AdTech AdTalk

Adam and Gareth

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

  1. 1 DAY AGO

    Gold in a Mine

    Gareth powers through a blown-out back to join Adam for a loaded episode exploring the true value of data and the hidden mechanics of media buying. They kick things off by breaking down Gamera's new viewability segments in the Index Exchange marketplace, exposing how antiquated, manual ad slot labeling in Google Ad Manager is suppressing publisher yield, and how AI is fixing it.The duo dives deep into the philosophy that raw signal is just "gold in a mine" without the right prediction models to extract its value. They also unpack the ANA's latest study on Principal Media buying, shedding light on the clandestine world of agency secondary liquidation and "barter" agencies. Plus, a look at Microsoft’s baffling apathy toward its own ad tech stack, the dirty Facebook arbitrage secret that fueled Made For Advertising (MFA) sites, and the landmark negligence ruling against Meta for social media addiction.Key Topics:Automating Viewability: Why manual ad ops labeling is costing publishers money, and how Gamera's on-page AI creates predictive viewability segments.The "Gold in a Mine" Philosophy: Why data is commoditized and the real competitive moat is modeling.Microsoft's Missed Opportunity: Why a tech giant with Azure, LinkedIn, Xander, and OpenAI is ignoring the ad tech wars.Principal Media & Barter Agencies: Breaking down how holding companies liquidate bulk media buys (and occasionally trade ads for pizza sauce).The MFA Arbitrage Secret: How MFA publishers used Facebook remarketing to poach high-value programmatic users.Social Media Liability: Meta's landmark loss in a social media addiction case and the rise of "digital citizenship" in elementary schools.00:00 Intro & Gareth's Blown Back02:44 Gamera Viewability Segments in Index04:49 The Manual Nightmare of Google Ad Manager10:32 Data is Gold in a Mine14:51 Google's MMM & The Enterprise Fight18:18 The "Affinity for Yogurt" Trap20:41 How Big Tech Captured All Marginal Value24:15 Microsoft's Baffling Ad Tech Apathy33:48 ANA Study: Demystifying Principal Media38:36 Barter Agencies & Pizza Sauce Trades42:41 Why Google & Facebook Broke the Agency Model46:01 Value vs. Cost & Vinnie Rinaldi's Post49:25 The Dirty Secret of MFA Arbitrage51:53 Meta Loses Social Media Addiction Case58:21 The Guardian & Publisher Direct Sales01:01:36 Outro & The Ibuprofen Overdose Story

    1hr 3min

  2. 20 MAR

    We Think Ads Are Starting To Work Better

    Adam and Gareth log in to the virtual studio to unpack a week of industry backstabbing, gossip, and the true meaning of "transparency." While the industry argues over who is to blame for the lack of clarity in programmatic, the duo highlights a quote from Hershey's Vinnie Rinaldi, arguing that it's ultimately up to advertisers to demand proof of value rather than just hunting for low CPMs.The guys break down the evolution of the enterprise market, explaining why CFOs don't care about vanity metrics like Video Completion Rates when evaluating a $100 million digital investment. They discuss how brands are starting to apply the same rigorous causal inference models to ad tech that they currently use for their physical supply chains.Plus, a deep dive into the CTV ad server wars (Freewheel vs. Publica vs. SpringServe), a look at OpenAds' rapid pivot from LLM networks to a creative-first DSP, and a spicy prediction on what Netflix should (and probably will) do with its burgeoning ad business.Key Topics:The Transparency Debate: Why agencies and ad tech nerds define "transparency" completely differently.The Value of Digital Media: Why the enterprise market must move past vanity metrics and demand real ROI proof.Supply Chain Logic: How brands are treating ad tech data like logistics data.CTV Ad Serving: The rise of Publica and SpringServe, and why legacy players missed the boat.Netflix's Ad Future: Will they open up to biddable programmatic, or build a walled garden for SMBs?00:00 Intro: Virtual Sets & Industry Gossip03:09 Jay Friedman & Vinnie Rinaldi on Transparency08:37 Why Advertisers Must Demand Value11:38 The Enterprise Wake-Up Call (CFO Scrutiny)16:14 Applying Supply Chain Logic to Ad Tech22:02 The "Agentic" Layer Debate24:31 Why Publishers Still Love Direct Sales28:14 SSPs Becoming DSPs (The Blurring Lines)30:30 The CTV Ad Server Wars (Freewheel vs. SpringServe)32:16 The Rise of Retail Media Ad Servers38:09 Vinnie Rinaldi's Media Playbook42:49 OpenAds Pivots to Creative AI46:16 Why Publishers Feel Betrayed by Programmatic49:06 Speculating on Netflix's Ad Strategy55:05 The Danger of Hiding Publisher Data01:00:45 Closing Thoughts: Models & World Peace

    1hr 2min

  3. 13 MAR

    User IDs and the Powers That Be

    Adam and Gareth return from the spring conference circuit (RampUp and Beeler Basecamp) feeling reflective. Adam unpacks the repressed trauma of the startup grind, while Gareth shares a brutal story of getting stiffed for $350k by an industry "partner" and why selling your company doesn't automatically mean a happy ending.On the industry front, the duo tears into the "weird garbageness" of the Connected TV (CTV) market. They explain how 12-hour ad caches create shady "dark pools" for arbitrage, and why premium publishers are fleeing biddable CTV for guaranteed deals. Adam revisits his classic pitch on why relying on Facebook’s algorithm forces DTC brands to subsidize their own competitors, and Gareth drops his spiciest take of 2026: Yield management no longer exists. Plus, a deep dive into how User IDs are artificially inflating programmatic auction prices, why SSPs are effectively becoming DSPs via the Agentic Realtime Framework (ARTF), and a hilarious look at a new AI app for couples founded by a former mobile ad network CEO.Key Topics:Founder Trauma: The emotional toll of bootstrapping, getting scammed, and surviving corporate acquisitions.The CTV Garbage Fire: Why Connected TV pricing is broken and how long cache windows enable arbitrage.The DTC Trap: How Meta captures the value of direct-to-consumer brands by giving away their audience data.The Death of Yield Management: Gareth argues that modern SSPs don't manage yield; they just manage prebid competition.The ID Illusion: Why bidding based on inventory signals is vastly cheaper than bidding on DSP audience IDs.00:29 Intro & Conference Exhaustion02:08 Repressing Founder Trauma06:01 Life After the Company Sale08:46 The CTV Garbage Fire11:44 CTV Arbitrage & Dark Pools13:45 How Facebook Eats DTC Brands16:18 The Unhinged Agency Hiring Process21:30 The Problem With User IDs28:33 Bid Decoration & ARTF30:14 Postmortem: Yield Management is Dead38:05 Why Open Path Isn't an SSP42:11 SSPs are the New DSPs48:49 AI vs Principal Trading52:32 Ad Tech Meets AI Sex Apps

    57 min

  4. 6 MAR

    Crime Don't Climb

    Adam and Gareth return from their respective conferences (RampUp and Beeler Basecamp) to unpack a massive news week in the ad tech world. The duo dives straight into the "knife fight" of sell-side monetization, unpacking why publishers are getting bullied over ads.txt files and why managing prebid auctions is a brutal, low-margin business.Then, they pivot to the biggest stories of the week: The Trade Desk’s soft guidance, the market’s overreaction, and why everyone needs to stop freaking out about OpenAI having meetings with Jeff Green. Plus, they explore the wild theories behind AppLovin’s explosive stock growth, debate whether "performance" is still a moat in 2026, and roast the increasingly aggressive AI bots sliding into LinkedIn DMs.00:00 Intro: Conference Exhaustion & Beeler Basecamp03:03 The Ads.txt Bullying Problem05:46 The Knife Fight of Publisher Yield Management08:24 Publisher CPMs vs. Buy-Side Costs16:08 TTD Earnings & The Market Overreaction23:44 OpenAI Meets with The Trade Desk28:51 Will OpenAI Compete with Google Search?32:00 Anthropic vs. OpenAI: The Enterprise AI Race48:07 Postmortem: AppLovin's Google Playbook51:30 The "Street Thesis" on AppLovin's Growth58:43 StinkedIn: Aggressive AI Bots & "Negging"

    1hr 6min

  5. 27 FEB

    The Juice is Dripping

    It’s earnings season in AdTech, and the juice is definitely dripping! Adam and Gareth tackle a jam-packed news cycle, starting with the mess that is Supply Path Optimization (SPO) and why the industry’s "transparency" efforts, like sellers.json and ads.txt, are causing buyers to blindly block legitimate publisher agents.Then, the duo dives into the explosive Digiday whistleblower report exposing the "Carnage" of Principal-Based Buying and the clandestine world of agency rebates. Are advertisers getting played by their own procurement departments? And why is the biggest player in the market conveniently avoiding the mud?Finally, they break down The Trade Desk’s soft earnings guidance. Is TTD in a death spiral, or just returning to earth after years of insane market froth? Adam and Gareth debate how TTD won the DSP wars of 2015 via "bid expressiveness" and whether performance alone is still a big enough moat in the modular, AI-driven landscape of 2026.00:00 Intro: Earnings Season is a Dumpster Fire01:57 The Mess of Supply Path Optimization (SPO)05:25 The History of ads.txt and "Resellers"12:23 News: The Whistleblower & Principal Buying18:02 How Rebates Warp Media Planning22:19 Defending Against Principal Buying25:21 The Bizarre Pricing Inefficiency of CTV30:55 The Logic of DSP Bidding & Valuation37:25 The "Two Markets" of Ad Tech41:50 TTD Earnings: Is The Trade Desk in a Death Spiral?47:28 How Trade Desk Won the Consolidation Wars53:35 Bid Expressiveness: The Original TTD Pitch58:24 Can Open Path Survive the Backlash?

    1hr 1min

  6. 20 FEB

    Coverage of the Carnage

    Adam and Gareth are back to sort through the noise in an episode packed wall-to-wall with industry drama. From the Pentagon to the Cayman Islands, it’s a pure news day on AdTech AdTalk, and the theme is "Carnage."First up, the guys unpack Anthropic's "woke AI" feud with the Pentagon and Palantir, complete with a bizarre Gen-X fun fact about Peter Thiel's childhood in Namibia. Then, they tackle the slow adoption of AI by CMOs, debating whether "Agentic AI" is actually driving innovation or just finding new ways to cut jobs.The drama heats up as they cover Jeffrey Epstein's strange (and brief) connection to programmatic futures, the controversy over ICE buying location data, and the explosive Digiday report about WPP and Dentsu pulling out of The Trade Desk's Open Path over hidden fees. Plus, Adam and Gareth weigh in on the ADCP vs. ARTF standards "showdown," Mark Zuckerberg's landmark child safety trial, and why LinkedIn's search bar remains the worst product on the internet.00:00 Intro: Cold Weather & Ad Tech Carnage02:34 Anthropic, The Pentagon & Woke AI06:04 Peter Thiel's Namibian Childhood09:44 CMOs & Slow AI Adoption11:53 The Day of the Yellow Square16:41 Sheep Dogging the Algorithm22:40 Agentic Buzzwords vs. Real AI27:18 Jeffrey Epstein's Ad Tech Connections30:42 ICE's RFP for Location Data36:56 Digiday Scoop: Agencies Exit Open Path46:01 Agency Rebates to the Cayman Islands49:22 Showdown: ADCP vs. ARTF Standards53:41 Zuckerberg Testifies on Child Safety58:24 Intent IQ's Cross-Device Patent Lawsuit01:01:00 StinkedIn: The Worst Search Bar Ever

    1hr 7min

  7. 13 FEB

    Instead of Or, It's And

    Gareth is in "manic sales mode" as Gamera and Chalice both celebrate investments from The Trade Desk’s venture arm (TD7). The duo breaks down why the future of ad tech isn't about blocking competitors, but playing in the same "sandbox"—moving from a philosophy of "Or" to "And."They dive deep into the IAB Tech Lab's Agentic Realtime Framework (ARTF), debating if these new containerized solutions are just "smarter ad networks" without the grift. Adam defends the new MRC auction transparency standards (despite grumpy publishers), arguing that "Universal Price Floors" were meant to trap Google, not squeeze the open web.Plus, a roast of LinkedIn’s algorithm (Lou Paskalis’s legs vs. actual news), a Creative Corner on the Gen Z trend of "Friction Maxing," and Adam’s conspiracy theory that Elon Musk’s entire business roadmap is just the plot of the movie Total Recall.00:00 Intro: Manic Sales Energy03:41 Sell-Side Decisioning & ARTF Adoption07:09 Re-Imagining the Ad Tech Company11:00 Are These Just Smarter Ad Networks?16:10 TD7 Investments & The "Sandbox" Mentality21:46 StinkedIn: Lou's Legs vs. Industry News31:01 News: MRC Auction Standards Controversy38:18 Cross-Platform Measurement Hope43:42 Creative Corner: Friction Maxing52:15 Theory: Elon Musk is Re-enacting Total Recall53:49 Segment: Gateway to the Soul

    1 hr

  8. 6 FEB

    Container Explainer

    In this special episode, Adam and Gareth present a deep dive into the industry's most complex new standard: The IAB Tech Lab’s Agentic Realtime Framework (ARTF).The duo uses three distinct metaphors to break down how "Containerization" is moving the ad auction to the edge. They explain how High-Frequency Trading (HFT) infrastructure revolutionized finance (and why ad tech is next), why the modern DSP should be treated like a Bento Box rather than a prix fixe meal, and how the history of Shipping Containers predicts who will actually get rich from the AI boom (hint: it’s probably not the AI companies).Featuring guest commentary from Index Exchange and OpenX, this episode cuts through the noise of "Agentic AI" to explain the actual plumbing, how 1-millisecond microservices are unbundling the stack and restoring yield to publishers.00:00 Intro: The "Container Explainer"01:08 Metaphor 1: High-Frequency Trading & Flash Boys04:46 Containerization vs. Colocation06:08 The Meditation (100ms vs. 1ms)08:50 Metaphor 2: The Bento Box (Unbundling the DSP)11:00 The Agentic Framework Architecture12:56 Metaphor 3: Shipping Containers & Value Capture16:09 Prebid’s Legacy: Moving Integration to the Edge19:10 The DSP Identity Crisis: Enterprise vs. SMB21:08 Intro to ACRONYM (Non-Profit)22:00 Index Exchange on Sell-Side Decisioning24:54 OpenX on Unbundling & Data Security26:00 Future Use Cases: Mutations & Bid Shading29:12 ARTF vs. ADCP: What’s the Difference?32:50 Closing Thoughts: Collaboration is Key

    37 min
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About

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

Information

  • Creator
    Adam and Gareth
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    43
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Adam and Gareth
  • Show Website
    AdTech AdTalk

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