AdExchanger
AdExchanger Talks is an advertising and marketing technology podcast produced by AdExchanger, a leading industry publication covering ad tech. The show features interviews with industry leaders conducted by the editorial team, including Managing Editor Allison Schiff. Topics focus on issues and trends relevant to brand marketers, ad agencies, publishers, media companies, and technology providers.
Episodes
Google's Mass Arbitration Problem
Thousands of advertisers are taking Google to arbitration over alleged ad overpayments. Attorney Ashley Keller of Keller Postman explains the legal strategy and what a positive outcome could mean for claimants.
Murder Your Thirst And Measure Everything
Liquid Death is all jokes and dark humor on the surface, but the canned water brand's chief media and digital commerce officer, Benoit Vatere, takes measurement deadly seriously. He's tackling one of the gnarliest problems in CPG: proving that media actually moves product off the shelves.
'Models Built For Me'
Chalice AI's COO and co-founder, Ali Manning, explains how the AI startup – don't call it a custom algorithm company – is helping brands like Bayer use advertiser-specific bidding models to drive real outcomes as opposed to poor proxies.
The Hardest KPI In Advertising
Marketing consumer products comes with plenty of challenges. But just try selling a political candidate in a hyper-polarized, 24-hour news environment, says Mark Jablonowski, CEO of DSPolitical, a political ad platform that caters to Democrats and progressive causes.
Forget The Shiny Objects And Focus On Fundamentals
Sharona Sankar-King, Havas Media's chief data and product officer, on why marketers should stop chasing shiny AI toys and get serious about the fundamentals, including truly understanding the customer and only collecting data that's "fit for purpose."
Convincing Cat Parents To Buy A $600 Litter Box
Most brands worry about competitors. Whisker is worried about complacency, says CMO Hew Loyd – specifically, the millions of cat owners who have decided that scooping an open box of poop in their home is just one of life's little chores.
Reckitt's Digital Reckoning
You wouldn't accept paying for a Big Mac and getting a single chicken nugget. But that's essentially what a lot of marketers are doing with their digital ad budgets, says Reckitt's Sameer Amin, on this week's episode of AdExchanger Talks recorded live in Cannes.
Reddit Is Training The Robots
Reddit is now one of the main data sources feeding LLMs and AI search. In this episode, recorded live in Cannes, COO Jen Wong talks data licensing deals, how people use Reddit to validate what they're about to buy and what it takes to stop bad actors from gaming its forums to sway AI results.
Rethinking Vitamin Marketing, With Barrière
Cleo Davis-Urman, CEO and co-founder of wearable vitamin brand Barrière, talks word-of-mouth, measurement, retail media and what it takes to build a new category around patches instead of pills.
California Regulatin'
Tom Kemp, executive director of CalPrivacy, unpacks the DELETE Act, his agency's enforcement priorities, the rules governing automated decision-making tech – and why ad tech should pay close attention to it all.
The Gwyneth Effect, Measured
You don't usually hear someone talk about peptide serums, CAC and customer lifetime value in the same breath. But that's a normal day for Alexa Raff, CMO of goop, the wellness and lifestyle brand co-founded and led by Gwyneth Paltrow.
Don't Take Customers At Face Value
Verizon Value President David "DK" Kim digs into the lingering stigma around prepaid wireless – and how reframing customers as "prepaid by need" versus "prepaid by choice" changes the way Verizon markets and measures its eight-brand portfolio of prepaid plans.
How 'Wrapped' Insights Become Audience Segments
How does Spotify translate quirky "Wrapped" labels, like "divorced dad hipster," into ad audiences? And is AI-generated content safe for brands? Spotify's Global Head of Ad Product Katie English weighs in.
Influencer Marketing Grows
Up If creators want brand dollars, they have to play by the rules of data-driven marketing and measurement, says Ryan Detert, CEO and co-founder of Publicis-owned influencer marketing platform Influential.
Zoom's Next Act
Zoom CMO Kim Storin has one of the rarer jobs in marketing: She's responsible for promoting and evolving a brand that's also become a verb.
Manscaped's Whole‑Body Media Strategy
Behind the scenes with Manscaped CMO Marcelo Kertész on the brand's first Super Bowl spot – a musical ad starring singing hair balls (just watch it) – and how he's shifting Manscaped's marketing from performance-heavy DTC to a broader, brand-led strategy.
Ready, Set, Upfront
Amazon is gearing up for its third-ever upfront event next month in New York City – and programmatic is at the center of its pitch. "We're encouraging brands and agencies to consolidate into the Amazon DSP to drive better outcomes," says Sarah Iooss, head of agency partnerships at Amazon Ads.
AI Is The New Ad Space
AI isn't just a productivity tool, says Debra Aho Williamson, founder of Sonata Insights. It's a brand-new media environment that's reshaping how people decide what to buy and challenging marketers to completely rethink the funnel.
Betterment's 'Anti‑Marketing' Machine
Kim Rosenblum, CMO of investment app Betterment, unpacks her "anti‑marketing" playbook, which involves telling customers not to engage and shifting away from chasing cheap CAC to prioritizing lifetime value.
Who Needs 'Corrosive Intermediaries' Anyway?
The programmatic supply chain is "pretty flawed," says Danny Spears, COO of publisher alliance Ozone, and value is leaking away from digital media brands. But that doesn't mean they need to stand there and take it.
Why Scripps Is All In On Women's Sports
Scripps CRO Brian Norris explains why the broadcaster is leaning into women's and local sports – and how that shift is reshaping the media plan.
Sussing Out 'Performance TV'
Can connected TV really deliver performance – or is "performance TV" just a branding boost with extra data? Erin Firneno, SVP of business intelligence at Advertiser Perceptions, weighs in.
Perion Is So Over The AI Hype Cycle
Perion CEO Tal Jacobson is done with AI buzzwords. Instead, he's betting big on agents, outcomes and letting machines handle the messy parts of media buying.
Healthy Growth In The Age Of AI
Mary Beech, chief growth officer at health-and-wellness brand Thorne, shares how she's turning marketing into a growth engine amid AI-driven discovery and chatbots that get loose with the facts.
What Marketers Miss When Their Data Isn't Inclusive
Inclusive measurement is more than a nice-to-have, says Charlene Polite Corley, Nielsen's VP of inclusive insights. Because undercounting Black, Hispanic and intersectional audiences isn't just a measurement failure; it's a missed growth opportunity for brands.
From Avoiding Bad Ads To Demanding ROI
Ad verification used to be mostly about keeping brands away from the bad stuff. Now, verification providers have to prove that quality actually moves the needle, says Integral Ad Science CEO Lisa Utzschneider.
Freestar's CEO On Why Ad Tech Transparency Is A Boon For Struggling Publishers
Freestar CEO Kurt Donnell explains why transparency in programmatic advertising is the open web's best bet for survival in the AI search era.
In Platforms We Trust?
The future of measurement is automated, but can marketers trust the black box? Kantar Chief Product Officer Ty Ahmad‑Taylor shares his take. Plus: Performance meets brand and measurement "at the speed of culture."
The True Meaning Of Holistic Media, With Carat's Carrie Drinkwater
With so many video and digital media channels converging, is there even such a thing as a dedicated TV buyer anymore? Carat US Chief Investment Officer Carrie Drinkwater certainly doesn't think so.
AI Won't Shop For You – Yet
AI is reshaping how we shop, but agents won't take over our carts just yet. LiveRamp CEO Scott Howe explains why the change will be gradual – and how chatbot ads (not just on ChatGPT) will change the online shopping experience. NOTE: A Perplexity spokesperson reached out to AdExchanger to deny the existence of an official partnership between LiveRamp and Perplexity or the existence of an alpha pro
Sizing Up Success Metrics, With The CMO Of True Religion
True Religion CMO Kristen D'Arcy approaches marketing measurement the way you'd shop for jeans – by looking for the right fit. She's moved past last click, using real-time data to see what actually drives sales, and she isn't afraid to make fast changes when something isn't working.
Turning Snark Into Strategy, With The Onion
No brand safety? No problem. The Onion's CMO Leila Brillson shares how the iconic satire site is expanding beyond pithy headlines into documentaries and also helping other brands find their snark – all while staying far, far away from generative AI.
Channel Surfing The Future, With NBCU
NBCU's early embrace of ad tech – led by Ryan McConville, its chief product officer and EVP of ad platforms – set the stage for a pandemic-fueled digital transformation that blurred the line between traditional TV and streaming. But that doesn't mean linear isn't still a top priority.
The Brand Safety Balancing Act
As brand safety standards evolve and oversight shifts from platforms to third-party vendors, Brittany Scott, SVP of global partnerships at Zefr, explains what the rise of generative AI – and Meta's decision to step away from MRC brand safety audits – means for the future of media quality.
Breaking The Snap Stereotypes
Think you know Snapchat's audience? Think again, says Ajit Mohan, Snap's chief business officer. Mohan gets real and busts myths, including the idea that Snap is just for kids and its youngest users aren't big spenders.
AI That's Generative, Not Generic
Jay Richman, Amazon's VP of product and technology, on how AI-generated ad creative can still stand out at scale without becoming generic or too samey samey. Plus: The risks brands face if they wait too long to embrace AI.
Why The Economist Is An AI Outlier
The Economist is charting its own course in the age of AI, says Nada Arnot, the 182-year-old publication's EVP of marketing. It's steering clear of licensing deals and lawsuits and partnering with Claude on its own terms.
From Hype To Hyperscale In AI
AI hype is everywhere, but Moloco CEO Ikkjin Ahn says the real winners in ad tech will be those who can move beyond flashy demos and harness AI at true hyperscale.
Making Your Brand Matter To The Models
You can't buy your way to the top of a large-language model. At least not yet. But there are things that brands can do to influence how – and if – they get mentioned, says Tracy Morrissey, SVP of media and performance at full-service agency Innocean USA.
It's Game Over For Outdated Gamer Stereotypes
There are billions of mobile gamers in this world – mostly adult women with serious spending power – but advertisers are still lagging. It's time for brands to catch up with gaming audiences, says Gabrielle Heyman, Zynga's head of global brand sales and partnerships.
Retail's AI Moment Is (Almost) Here
Jeff Cohen, Skai's new chief business development officer, unpacks why the smartest retailers and brands are already connecting the data dots and rethinking their playbooks for the AI era, even though the shopping bots aren't quite there yet.
The Legal Analyst In Google's Corner
Vidushi Dyall went from tracking cybercriminals at the Manhattan DA's office to dissecting online ad empires. In this episode, she breaks down the DOJ's antitrust battles with Google – and why she sometimes finds herself rooting for the so‑called evil empire.
Why Medium Said No To Easy Ad Money
Tony Stubblebine became CEO of Medium in 2022 and turned the struggling, loss-making platform profitable by cutting costs, improving content quality and refusing to rely on advertising.
Why CFOs Overlook Marketing's True Impact
Marketing often gets unfairly pegged as a cost center. But that wouldn't happen if marketers had access to better measurement that gave them clarity on what truly drives business growth, argues Henry Innis, CEO and co-founder of MMM platform Mutinex.
The Business Case For Carbon Cuts
Anne Coghlan, co-founder and COO of Scope3, on why cutting carbon in ad tech isn't just about saving the planet; it's about eliminating inefficiency and financial waste at the same time. Plus: Using AI to automate and optimize digital media buying at the impression level.
Why Media Quality Should Be The Center Of Attention
Online advertising's privacy problem isn't just about bad actors – it's about bad metrics, says Marc Guldiman, CEO and founder of attention startup Adelaide. "I think a lot of the invasive behaviors in the ad tech space can be traced back to a lack of a shared understanding of quality," he says.
The Economist's POV On Remedies For Google's Ad Tech Monopoly
In the Google search case, a forced spin-off of Chrome was never gonna happen, but a court-ordered divestiture of GAM isn't beyond the pale in the ad tech case, says Geoffrey Manne, president and founder of the International Center for Law and Economics.
Marketing In The Age Of AI Answers
The fundamental shift from traditional search to AI chatbots has major implications for the entire marketing organization, says Bluefish CEO Alex Sherman. If brands want control over how they appear in AI search results, they must think about the content they feed to large language models.
Shifting Gears, With The CMO Of Genesis Motor America
As the newly appointed CMO of Genesis Motor America, it's Amy Marentic's job to raise awareness for the luxury auto brand, which is fighting for market share against more well-known incumbents in the US market. To do it, she's analyzing the data and working on a growth strategy to reach a largely untapped demo: women. Plus: Marentic's unique origin story, from astronaut hopeful to chief marketer.
Measuring The Unmeasurable, With HyphaMetrics Founder Joanna Drews
HyphaMetrics had barely taken its first few steps as a new startup before drawing the ire of measurement juggernaut Nielsen. Four years and several lawsuits later (including one jury trial win for Hypha), CEO Joanna Drews is more than ready to get the company moving forward again.
Addressing Addressability, With ID5 CEO Mathieu Roche
When Google reversed its decision to deprecate third-party cookies, the first word in ID5 CEO Mathieu Roche's mind was an expletive. But it doesn't really matter what happens with cookies on Chrome anymore. "Most of the industry has moved past the notion that cookies were good enough to target and measure advertising on the web," Roche says.
ROAS? Nah. The Home Depot's All About ROMO
Enough with the ROAS obsession. It's time for a smarter approach to measurement that focuses on more than short-term objectives, says Melanie Babcock-Brown, VP of media and monetization for Orange Apron Media, The Home Depot's retail media network.
The Science (And Art) Of Scaling Native Ads
Native advertising has been around for a long time. But creating a native ad unit online is way more complicated than a standard programmatic placement, because multiple teams and systems have to compose it on the fly, says Priti Ohri, CEO and co-founder of startup Advertible, which describes itself as "native-as-a-service."
HouseFresh Clears The Air On Google's Changing Search Experience
Product review site HouseFresh bounced back from losing 91% of its Google traffic last year. Here's how it's pivoting in response to stiffer affiliate marketing competition and zero-click AI search.
AI In Ads – And Ads In AI
Paul Longo, GM or AI in ads at Microsoft Advertising, breaks down what it means to bring ads into conversational experiences and how AI-powered tools are changing the way advertisers work. Plus: Microsoft may be shutting down the Xandr DSP next year, but that doesn't mean it's getting out of the ad tech game.
Making Sense of DSP-SSP Convergence
DSPs are building tools to bypass SSPs, and SSPs are trying to cut out the buy side. But the real question in the noise is whether the technology improves effectiveness, says Kara Puccinelli, chief customer officer at Nexxen, which just so happens to describe itself as an end-to-end platform.
When AI Meets Media Quality
From one perspective, publishers are up a creek thanks to the rise of generative AI search; the impact on discoverability and traffic is palpable. But that doesn't mean publishers can't adapt and find new ways to make money, says Mediavine CRO Amanda Martin.
There's No Such Thing As An Attribution Easy Button
There are many misconceptions about ad measurement. But the biggest thing most marketers are wrongheaded about is in thinking there's a single easy button for attribution. It simply doesn't exist, says attribution expert Madan Bharadwaj, founder of measurement startup M^2.
Inside the Stack: Creative Strategies for Holiday Retail Success with TripleLift's CMO Meredith Brace
In this episode of AdExchanger's Inside the Stack podcast, AdExchanger's Head of Communities, Lynne d Johnson, sits down with Meredith Brace, CMO of TripleLift, to discuss strategic planning for the holiday season, informed by TripleLift's Retail Media Guide. Learn about tips for early holiday prep, the importance of creative execution, and effective measurement approaches. Discover how brands can
Rockerbox's Attribution Journey
Ron Jacobson took the classic programmatic startup route. Which is to say, he pivoted randomly from a software job at a bank (well, the New York Fed), landed at an ad tech company and later founded his own ad tech startup before getting acquired by yet another ad tech company.
Introducing The Wedding Tech Stack
Today, David's Bridal is as much an AI-powered tech company as it is a retailer of wedding apparel and accessories, according to Elina Vilk, president and chief business officer. The company recently unveiled a new digital transformation strategy centered on agentic AI and personalized experiences.
Spilling The Rosé In Cannes, With TikTok's Monetization Chief
Despite ongoing uncertainty over TikTok's fate in the US – the potential ban just got extended for the third time – advertisers aren't concerned, according to TikTok's David Kaufman. On this episode, recorded live from Cannes, Kaufman, who oversees product development, marketing and operations for TikTok's ad platform, says it's pretty much been business as usual for buyers.
The Indy Innovates With AI
The best thing publishers can do with generative AI is experiment with it. If journalists don't decide the best use of AI in journalism, then others will decide for them, says Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent.
The Next Level Of Niche, With Puck's New CRO
Forget the well-worn narrative that digital media publishers are always on their back foot, says Liz Gough, the co-founder and newly minted CRO of Puck. In a world of social media soundbites, Puck is proving that there's a place for long-form, in-depth, dishy journalism.
Inside the Stack: What's Next In Retail Media, with TripleLift CRO Ed Dinichert
In this preview of AdExchanger's new podcast Inside the Stack, TripleLift Chief Revenue Officer Ed Dinichert shares his take on the evolution of retail media with AdExchanger head of communities Lynne D Johnson. Listen in to hear how AI, creative and video fit into the retail media equation in our inaugural episode of this new podcast.
Maybe Nielsen Is The Alternative Currency
The alternative currency bucket could use a rebrand. That referential and somewhat deferential phraseology – a reference to Nielsen – drives Peter Liguori, VideoAmp's executive chairman, a little nuts. It stems, he argues, from the "absurd notion" that the TV industry "has almost 100% of its eggs in one basket."
Context(ual) Switching, With Viant CEO Tim Vanderhook
Viant is on an M&A tear, with two acquisitions – IRIS.TV followed by lockr – in less than six months. Although the rationale behind these deals might be obvious to ad tech insiders, Wall Street investors speak a different language, one that Viant CEO Tim Vanderhook has become fluent in as the leader of a publicly traded company.
Can LinkedIn Become A B2B Streaming Hub?
LinkedIn has been investing in video like nobody's business. Lindsey Edwards, VP of product management, takes us inside the company's video strategy, which now includes CTV ads and a creator rev share program. Plus: Why LinkedIn decided to host its first NewFronts presentation this year.
The Force Of Data Gravity, With Snowflake
Why bring data to SaaS applications when you can bring the applications to your data? That's what modern data platforms do, says Erin Foxworthy, global industry go-to-market lead for marketers and advertisers at Snowflake. Cloud-based platforms, meanwhile, are becoming the foundation for technologies that are increasingly integral to how digital advertising functions.
The Behavioral Economist's POV On Marketing Measurement
Marketing measurement is messed up – it's hard to argue otherwise – and most people agree on the reasons why: vanity metrics, imperfect models, unrealistic expectations. But there's another issue at play, argues Julian Runge, an assistant professor of marketing at Northwestern University – and that's a simple lack of communication.
The Outcomes Era Is Dead. Long Live The Quality Era
Emet Advisory's Erez Levin explains why the digital ad industry should transact on media quality signals like attention instead of optimizing to outcomes, conversions and flawed attribution models. The former Googler also weighs in on the ruling that Google operates an ad tech monopoly and reacts to the company's latest cookie pivot.
How Ecommerce Brands Are Finding Customers During A Tempest Of Headwinds
Americans are dealing with tumultuous change. For an ecommerce ad agency, that means navigating the same tariff craziness, the Meta ad platform going haywire, seeing Temu ads pulled from the US market and AI solutions making a bid to replace human agency services.
Straight Talk With Mediaocean CEO Bill Wise
In 2017, Mediaocean CEO Bill Wise predicted the demise of supply-side platforms. The category survived, but he's sticking to his theory that pureplay SSPs are a thing of the past. Plus: An update on Mediaocean's $550 million Innovid acquisition and Wise's counterpoint to recent criticisms of The Trade Desk.
AI Isn't Something To Fear – Or Rush Into
AI isn't something a marketer "does." It's not a singular action or task, and there is no AI easy button. And so AI researcher and consultant Cecilia Dones tries to "get underneath" the reasons behind why marketers want to integrate AI into their businesses.
'Real-Time Creativity,' With Brandtech CEO David Jones
To say that David Jones, CEO and founder of The Brandtech Group, is bullish on generative AI would be an understatement. "Every single facet of marketing can be done better, faster and cheaper using technology and AI," Jones says. "I'd rather have a fast, efficient machine than a slow, grumpy creative with a big ego." Tune in for more zingers.
Bob Lord Is A Holdco Skeptic
As the newly appointed president of Horizon Media Holdings, Bob Lord is dubious that megamergers between holding companies are actually good for the client. "Bigger is not always better," Lord says.
Rob Wilk Is All Charged Up About Yahoo's O&O
Microsoft ad sales vet Rob Wilk joined Yahoo last year to lead revenue for the company's advertising business with one main goal in mind: to evangelize Yahoo's owned-and-operated properties. Most advertisers just aren't aware of the inventory Yahoo has to offer – and that's on Yahoo.
Teads On The Brain
Now that Teads and Outbrain are one, the vision, explained CEO David Kostman when the deal was first announced, is to become an "end-to-end, full-funnel platform for the open internet." But what does that mean in plain English?
What It Means To Measure 'True ROI'
What does it take to serve mid-size brand clients; how is AI transforming media buying; and why – for the love of god – is measurement still so messed up? Mediastruction CEO and Founding Partner Marilois Snowman has a few thoughts.
How Publishers Can Place Safe Bets In A Rigged Programmatic Game
For publishers, digital advertising is a lot like playing craps, says Aditude's Justin Wohl. It's all about tuning out the noise while placing safe bets that work for your monetization strategy.
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