Shifting the Search Paradigm: How Branch Discovery Powers On-Device Intent for Half a Billion Users with Harish Thimmappa

What if the most intimate device in your pocket could understand exactly what you need—before you even search for it? In this episode of How I Grew This, hosts Amanda and Adam sit down with Harish Thimmappa, SVP and GM of Discovery Ads at Branch, to explore an on-device solution revolutionizing app discovery. Learn why first-party data is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage, how Branch powers search experiences on half a billion devices worldwide, and the counterintuitive strategies that balance user privacy with advertising performance. Whether you're a marketer looking to diversify beyond Meta and Google, an app developer navigating a crowded ecosystem, or an AdTech enthusiast curious about the future of personalization, this conversation reveals the technology and thinking that's reshaping mobile commerce. Tune in to discover why the next generation of advertising isn't about who bids the most—it's about who understands the user best.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to build trust by prioritizing user experience over ad load
• Why on-device bidding and ad selection outperforms cloud-based systems
• The power of behavioral pattern recognition beyond search intent
• How to align supply and demand in ad tech marketplaces
• Why first-party data is now the competitive moat in advertising
• How to position experimentation as table stakes for modern marketers

About the Guest(s):
Harish Thimmappa is the SVP and GM of Discovery Ads at Branch, leading a standalone business unit that has grown into a major force in mobile advertising. With over two decades of experience in adtech, Harish has built a reputation for scaling technology and advertising businesses, previously holding key roles at InMobi, Supersonic Ads, Kensho, and Unboxed. In this episode, he reveals how Branch Discovery leverages on-device machine learning and first-party data to deliver contextually relevant search results and ads to over 500 million devices globally, while maintaining user privacy and trust. Harish shares actionable strategies for marketers on experimenting with emerging ad platforms, demanding performance-based results, and diversifying spend beyond Meta and Google. His work in developing privacy-first, performance-driven advertising solutions makes this conversation essential listening for digital advertisers and adtech professionals seeking to understand the future of mobile discovery and app monetization.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe, rate, and review it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube Podcasts. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Episode Highlights:
[00:07:50] Maintain a 90/10 Organic-to-Ad Ratio to Build OEM Trust
[00:00:32] Capture Non-Intuitive Behavioral Patterns to Unlock Deeper Targeting
[00:17:03] Move Ad Selection On-Device to Overcome Connectivity and Privacy Constraints 
[00:19:58] Align Supply, Demand, and Product Teams to Prevent Monetization Failures 
[00:22:56] Win Advertiser Confidence Through Performance Rather Than Features Alone 
[00:33:20] Marketers Should Experiment Beyond Meta and Google to Find Information Asymmetries 
 

Episode Resources:

• Harish Thimmappa on LinkedIn
• Amanda Vandiver on LinkedIn
• Adam Landis on LinkedIn
• Branch on LinkedIn
• Branch Website
• How I Grew This on Apple Podcasts
• How I Grew This on Spotify
• How I Grew This on Simplecast