How He’s Keeping His Cool While Everyone Else Chases Trends If marketing today is a three-ring circus, Sam Bloom is the rare ringmaster who doesn’t just keep things running—he makes everyone feel good about being part of the show. As Head of Partnerships at PMG, Sam navigates the chaos with a sense of calm, clarity, … Read more
Mobile app advertising: the wild frontier where brands hope to strike gold, but most end up with fool’s gold instead. Enter Alex Li, Senior Director of Global Non-Gaming at AppLovin, who’s part evangelist, part scientist, and part traffic cop for the sprawling, frenetic, and oh-so-untamed world of in-app advertising. If this sounds dramatic, it’s because … Read more
Mobile web advertising is the embarrassing uncle at Thanksgiving—awkward, outdated, and somehow still getting attention despite adding no value to the conversation. It’s a relic of the early internet, clinging to life in the most chaotic, maddening way possible. Marketers, it’s time to stop the charade. The numbers are in, the experience is trash, and … Read more
Adtech is starting to feel like a carnival funhouse—flashy, disorienting, and filled with surprises that make you question your life choices. Take The Trade Desk’s (TTD) latest “innovation,” for example. They’ve slapped a shiny new name, “Prism,” onto their old “Audience Excluder” feature and decided to charge a 10% fee for it. That’s on top … Read more
Once upon a time, Disney stood as the epitome of wholesome family entertainment. But now, the House of Mouse has ventured into the chaotic, fraud-prone world of programmatic advertising. With their latest partnership with Viant Technology, they’ve essentially said, “Let’s roll up our sleeves and see what all this fuss is about.” The goal? Democratizing … Read more
Connected TV (CTV) just got a wake-up call—or maybe a Molotov cocktail. The Trade Desk has announced Ventura, its new operating system slated for 2025, and it’s not your average tech update. This is a full-blown power grab, aimed squarely at the walled gardens of Roku, Amazon, and Google. It’s bold, it’s risky, and it’s making … Read more
When I resurrected this newsletter from the ashes of my previous endeavor—dusted it off like some overambitious Frankenstein experiment—I wasn’t entirely sure where it was going. I envisioned a space to unite adtech, marketing, media, and agencies under one roof. A bold concept, or so I thought. Reactions ranged from “You’re nuts” to “You’re mildly … Read more
Let’s talk about The Trade Desk (TTD) and their latest contribution to the world of advertising—what can only be described as a budgetary black hole. In their infinite wisdom, TTD has rebranded their “Audience Excluder” feature into something fancier-sounding, “Prism,” and slapped on a shiny new price tag that’s nearly three times the original cost. … Read more
PubMatic has officially stepped into the lion’s den, announcing its partnership with Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) as its first major SSP collaborator. The ad tech world is buzzing, debating whether this is a bold move toward innovation or an ill-fated march into the wreckage of a platform struggling with free-fall ad revenue and a … Read more
Adtech is often described as a wild west, but Gareth Holmes makes it sound more like Cirque du Soleil—complete with flaming chainsaws, gravity-defying stunts, and a standing-room-only audience. As VP of Strategy Media at SeenThis, Gareth isn’t just navigating the chaos; he’s orchestrating it with the flair of a conductor leading a symphony of algorithms. … Read more
Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA), the self-proclaimed “AI-Powered Marketing Cloud,” has been spinning like a politician in a scandal. Accusations of shady practices, a public data breach, and a stock price in freefall have the company in full-on damage control mode. To top it off, they’re now sparring with short-seller Culper Research over claims that could … Read more
If retail media were a chess game, Catalina Salazar would be the queen—commanding the board, making bold moves, and turning every play into a checkmate. As the Global Head of Wolt Ads, she’s not just playing the game; she’s rewriting the rules, and frankly, the competition doesn’t stand a chance. Wolt started as a Finnish … Read more
The AdMonsters Publishers Forum has officially kicked off, and it’s already a whirlwind of grievances, guarded optimism, and, of course, endless caffeine refills. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when publishers get together to discuss the digital ad ecosystem under Chatham House Rules, let me paint a picture. Imagine a therapy session where everyone agrees … Read more
It’s official: ad tech has found its new favorite shiny object. Say hello to curation, a word you can’t escape if you’ve been within five feet of an industry panel or LinkedIn post. Depending on who’s talking, curation is either the hero we need to clean up the programmatic mess or yet another way for the … Read more