direct sales using an "omakase vs. buying the whole cow" butcher metaphor. They wrap up with a spicy "Postmortem" segment roasting Jonah Goodhart’s case study on serving ads to AI agents, with Gareth framing prompt-injecting LLMs as nothing more than black-hat SEO.2. Key TopicsThe Infrastructure Play & Amazon APS Advantage: Gareth and Adam examine how scaled ad tech is shifting toward cloud infrastructure layers, noting that Amazon's APS/TAM gains an edge by running outside Prebid's open-source rules and timeouts."Revenge of the SSP" & Real-Time Containerization (ARTF): Adam and Gareth explain that SSPs are thriving by transforming into open architecture and containerized decisioning hubs (ARTF), enabling tools like Chalice to lower infra costs and drive publisher revenue.DSP Data Hoarding vs. SSP Log Transparency: The hosts contrast SSPs' willingness to share raw log files for custom algorithmic optimization against DSPs' historical tendency to withhold logs under the pretense of privacy.Direct Sales ("The Whole Cow") vs. Biddable Programmatic ("Omakase"): Gareth and Adam debate inventory packaging, arguing that direct-sold packages force buyers to pay for unwanted filler ("the whole cow"), whereas impression-level biddable programmatic delivers targeted value ("omakase").Ads for AI Agents & Black-Hat Prompt Injection: In the Postmortem segment, Gareth critiques Jonah Goodhart's case study on context-injecting ads into LLMs, calling it spammy black-hat SEO that models like Claude will actively reject.00:00 Show Intro & Summer Earnings Energy02:26 The Fabric Architecture & Infrastructure vs Application Layer04:43 Amazon APS/TAM & Prebid Rule Bypassing12:15 Amazon Bedrock & Multi-LLM Modular Architecture14:42 Real-Time Containerization (ARTF) Across Index, OpenX & PubMatic16:58 PubMatic Earnings Blowout & Cost Reductions21:05 Magnite's Hybrid Cloud/On-Prem Whitepaper24:18 "Revenge of the SSP" & Accidental SPO27:04 DSP Shifts, Trade Desk & Log File Access34:02 John D'Souza Comment on Amazon Logs & AMC Clean Rooms36:58 Nielsen Acquiring DoubleVerify, Cybids & Rockerbox43:36 Ali Manning on AdExchanger & The Origins of ARTF45:21 Regional Allocation Optimization (YouTube, Meta & DSPs)48:24 The Great Packaging Debate: Omakase vs. The Whole Cow54:51 Agentic Buying & Strategy Selection58:07 Postmortem: Jonah Goodhart vs. Will Kakowski on Ads for AI Agents

  • S1 · E60
    July 31 · 1 hr

    I Have a Thesis

    After recovering from a truly bizarre pre-roll video featuring an opossum massage, hosts Adam Heimlich and Gareth Glaser dive deep into defining their core operating philosophies for Chalice and Gamera. Adam lays out his "Two Architectures" thesis, arguing that enterprise advertisers require unique, one-at-a-time AI stacks based on their own data, rather than the "pooled stacks" used by small businesses, to prevent brand equity erosion and slows growth. Gareth counters with a critique of the shaken faith in programmatic, specifically among publishers moving back toward direct sales, necessitating a new thesis on "Trust in Programmatic." The hosts litigate the complete lack of standards and enforcement in "seller-defined" programmatic fields, which publishers have historically gamed to satisfied generic, pooled DSP algorithms that fail to spread value across opportunities. The conversation shifts to the distinction between data, measurement, and optimization. Adam asserts that Chalice is uniquely optimizing empirical page metrics—like network calls and refresh rates—against robust per-advertiser valuations. Gareth advocates for a zero-trust approach, positioning Gamera as the necessary neutral third party to objectively label inventory and create feedback loops for publishers. In the news segment, the hosts analyze Omnicom’s recent earnings call, slamming CEO John Wren for punting on analyst questions regarding whether AI efficiency savings benefit the agency or the advertiser. Adam and Gareth express deep skepticism over agency claims of multi-year internal AI builds, suggesting they are likely relying on generic tools from Google and Microsoft. They close with Ian Whitaker’s analysis of Microsoft versus Meta capex spending, analyzing why the market rationalizes Microsoft’s compute investments as widgets to be sold, but remains skeptical of Zuckerberg’s ability to translate massive hardware bets into an impregnable advertising moat. 00:00 Apossum Massage Madness & Intro02:29 The Adam Loves AdTech Blog Engagment04:31 Adam's Thesis: The Two Architectures of AI Advertising08:23 Gareth's Thesis: Shaken Faith in Programmatic09:37 The Lack of Trust & Standards in Bidstream Fields11:44 Publisher Shenanigans & The Failure to Spread Value13:20 The Need for Neutral Third Parties & Zero Trust16:40 Objective Site Assessment vs. Gamed GPIDs22:00 The App Nexus Origins of Curation24:30 Why Curation Works: Beating the DSP Algo29:23 Does AdTech Actually Care About Advertiser Performance?31:47 Dissecting Data, Optimization, & Measurement34:54 Viewability Table Stakes vs. Gamed Inventory39:50 JS Logs, iframes, and Closing the Pub Loop43:30 Gamera Business Model & Free Publisher Monitoring45:41 News Pubs & Oracle's Brand Safety Vacuum50:50 News: Agency Earnings, AI Savings & The John Wren Punt52:55 Moving too Fast: The Pony Scheme Analogy55:51 News: Meta vs. Microsoft Capex & Ian Whitaker Analysis59:12 Social Media is Just a Website1:00:32 Singularity & Next Week: Kaiju Open Weight Model Fight

  • S1 · E59
    July 24 · 1 hr

    Is It Recipe Sites? Or Is It Cake?

    Adam and Gareth return after a week off, diving straight into high-level ad tech analysis. The hosts tackle how user IDs and audience targeting are evolving in modern advertising. Rather than viewing IDs as rigid segment buckets, they explore how advanced buyers like Chalice treat IDs as correlation fields to drive flexible propensity scoring and true incrementality modeling.The conversation moves into market economics, the shifting balance of power between CMOs and CFOs, and the bull vs. bear cases for programmatic technology. Gareth and Adam break down why ghost bidding often produces messy data compared to clean public service announcement (PSA) control groups, why retail media networks are primarily useful for conquesting rather than loyalty targeting, and how programmatic tech fees could theoretically compress down to a lean 15% to 18%.Finally, the hosts unpack technical mechanics on the supply side, explaining how open web native ads operate at a component level and why supply-side platforms (SSPs) like Media.net, TripleLift, and Magnite lead format innovation. They close out with a candid discussion on publisher revenues dropping 40% in Q2, an infuriating case study of a luxury brand irrationally blocking news publishers, and a witty critique of Sam Altman's rumored $100 billion AI ad network ambitions.Key TopicsUser ID Propensity Scoring & Incrementality: Adam and Gareth explained that user IDs should be treated as flexible correlation fields for propensity scoring and incrementality rather than rigid target audience buckets.The Flaw of Retail Media Networks & Ghost Bidding: Adam noted that retail media networks mostly hold repeat-buyer data best suited for brand conquesting, while ghost bidding creates unreliable data compared to clear PSA control testing.Bull vs. Bear Cases for Programmatic & AI: Gareth presented a bear case where middleware vendors re-complicate ad tech and Google Cloud locks in buyers, while Adam shared a bull case where tech fees compress to 15-18% and programmatic expands into mid-market performance budgets.SSP Formats & Mechanics of Open Web Native Ads: Gareth detailed how true native advertising delivers structured component arrays rather than pre-assembled banner tags, explaining why SSPs like Media.net, TripleLift, and Magnite drive format creation.Publisher Squeeze & Irrational News Blocking: Adam and Gareth discussed how search retention hurts publisher traffic, sharing a real-world story of a luxury brand cutting news inventory despite high campaign performance.00:00 Toilet Privacy Sensor & Show Intro01:19 User IDs, Audience Targeting & Chalice04:02 Propensity Scoring vs. Rigid Bucketing06:10 The Retail Media Network Conquesting Dilemma08:27 Incrementality: PSAs vs. Ghost Bidding12:02 CFO Power & Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)15:15 The Branded Search Tax & ADT Security Story18:15 Low Viewability Waste & Zero-Trust Bid Fields24:24 Bull vs. Bear Cases for AI & Ad Tech Efficiency36:30 Open Web Video Distribution & Maldo's Birthday39:22 Media.net & Why SSPs Own Format Innovation45:19 How Open Web Native Ads Actually Work49:20 Publisher Q2 Traffic Squeeze & Google Retention53:31 Luxury Brands & The Irrational News Block55:40 Blog Plugs, Twitter Feuds & Sam Altman's Ad Dreams

  • S1 · E58
    July 10 · 59 min

    Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

    Adam and Gareth return to tackle the pollution of the media ecosystem, from AI-generated "slop" on LinkedIn to the strategy of flooding the zone with fake news. The guys dive deep into the philosophical roots of Palantir CEO Alex Karp, exploring how his studies in ontology under Jurgen Habermas in Germany led to the realization that AI training models desperately need human knowledge workers for proper data labeling. This same need for consistent taxonomy paved the way for companies like Jounce Media and Sincera to redefine quality in ad tech. The main event focuses on Google's new "Buyer Direct" product within Google Ad Manager (GAM). Gareth argues that Google's unified architecture could easily kill complex Agentic workflows in the crib, proving that "automation doesn't beat architecture". Adam points out that while publishers may love Google's unfathomably low 10% take rate, it's ultimately "fruit of the poisonous tree"—a massive competitive advantage born directly from Google's monopolistic tying of AdX and GAM. Plus, the guys discuss Warner Bros. Discovery building an ad stack on AWS, why CTV is still wildly mispriced due to information asymmetry, and why publishers are finally opting out of Google Search. Key Topics: - The Flood of AI Slop: How AI is polluting the media landscape and making it impossible to discern genuine expertise on LinkedIn. - Alex Karp's Ontology: How the Palantir CEO's background in German social theory applies directly to the manual labeling required for AI training data. - Google Buyer Direct: Why Google's low-fee, direct-to-publisher pipeline could completely bypass DSPs and destroy fragmented Agentic workflows. - Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Why Google's 10% take rate is an anti-competitive advantage stemming from their illegal tying of the publisher ad server. - Opting Out of Google Search: Why publishers are finally blocking Google's AI crawlers as AI overviews cannibalize their organic traffic. Chapter Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: Restraining Ad Tech Opinions 01:20 The Rise of AI-Generated LinkedIn Takes 04:06 Flooding the Zone & Media Pollution 06:21 Alex Karp, Ontology, and the Need for Data Labeling 10:12 Sincera, Jounce Media, and Ad Placement Taxonomy 15:09 Google's Buyer Direct vs. Agentic Workflows 21:26 Why Automation Doesn't Beat Architecture 23:21 Fruit of the Poisonous Tree: Google's 10% Margin 25:33 The Overlord Model vs. Free Financial Markets 33:43 SMB Advertising, Taboola, and Outbrain 38:03 Ad Tech for Car Dealerships & Healthcare 40:04 Warner Bros. Discovery Builds on AWS 44:24 Information Asymmetry and CTV Mispricing 47:39 Publishers Opting Out of Google Search 56:40 The Token Economy: Anthropic vs. Fable AI

  • July 2 · 1 hr 5 min

    Barrage of Buzzwords

    Adam and Gareth return from their post-Cannes Lions haze to break down a wild week of acquisitions, executive manifestos, and deleted LinkedIn posts. The guys kick off with a recap of the Cannes "boondoggle," where ad exchanges and platforms throw massive yacht parties and take over entire hotels to woo CMOs. Shifting to the tech stack, they discuss how AI is supercharging CRMs and customer service, including the shock for Pylon's CEO when their Claude enterprise pricing jumped from $600k to $3M. Adam and Gareth then dissect Sir Martin Sorrell's critique of holding company bureaucracy, as well as Keith Weisberg's quickly deleted post calling out agencies for pitching a "barrage of buzzwords" rather than proving their AI capabilities. They also unpack the juicy details of a controversial Meta tell-all book, Walmart's rumored $1.4 billion acquisition of Vibe, Satya Nadella's AI manifesto, and Alex Karp's buzzword-heavy Palantir-Zeta Global partnership. Key Topics: - The Cannes Lions Boondoggle: Why the festival is less about shared events and more about massive corporate flexing and yacht parties. - The Cost of AI in SaaS: How tools like Pylon and Granola are revolutionizing asynchronous communication, but facing massive enterprise API costs. - Holding Company Bureaucracy: Sir Martin Sorrell's debate on whether agencies should organize by market or capability. - Fake Agentic AI: Calling out the industry's habit of selling "a barrage of buzzwords" instead of showing real ROI and case studies. - The Vibe Acquisition: Breaking down the massive 17x multiple and $180M founder earnouts in Walmart's reported acquisition of Vibe. - The White-Collar Industrial Revolution: Satya Nadella's pushback on AI doomerism and why LLMs are uniquely targeting the bourgeoisie. Chapter Timestamps: 00:00 Intro & Cannes Lions Recap 11:27 AI in Sales, Pylon, & The Cost of Claude 19:03 Sir Martin Sorrell on HoldCo Taxonomy 28:04 Keith Weisberg Calls Out Fake Agentic AI 33:54 The Meta Tell-All Book "Careless People" 40:08 Walmart's $1.4B Acquisition of Vibe 54:18 Satya Nadella's AI Manifesto 58:48 Alex Karp, Palantir, and Zeta Global

  • S1 · E56
    June 12 · 1 hr 1 min

    Hands on the Contract, Eyes on the Bag

    Adam and Gareth return for an absolute blockbuster episode of Adtech Ad Talk, kicking off with the biggest breaking news in the industry: Publicis and The Trade Desk have officially buried the hatchet and are back in the room together. To celebrate the end of this fierce corporate feud, the guys debut an incredible, AI-generated southern rap track summarizing the high-stakes reconciliation.The duo tackles the shifting dynamics of the AdTech landscape, breaking down why the hard binary split between the buy-side and sell-side is fundamentally dissolving as platforms move toward unified execution environments. Gareth unpacks how Meta's post-ATT pivot allowed them to perfect their "Andromeda" value function, driving an insane $50 billion optimization lift completely independent of traditional user IDs. Finally, they pull back the curtain on the "nasty" reality of dynamic take rates and hidden arbitrage in the middle, explore why the smartest marketing teams are born out of hyper-competitive industries like CPG, and feature a stunning, jarring viewer submission in Creative Corner.Key Topics:- Publicis & The Trade Desk Reunite: Breaking down the end of the feud and the power dynamics of their new handshake.- The Dissolving Buy/Sell Divide: Why legacy, siloed DSP/SSP integrations are giving way to single-environment optimization.- Meta's Post-ID Blueprint: How Apple's privacy changes forced Meta to build a superior, multi-feature recommender system.- The Dynamic Take Rate Trap: Unpacking how middleman platforms exploit averaging bounds to harvest massive margins from publishers.- Creative Corner: A powerful, unforgettable print ad highlighting period poverty and institutional shame.00:00 Intro: An Amped-Up Friday Blockbuster01:36 World Premiere: The Publicis & Trade Desk Reconciliation Rap05:23 Pre-Cannes Musings & The Certainty of Change06:18 The History of Failed DSP/SSP Mergers (Rubicon & Chango)08:08 The Death of the Legacy Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Mindset11:32 Harvesting the Spread: The Advertiser's Right to Alpha14:18 The User ID Imbalance and Pacing Complexities16:02 How Apple's ATT Birthed Meta's $50B Recommender Engine18:41 The Looming AI Carnage for Unprepared Agencies22:55 The Rise of MCP and Direct Data Set Access25:31 Smartitude: Ranking Clients by Industry Competition26:30 The "Mafia State" of Publisher Arbitrage and Last Look28:29 Why Competition is the Only Way to Raise Publisher CPMs30:20 The Secret Rules of Transparency Pricing in CTV32:55 Beyond Taxonomies: Scoring Attributes on a Spectrum34:36 The Legacy of Cognitive (The OGs of Custom Modeling)35:46 Obstacles in the Trade Desk API (An Accidental Origin Story)37:02 Creative Corner: A Uniquely Jarring Print Ad from South Africa37:37 Outro: Bringing Back the Beat

  • S1 · E55
    June 5 · 55 min

    Natural Born Clickers

    Adam and Gareth break down the mind-bending "Data Gravity Theory of Adtech" introduced by industry gadfly Tom Truscari. Using a literal physics equation, they litigate whether consolidating data sets actually drives better outcomes for marketers, or if it simply forces enterprise brands into a "platform average" that dilutes their private modeling advantages. Adam shares a historical perspective on how big brands accidentally "donate" their data to ad networks, which then use it to fuel and spawn copycat competitors. The guys also dive into the return of click-driving campaigns, revisiting Comscore's famous 2008 study "Natural Born Clickers" to remind everyone that 10% of users generate the vast majority of web clicks. They expose why Google's mobile interstitial ads are their most profitable unit, look back at the 1990s Sears & Roebuck mail-order math that birthed modern addressable marketing, and laugh at a tech CEO's "new" warning about AI optimization traps that Adam actually published a decade ago. Finally, the conversation takes a wild turn into psychedelic 70s cinema, Werner Herzog, and how an ancient Persian mathematician's name evolved into the word "algorithm." Key Topics: - The Data Gravity Theory: Breaking down Truscari’s equation on data mass, friction, and M&A consolidation. - The Market Expansion Trap: How pooling enterprise data accidentally creates and scales your direct competitors. - Natural Born Clickers: Why optimizing for clicks is a dangerous heuristic that targets a tiny, non-representative slice of humanity. - The 19th-Century Roots of AdTech: Why addressable targeting is actually just rehashed Sears & Roebuck catalog math. - The Origin of the Algorithm: A quick historical detour into Al-Khwarizmi, algebra, and ancient Persian mathematics. Chapter Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: Singularity Hype & The Knicks Finals Run 03:05 Who is Tom Truscari? (Newsletter Idiosyncrasies) 04:53 Explaining the Data Gravity Equation: Mass vs. Friction 11:37 Does More Data Scale Marketer Performance or Just the Platforms? 17:49 The Data Bypass Mechanism and Private Valuations 22:20 19th-Century Ad Math: Sears & Roebuck and Capital One 25:27 Industry Debates: Bemoaning Paid Publisher Traffic 33:29 Are Clicks Coming Back? (Bottoming Out vs. New Demand) 35:49 The "Natural Born Clickers" Study & Mobile Interstitials 38:09 The Unintended Consequences of AI (A Decade-Old Rant) 43:24 XAI Valuation & Suing the Advertisers 46:31 Is LLM Search Intent Real or Just Hype? 49:34 Detour: 'The Holy Mountain' (1973) & Werner Herzog 52:23 Public School Calendars & Zoroastrian Sky Burials 54:30 From Al-Khwarizmi to Algebra: The First Algorithm

  • S1 · E54
    May 29 · 1 hr 5 min

    Let's Get Encyclical

    Adam and Gareth dive into a philosophical and wide-ranging episode centered around the Pope's new encyclical on Artificial Intelligence. They unpack the Vatican's fears regarding humans becoming mere metrics, rising economic inequality, and the manipulation of truth. Gareth discusses the Pope's comparison of AI to the Tower of Babel—warning that a single homogenizing technology could eliminate human diversity and spirituality.The duo also explores why the AI boom is effectively the "Industrial Revolution for white-collar workers," threatening knowledge workers while leaving manual labor untouched. They debate the growing epidemic of "AI slop" on LinkedIn, the bizarre rise of AI-generated "talking toe fungus" affiliate ads, and a startling BYU study claiming a massive percentage of committed adults are having affairs with AI chatbots. Finally, Adam compares programmatic ad networks to brokerages and custom AI valuation models to hedge funds, explaining why enterprise brands need bespoke decisioning architectures (like Coke vs. Pepsi) rather than aggregated averages.Key Topics:The Pope's AI Encyclical: Analyzing the Vatican's warning against AI monopolies and the "Tower of Babel" effect.The White-Collar Industrial Revolution: Why LLMs pose a unique threat to writers, lawyers, and consultants.AI Chatbot Affairs: Reacting to a BYU study on the rise of AI chatbot romances among committed adults.Brokerages vs. Hedge Funds: Why massive enterprise advertisers need custom valuation models instead of aggregated ad network averages.90s Foreshadowing & AI Ads: From the 1994 Singapore caning to AI-generated toe fungus commercials.00:00 Intro, Tampa Weddings & Cannes Prep04:15 The 1994 Singapore Caning & 90s Foreshadowing09:53 AI-Generated Toe Fungus Ads10:53 The Pope's Encyclical on AI14:55 AI Liability & The Anarchist Cookbook17:01 The Industrial Revolution for White-Collar Workers24:51 Outsourced Cognition & LinkedIn "AI Slop"28:28 The Pope's True Fears: Metrics & Inequality31:05 The Tower of Babel Narrative38:29 The BYU Study on AI Chatbot Affairs45:46 Coke vs. Pepsi: The Flaw in Averaged AI Models55:16 Brokerages vs. Hedge Funds in Ad Tech59:03 SpaceX's S1 & Twitter Ad Revenue01:03:46 OpenAds Pivots to a DSP

  • S1 · E53
    May 22 · 1 hr 11 min

    Because of the Implication

    Adam (broadcasting from a hotel in Tampa) and Gareth tackle a massive week in AdTech, leading with Publicis's shocking acquisition of LiveRamp. They unpack why LiveRamp's true value isn't just its identity graph, but its ubiquitous "plumbing" that connects enterprise CRM data to the entire ecosystem, and the strategic "implication" this has for non-Publicis clients. Next, they compare the impending Agentic AI revolution to the 1960s shipping container boom and the creation of OpenRTB, exploring how standardization creates massive efficiency gains for the adopters (like Walmart did with RFID). Finally, they discuss why enterprise brands are tired of renting decisioning from ad networks, the difference between custom valuation (alpha) and averaged ad network decisioning, and debut a brand new segment: ATAT on the Street in Brooklyn!Key Topics:- The Shipping Container Revolution: How standardization and Agentic AI will mirror the efficiency gains of the 1960s logistics boom.- OpenRTB History: Why the original JSON bid request bundle was AdTech's first "shipping container".- Publicis Buys LiveRamp: Breaking down the M&A deal, Terry Kawaja's take, and why LiveRamp's plumbing is its ultimate moat.- The End of Renting Decisioning: Why enterprise advertisers are moving away from ad networks to build custom valuation models.- ATAT on the Street: Real-world reactions to AI, deepfakes, and data center water usage from the people of Brooklyn.Chapter Timestamps:00:00 Intro: Adam's Hotel Wi-Fi02:28 The Shipping Container Revolution & Agentic AI08:48 OpenRTB: AdTech's First Shipping Container12:42 Breaking News: Publicis Acquires LiveRamp14:54 Terry Kawaja's Take on Agentic AI18:06 Why Publicis Made the Deal (Growth & Capital)19:32 The Magic of LiveRamp's Plumbing24:34 Identity Graphs & Defensibility34:06 Holding Companies, Epsilon, and Xaxis43:24 Mark Grether, Uber, and PayPal Ad Networks47:11 Why Brands Are Done "Renting Decisioning"52:00 Custom Valuation vs. Averaged AI59:24 ATAT on the Street: Brooklyn Reacts to AI

  • S1 · E52
    May 17 · 1 hr 1 min

    I'll Take Any Test You're Willing To Take

    Adam and Gareth reunite to unpack an explosive Q2 in ad tech, kicking things off with the "triple hockey stick" growth driving Meta’s 33% revenue surge. The guys discuss how Meta’s ruthless AI shift and integration of massive server compute is crushing Google in the enterprise ad market, and why Google's strategy of over-servicing holding companies is backfiring.They also dive into the backlash against Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green and his "open internet" messaging, debating why retail media networks (RMNs) are growing so fast despite the inherent conflict of interest between retailers and CPG brands. Plus, Gareth explores the terrifying new "split brain" architecture between DSPs and SSPs, Adam makes the case for why "barter" and "trade" agencies still exist to liquidate bad media buys, and they examine how Swivel's new agentic tools are finally bringing automated, human-like operations to Connected TV (CTV) yield management.Key Topics:Meta's AI Dominance: Why Meta’s massive AI efficiency is crushing Google in the enterprise ad market, despite Google's bloated service teams.The Trade Desk Backlash: Unpacking the industry's frustration with Jeff Green's "open internet" pitch and why the growth numbers don't match the story.Retail Media Networks (RMNs): Why companies like Kroger and Albertsons won't share their data, and how it hurts CPG advertisers.The End of "Getting Lost": A philosophical take on how AI tools are stripping younger generations of resilience and problem-solving skills.Agentic Ad Ops (Swivel): How new AI agents are outperforming human traders in the CTV market by running 100 manual interactions per hour.00:00 Intro: Hangovers & Detroit Style Pizza04:55 Defending Jeff Green’s "Open Internet" Pitch11:15 Q1 Earnings: Meta Crushes the Competition13:12 The Conflict Within Retail Media Networks (RMNs)20:49 Why Amazon Built Ad Tech from Scratch22:50 The Risk of a Google Display Network Collapse25:27 Swivel's Agentic CTV Case Study34:04 The Problem with Barter and Trade Agencies41:19 The "Split Brain" Architecture of DSPs vs. SSPs48:39 Postmortem: The IAB Tech Lab's New DTE Standard57:30 Cash Patel and The Ad Tech Investigations01:00:23 Closing Thoughts: Why We Need ACRONYM

  • S1 · E51
    May 8 · 1 hr 1 min

    The Grand Bargain (ft. Matt Sattel, OpenX)

    Adam and Gareth return to the virtual studio to debate the definition of Supply Path Optimization (SPO) and why the sell-side and buy-side can never seem to agree on what it actually means. They are joined by OpenX CEO Matt Sattel to discuss his transition from the agency world to the SSP side, and why OpenX made the expensive, grueling leap to cloud infrastructure back in 2019 to prepare for the AI era.The trio unpacks the industry's so-called "Grand Bargain," debating whether a multilateral committee can truly fix the adversarial relationship between DSPs and SSPs. Gareth argues that ID Bridging is secretly a brilliant conversion-optimization engine in disguise, while Adam pitches his "Premium Coffee" theory to explain how publishers can finally escape the MFA (Made For Advertising) race to the bottom. Plus, a look at why 50% of programmatic ad requests are filtered out, and what OpenX really means by their new "Intelligent SSP" rebrand.00:00 Intro: The "Bright Lights" of Live Shows03:03 The Arc of the Sophisticated CMO06:56 Introducing Matt Sattel (CEO, OpenX)10:04 The Two Definitions of SPO13:16 The Premium Coffee Theory (Escaping MFA)14:52 Filtering Out 50 Billion Requests a Day16:41 The "Grand Bargain" Between Buyers and Sellers19:39 Gareth's Take: ID Bridging is Actually Optimization24:14 The True Cost of Eliminating MFA27:28 Google's Role in the MFA Epidemic32:41 The "Lego Baseplate" Strategy38:42 Why OpenX Moved to the Cloud in 201944:07 Direct Sales & Agentic Buying (ADCP)51:30 Differentiated Demand for Publishers57:40 The Intelligent SSP Rebrand

  • S1 · E50
    May 1 · 1 hr 3 min

    Claude the Gaude (ft. Adam Markey)

    It's an all-Adam episode this week! With Gareth out, Adam Heimlich is joined by stealth startup founder and product leader Adam Markey to discuss the reality of building an ad tech company from scratch in the AI era.The guys dive deep into the philosophy of AI adoption, contrasting Anthropic's enterprise-focused "Constitutional AI" against OpenAI's consumer-driven, entertainment-style models. Markey shares how using Claude as a "full-stack" co-founder has drastically reduced product development cycles from six months to just three days. Plus, they explore why treating AI as a "replacement human" is the wrong starting point, how to avoid AI-generated "slop" in both creative and media planning, and why Anthropic's $20 billion valuation might actually be justified if they can maintain their compounding context moat.Finally, they touch on the IAB’s Agentic Realtime Framework (ARTF), the return of "frenemy" collaboration in ad tech, and why Meta's insane 33% revenue growth is tied directly to their massive investments in server compute.00:00 Intro: Welcome to Planet Ad Tech03:45 Bootstrapping a Startup in the AI Era06:40 Using AI for Complex Rule Prioritization08:13 Anthropic vs. OpenAI: Enterprise vs. Consumer12:03 Claude’s "Compounding Context" Moat14:28 Building a RevOps Dashboard in 2 Hours16:45 Change Management and Full-Stack Founders19:59 AI as a Force Multiplier, Not a Replacement25:35 The Value of Markdown Files for Context28:06 AI as the Ultimate Information Condenser32:28 Anthropic’s Path to Profitability37:25 Working with Google’s "Stitch" Design Agent39:07 The Edge of AI: Humor, Differentiation, and "Slop"44:09 Agentic Standards (ADCP & ARTF)51:03 Advice for Product Managers at Legacy DSPs53:50 The Enterprise Rush to Adopt AI59:49 Meta's 33% Growth and the Server Compute Race

  • S1 · E49
    April 24 · 1 hr

    Triple Hockey Stick

    Adam and Gareth dive into a chaotic start to Q2 in ad tech, leading off with Meta's jaw-dropping "triple hockey stick" growth in revenue per employee. They discuss how Meta’s ruthless AI shift—including tracking employee keystrokes for training data—is driving massive margins, even as hands-on buyers complain about constant bugs and platform outages.The guys also cover the rise of "Index Cloud" and Bedrock (a DSP living natively inside an SSP), explaining why the traditional DSP/SSP divide is collapsing and how this new architecture enables ultra-low-latency bidding for live sports. Plus, Gareth goes on a rant about the rampant QPS duplication problem in programmatic, they debate the return of Vickrey (Victory) auctions, and they react to a spicy $18M legal battle between TV measurement giants EDO and iSpot. Finally, Adam shares his frustration with the IAB's new Programmatic Governance Council and pitches his own "ACRONYM" coalition to guarantee 80% working media for advertisers.00:00 Intro: An Explosive Start to Q201:36 We Are in the Third Inning of AI in Ad Tech04:23 Meta's "Triple Hockey Stick" Revenue per Head05:15 Tracking Employee Keystrokes for AI Training09:08 The Broken Meta Ad Experience & Bugs16:19 Meta's Internal AI Models (Andromeda & Muse Spark)20:14 Can the Open Web Compete with Walled Gardens?30:37 News: The Trade Desk Launches AI Agents31:39 Index Cloud & Bedrock (A DSP Inside an SSP)37:59 Data Scientists vs. DSP Engineers43:21 The 3 Million QPS Myth & Bid Duplication45:31 Vickrey Auctions and Bid Shading48:22 EDO vs. iSpot: The $18M Lawsuit & Spicy Quotes50:45 The IAB's New Programmatic Governance Council51:54 ACRONYM & The Push for 80% Working Media57:56 The Lutnick / Epstein Ad Tech Connection

  • S1 · E48
    April 17 · 1 hr 8 min

    Dynamic Bulldinky

    Adam and Gareth reunite in the virtual studio after a week apart, and they have a lot of philosophical ground to cover. Gareth shares a bizarre realization about startup growth—comparing a mature company to a "disembodied brain"—and how AI is acting as the ultimate force multiplier for lean teams. They debate the value of the "founder struggle," questioning if the current generation of entrepreneurs will lose resilience now that AI can write complex code and solve technical crises in 30 seconds.On the industry front, they tackle the latest IAB Tech Lab standard (DTE) and whether "traffic shaping" is just a polite word for throttling. Gareth explains why the "split brain" architecture of DSPs and SSPs makes optimal decisioning impossible, and why the Agentic Realtime Framework (ARTF) is the only real fix. Plus, a look at Allbirds pivoting from sneakers to AI data centers, the rise of AI-generated "slop" on LinkedIn, and why Salesforce's new Agentforce might be a desperate defense against Claude disintermediating their entire business model.Key Topics:The Disembodied Brain: How a startup evolves as you hire, and what it means when AI becomes your hands and feet.The Death of Getting Lost: Does the convenience of AI tools strip founders of the resilience needed to survive crises?Traffic Shaping vs. Throttling: Breaking down the IAB's new DTE standard and the architectural impossibility of the "split brain."Allbirds Pivots to AI: Why the market rewarded a failing DTC sneaker company for becoming a GPU rental service.Salesforce vs. Claude: Is Salesforce's Agentforce a true innovation, or a defensive moat against demand aggregation?00:00 Intro: Adam Returns from Vacation01:05 Startup Burn Rates & The "Disembodied Brain"03:08 AI as a Force Multiplier04:24 The Value of the Founder Struggle06:22 The 90s: When You Could Actually Get "Stood Up"11:32 AI "Slop" and the Premium on Human Content16:49 Can AI Replace the Enterprise Sales Playbook?19:51 The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership24:39 The OpenAI "Molotov" Backlash30:12 What Knowledge is Playbookable?35:54 News: Allbirds Pivots from Sneakers to AI39:31 IAB Tech Lab's New DTE Standard41:19 The "Split Brain" Problem in Ad Tech48:39 Postmortem: ADCP vs. ARTF (The IAB Standard Wins)01:01:46 Salesforce's Agentforce vs. Claude

  • S1 · E47
    April 10 · 35 min

    The GAMpire Strikes Back

    With Adam out this week, Gareth flies solo to drop four massive predictions about the next five years of ad tech. Spoiler alert: The current system is unsustainable.Gareth argues that the traditional DSP/SSP paradigm is dying , crushed under the weight of Deal IDs and conflicting decisioning engines. He explains why the future of ad tech architecture lies in open, modular bidding frameworks (like ARTF) where custom logic can be executed natively without "middleman" friction.But the spiciest prediction? Google Ad Manager (GAM) is about to have a massive resurgence. Gareth theorizes that if ADCP (Automated Direct Sales) succeeds, GAM will emerge as the ultimate direct sales engine, bypassing DSPs entirely for enterprise buyers who want to set up cross-publisher campaigns with zero tech tax. Plus, he tackles the inevitable rise of "orchestration layers," why the mid-market is about to see a DSP renaissance , and why the shift away from ID-based buying will finally force publishers to reduce ad density and increase quality.Key Topics:The Death of DSPs & SSPs: Why splitting campaign logic between two platforms using Deal IDs is no longer architecturally viable.The Return of GAM: How ADCP could turn Google Ad Manager into a direct competitor to traditional DSPs.The Orchestration Era: Why modern bidding systems will look less like DSPs and more like open hubs for modular valuation and data vendors.The End of Ad Density: Why the shift to predictive modeling (and away from IDs) will finally reward publishers for running fewer, higher-quality ads.The LiveRamp EU Struggle: Why strict European privacy laws (GDPR) are making PII-based identity graphs incredibly difficult to operate abroad.00:00 Intro: Gareth Flying Solo01:57 Prediction 1: The End of the DSP/SSP Paradigm04:08 The Architectural Flaw of Deal IDs08:34 Prediction 2: The GAMpire Strikes Back (Google Ad Manager)10:14 How ADCP Turns GAM into a DSP Competitor12:27 Prediction 3: A Proliferation of Mid-Market DSPs15:01 The Approaching SSP Bloodbath18:22 The Rise of the "Orchestration Layer"22:50 Prediction 4: Publisher CPMs Will Go Up24:55 Why User IDs and Cookie Syncing are Commodities27:09 The Frequency Capping Problem with ADCP30:14 The LiveRamp EU/UK Privacy Struggle33:49 The Bull Case for Fingerprinting & Synthetic Audiences34:21 Outro

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