The FTC just dropped the hammer on one of the most obnoxious practices in the world of online marketing: fake endorsements. It’s about time, too, because if there’s one thing consumers don’t need more of, it’s getting bamboozled by bogus reviews and celebrity testimonials that have about as much credibility as a late-night infomercial. So … Read more
Ok, this might get me killed by the secret advertising police, if they existed — or at least some nasty comments and slander. The advertising supply chain—what a dumpster fire. It’s like someone took the worst parts of a sketchy pawn shop and a DMV waiting line and mashed them together. You’ve got layers upon … Read more
If you’ve been anywhere near the ad tech world in the last decade, you’ve probably tripped over a LumaScape—or at least heard someone throw around the term like it’s a religious text. That sacred scroll of chaos, mapping out the sprawling, byzantine world of digital advertising, is the brainchild of Terence Kawaja, or Terry, if … Read more
Jon Bond isn’t just a name in advertising; it’s a blazing marquee in the hall of fame of marketing mavens. This dynamo, who forged his reputation at the helm of Kirshbaum, Bond and Partners, is now piloting the good ship Weightless through the turbulent seas of advertising, where antiquated tactics are about as useful as … Read more
Google’s latest move is a doozy. After years of waffling on third-party cookies, the tech behemoth has decided to keep the cookies. On Monday, Google announced it would no longer axe support for third-party cookies in Chrome. Instead, they’re pushing other options that supposedly give users more control over their privacy and tracking—like handing a … Read more
Hold onto your spreadsheets, people, because today we’re talking about Phoenix Ha—a powerhouse who ditched the glamour of Vogue for the grit of data crunching at AdBeacon. Picture a supermodel who can strut in stilettos and then pivot to dominate a boardroom, all without smudging her lipstick. That’s Phoenix for you: a whirlwind of brains, … Read more
Hold onto your hats, folks, because the AI hype train is barreling toward what looks like a brick wall. Investors are sweating bullets, wondering if they’ve thrown billions into the next big thing or the next big flop. The whispers in Silicon Valley are getting louder: Is this the second coming of the dot-com crash? … Read more
If you’ve ever wondered who’s steering the ship in the choppy waters of media measurement, meet Jon Watts, the Brit at the helm of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM). Jon isn’t just navigating the seas; he’s charting new courses through uncharted territories, all while keeping his cool like a British secret agent in … Read more
Ah, the latest episode in the soap opera that is Elon Musk’s stewardship of the beleaguered platform formerly known as Twitter, now rebranded as ‘X’—because apparently, what this saga needed was a more cryptic moniker. Musk, our antihero, declared this morning that his version of “free speech” requires the punitive arm of the law to … Read more
Oh, how the mighty are faltering! TikTok, once the golden child of digital ad realms, now finds itself in a precarious dance with destiny, sidestepping landmines laid by none other than the U.S. government. The platform’s meteoric rise in the advertising world has hit a snag, a big, regulatory-sized snag. As the figures from MediaRadar … Read more
If the ad tech industry were weather, it’d be Portland—typically cloudy with a chance of unexpected sunshine. For Myles Younger, a clear morning without the usual downpour is less about meteorological luck and more a mirror to the unpredictable yet occasionally brilliant world of digital ads. It’s like navigating through fog with a broken GPS—you … Read more
In the bustling, caffeine-fueled chaos of the digital advertising world, Julian Zilberbrand stands out like a seasoned conductor in an orchestra of blinking screens and endless data streams. His journey from a Ukrainian-born kid, raised in the streets of Brooklyn, to a trailblazer in CTV advertising, is the stuff of modern legend. Forget the Marvel … Read more
In the sprawling, sandy universe of streaming advertising, the problems faced by platforms and advertisers often feel like epic battles straight out of *Dune 2*. If you’ve seen Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, you’ll understand the complexity, the intrigue, and the constant struggle for balance and control. So, let’s dive into how the streaming ad world is … Read more
The IAB Tech Lab’s Privacy Sandbox Task Force just unleashed its final Fit Gap Analysis, and let me tell you, it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The conclusions are no more reassuring than a clown at a funeral. For anyone hoping the February report was a fluke, bad news: the Sandbox still … Read more