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

    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

  2. 24 Jul

    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

  3. 10 Jul

    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

  4. 2 Jul

    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

  5. 12 Jun

    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

  6. 5 Jun

    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

  7. 29 May

    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

  8. 22 May

    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

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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
    59
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Adam and Gareth
  • Show Website
    AdTech AdTalk

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