Marketecture: Get Smart. Fast.

Rob Emrich, Founder and Executive Chairman of Infillion, joins to talk about the Catalina acquisition, why retail data matters, and how his company is building a full-stack ad tech platform through acquisitions and integration. The conversation touches on DSP strategy, data advantages, and how the industry is shifting toward outcomes-driven advertising. Takeaways Catalina evolved from coupon printing into a powerful retail data asset SKU-level purchase data is a key differentiator in advertising Infillion’s strategy is to integrate data, media, and tech into one platform DSPs are increasingly defined by proprietary data and a unique supply Acquisition strategy matters more than just collecting assets Retail media is a continuation of older data-driven advertising models Financial vs strategic ownership can shape how companies evolve Chapters 00:00 Intro & Guest Tease 01:20 April Fool’s Day Banter 04:15 Guest Introduction Rob Emrich 05:36 Catalina Acquisition Explained 07:09 Evolution from Coupons to Data Business 09:06 SKU Level Data & Its Value 11:14 How the Deal Happened 13:46 Infilion Strategy DSP and Data 15:35 Rob’s Background & Company Origins 19:46 Acquisition Strategy 22:18 The Factory Model of Ad Tech 26:05 Customer Profile & Verticals 31:07 Amazon Ads Tops Forrester Wave 38:47 New DSP Tools & Market Expansion 44:27 OpenAI Massive Fundraise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Marketecture Live, Ari Paparo from Marketecture Media joins Philip Inghelbrecht, Co-Founder & CEO at Tatari, Bill Murray, Head of Growth and Performance at Warner Bros Discovery, and Michael Reidy, Senior Vice President, Ad Sales at NBCUniversal. They unpack how streaming inventory is bought and sold, the balance between programmatic and direct deals, and why premium inventory often sits outside traditional programmatic pipes. The discussion also explores live events, automation, and how new solutions like Tatari’s Upstream aim to reshape access to high-quality CTV inventory. Takeaways The U.S. TV ad market is ~$90B, with $60B still in linear and $30B in streaming Only about half of streaming inventory is programmatic, and much of the premium supply is sold directly Direct buying offers advantages like guaranteed inventory, brand safety, and fewer intermediary fees Programmatic excels in targeting, flexibility, and discovery of new audience opportunities Publishers view direct and programmatic as complementary, not competing channels Live events and moment-driven content create spikes that favor guaranteed direct deals Automation is reshaping direct buying, making premium inventory more accessible to smaller advertisers Tatari’s Upstream aims to automate direct deals and bypass traditional programmatic layers The future of CTV will likely be hybrid, combining automation, data, and direct relationships Chapters 00:00 Introduction to the Marketecture Live discussion 00:21 Breaking down the $90B TV and CTV market 02:04 Overlap between direct and programmatic inventory 02:30 Publisher perspective on inventory strategy 04:03 Advertiser value targeting vs premium placement 05:03 Why direct and programmatic are complementary 06:07 Benefits of direct buying for brands 07:30 Brand safety, fraud, and cost efficiencies 08:40 The importance of publisher relationships 09:30 Live events and operational challenges 10:08 Peacock strategy and nowness content 11:35 Dynamic ad insertion vs linear pass-through 12:34 Audience behavior and shared viewing moments 13:14 Managing unpredictable live inventory 14:08 Introducing Tatari’s Upstream platform 15:40 Automation of direct deals 16:00 Concentration of CTV supply among top publishers 17:04 Lowering barriers for new advertisers 18:15 How Upstream benefits publishers and buyers 19:45 Future roadmap and machine learning optimization 22:07 Performance vs brand programmatic vs direct debate 22:33 Growth of CTV and advertiser adoption 23:12 The future coexistence of direct and programmatic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alicia Richardson, co-founder and managing partner of CrowdAxis and winner of the Markecture Live Startup Showcase, joins the pod to break down how brands approach experiential marketing, how to measure its impact, and whether major events like Cannes are actually worth the investment. Takeaways Experiential marketing connects brands directly with consumers in physical settings. Marketers often rely on gut and repeat past event choices. Measurement is inconsistent and still focused on basic metrics. The industry lacks a standardized way to evaluate performance. ROI depends on both the event and the brand’s execution. Delayed data limits post-event conversion opportunities. Chapters 00:09 Intro & Guest Introduction 03:33 What is Experiential Marketing 04:20 The Measurement Problem 07:11 CrowdAxis Solution 08:05 Experiential Power Index 10:08 Marketer Perspective 13:35 Data Sources 21:19 Founding Story of CrowdAxis 25:11 Paid Marketing Debate 43:22 Shopify Agentic Storefronts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Terence Kawaja, founder and CEO of LUMA Partners, took the stage live at Marketecture Live to break down the collision of AI and advertising with his signature mix of candor and sharp analysis. While acknowledging the uncertainty ahead, he made one thing clear: the industry is moving fast from AI hype to real, measurable impact, and the winners will be the ones who prove it in their numbers. Takeaways Show me the money for AI in 2026 Advertising will fuel LLMs Shift from CPM to performance-based models Intent data is the most valuable signal Rise of the LLM ad ecosystem AI-driven transparency in media buying Creative as a performance driver Ad tech consolidation Agility is the key skill set New entrants reshaping the industry Chapters 00:00 Introduction from Marketecture Live 00:48 Why “No One Knows” What Happens Next in AI + Ads 02:11 Prediction #1: AI Hype vs. Real Financial Results 05:06 Prediction #2: Ads as the Core LLM Business Model 06:32 Prediction #3: The Shift to Performance & Intent Based Ads 09:46 Prediction #4: The LLM Ecosystem Opportunity 11:45 Prediction #5: Transparency vs. Agency Economics 13:23 Prediction #6: The Push for AI Standards 14:28 Prediction #7: Creative as the New Performance Lever 16:04 Prediction #8: Ad Tech Consolidation & Evolution 17:39 Prediction #9: Agility as the Ultimate Advantage 19:11 Prediction #10: New Entrants & M&A Wave 20:14 Bonus Prediction & Closing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melissa Burdick of Pacvue breaks down how commerce media is evolving beyond retail, why fragmentation is still the biggest challenge for brands, and how AI is reshaping product discovery across platforms. The conversation covers the rise of agentic commerce, Amazon’s dominance, and what the future of buying, measurement, and optimization looks like in a rapidly changing ecosystem. Takeaways Commerce media goes beyond retail and includes discovery, AI driven experiences, and new buying environments. Fragmentation across retailers remains a major challenge for brands managing multiple platforms. Amazon still dominates commerce media with the majority of market share. AI is shifting search from keywords to prompts and changing how products are discovered. Agentic commerce is early but expected to evolve significantly in the coming years. Incrementality in retail media is complex and difficult to measure accurately. Chapters 00:00 Intro + Marketecture Live recap 03:22 Startup showcase + guest intro (Pacvue) 06:58 Retail media vs. commerce media 10:42 Fragmentation + Amazon dominance 14:17 AI shopping, Rufus, and agentic commerce 20:11 In-store media + incrementality debate 25:11 AI in commerce and discovery shifts 30:00 AI campaign tools (Trade Desk, PubMatic, MiQ) 36:40 Publicis vs. TTD + transparency issues 45:34 Walmart, OpenAI, Meta, and future outlook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Paparo sits down with Jeff Green, CEO of The Trade Desk, at Marketecture Live for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of advertising. Jeff discusses his massive insider stock purchase, the evolving role of AI in programmatic advertising, and potential new ad opportunities inside AI chat platforms and retail media. The discussion also covers the future of Amazon’s DSP, open vs. closed advertising ecosystems, OpenPath supply chain efficiency, CTV strategy through Ventura, and why programmatic advertising may be one of the industries best suited for agentic AI. Takeaways AI chat platforms could become a major new advertising channel Programmatic advertising is highly suited for AI and automation Retail media and sponsored listings remain powerful ad formats Amazon’s DSP future may be limited by broader business risks The industry debate is shifting from transparency to open vs. closed systems “Practical transparency” matters more than excessive reporting OpenPath aims to improve supply chain efficiency AI will increasingly automate campaign management Ventura aims to power the streaming ad ecosystem on connected TVs Premium content remains central to ad value Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Marketecture Live recap 01:27 Jeff Green’s insider stock purchase and market signals 02:45 The potential for ads inside AI chat platforms 05:11 Retail media and product listing ads 08:02 Why Amazon’s DSP may not exist in five years 12:00 Transparency versus outcomes in digital advertising 16:17 OpenPath and supply chain efficiency 20:31 The Trade Desk’s AI strategy 25:00 AI tools for campaign creation 25:40 The rise of CTV and Ventura’s strategy 29:14 Hedge gardens like Reddit and Spotify 31:30 Closing remarks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Wieser, founder of Madison and Wall, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss why the digital ad market is stronger than expected and what recent earnings reveal about platforms and ad tech companies. The conversation covers retail media growth, DSP competition, and how companies like Amazon, OpenAI, and The Trade Desk are approaching the next phase of advertising, along with Brian’s view on AI’s impact on agencies, CTV, and the broader ad ecosystem. Takeaways The digital ad market is strong, growing about 15 percent despite economic uncertainty. Ad growth is driven more by competition and new categories than by GDP. Retail media is expanding as retailers increase competition between brands. Agencies may benefit from AI, as marketers still need human guidance. AI platforms are starting to explore new advertising models. Chapters 00:00 Intro and Marketecture Live preview 03:10 The state of the digital advertising market 07:00 What drives ad market growth today 10:30 DSP competition and The Trade Desk’s market share 15:00 Retail media growth and Walmart’s momentum 20:30 AI disruption, SaaS concerns, and agencies 27:00 Streaming consolidation and CTV economics 33:40 OpenAI partnerships and the future of AI advertising 39:30 Amazon expanding its advertising ecosystem 45:00 AI marketing tools and Jeff Green’s $150M Trade Desk stock purchase Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric Seufert (Mobile Dev Memo) joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of apps, AI agents, walled gardens, and the shifting power dynamics in digital advertising. They dive into the so-called “SaaS-pocalypse” and discuss whether AI agents could replace apps entirely. They also discuss Apple’s emerging AI gatekeeping strategy (and what it means for developers), Meta’s acquisition of Manus and the automation of advertising, and AppLovin’s reported ambitions to build a social network from scratch. Along the way, they explore whether independent ad tech can survive in a world dominated by Meta and Google, how AI is reshaping landing pages and commerce journeys, and why fully autonomous “agentic commerce” may be more mirage than inevitability. Takeaways AI agents may change how people use apps, but apps will not disappear. Owning the user surface area matters because it protects monetization and customer relationships. Agentic commerce sounds compelling, but platform incentives make full disintermediation unlikely. Apple is tightening rules around sending personal data to third-party AI services, and enforcement is increasing through app rejections. Apple keeps definitions vague to preserve latitude, which can create uncertainty for developers. Apple may use Private Cloud Compute partnerships to control AI distribution and take a share of revenue. Running meaningful AI inference on a device is limited by memory, so cloud processing remains central. Meta’s Manus acquisition reinforces the push toward end-to-end campaign automation in Ads Manager. The next step is AI that improves the post-click journey, not just the ad setup. Meta’s business AI vision could move optimization from landing pages into conversational purchase guidance. Some startups should look beyond Meta’s core strengths and build in channels that Meta is less focused on. Building a new social network requires massive spending, but AppLovin has the cash flow and distribution to attempt it. Chapters 00:00 Intro & Eric Seufert Returns 02:26 Marketecture Live Announcements 06:11 The SaaS-pocalypse 10:14 Why Apps Won’t Die 11:54 Why Super Apps Failed in the West 13:27 Private Markets & AI Valuations 14:10 Apple’s AI Tracking Transparency 17:08 Apple’s Gatekeeping Strategy 21:15 App Store Delays & Vibe Coding 22:24 Meta’s Manus Acquisition 24:12 Meta’s Business AI Vision 29:44 Can Anyone Compete With Meta? 30:45 AppLovin’s Social Network Ambitions 36:04 Infillion Acquires Catalina 41:26 The Trade Desk Earnings Breakdown 46:23 Executive Turnover & Competitive Landscape 50:38 Profound’s $1B Valuation 54:14 AdSense for AI & LLM Monetization 58:00 Walmart Connect Growth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nate Elliott, Principal Analyst at eMarketer, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to talk through what’s actually happening with AI adoption in marketing and commerce. He shares a practical view on how many consumers actively use AI tools, why usage stats are often misleading, and why most AI influence on shopping still happens outside chatbots. The group also digs into GEO and AEO, agency and CMO priorities, and the growing debate over content licensing and the health of the open web. Takeaways Only about 15–20% of US online consumers use AI tools weekly, despite AI touching nearly every digital experience. Most AI-influenced commerce happens through research and discovery, not direct purchases inside chatbots. GEO feels like SEO in 1998, full of experimentation, aggressive tactics, and unclear measurement. CMOs are focused more on internal AI productivity gains than flashy external AI activations. Agencies may reach near-universal AI usage internally, but that does not mean AI replaces 95% of marketing output. The health of the open web is critical to AI platforms, making content licensing a long-term strategic issue. Chapters 00:00 Nate Elliott’s background and role leading AI research at eMarketer 07:30 How many consumers are actually active AI users 11:50 AI and commerce: direct transactions vs influence 14:40 GEO and the Wild West phase of AI search optimization 18:30 What CMOs are prioritizing in their AI strategy 23:20 Agencies, AI adoption, and the 95% marketing debate 26:00 AI disclosure, creative production, and labeling concerns 32:00 Content marketplaces and whether Google will pay publishers 38:00 Reddit, AI optimization, and measurement challenges 44:00 Agency rebates and media transparency 47:30 Amazon becomes Fortune’s number one company Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matthew Egol, Founder & CEO of JourneySpark Consulting, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to break down agentic advertising and what AdCP means for the industry, from AI’s Super Bowl moment to standards governance, Prebid collaboration, IAB alignment, and how AI agents are reshaping planning, creative, and measurement across marketing. Takeaways AI took over the Super Bowl, with roughly a quarter of ads tied to AI. Agentic advertising expands from buying to planning, discovery, and measurement. AgenticAdvertising.org focuses on standards, governance, and certification. Prebid runs the sell-side AdCP code while AAO drives the protocol and adoption. AdCP is still mostly in pilot mode, not scaled revenue. AI creative testing is beating traditional DCO in performance. LLM ads could reshape search, retail media, and content economics. Chapters 00:00 Opening & Guest Introduction 01:29 Marketecture Live & Super Bowl Banter 03:58 Matt Egol Joins from CES 06:49 What Is AgenticAdvertising.org? 08:16 Certification & Trust 11:11 Why Another Organization? 13:43 Prebid Partnership Explained 16:08 Expanding Beyond Programmatic 18:23 Relationship with the IAB 22:30 Adoption Update: February 2026 24:08 Governance & Board Structure 26:16 The AI Super Bowl 33:47 ChatGPT Launches Ads 44:20 Amazon Content Marketplace Rumors 52:19 Closing & Sign-Off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bob Lord, President of Horizon Media, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to talk about why independent agencies can move faster, how Horizon OS is built around an open partner ecosystem, and how AI is changing day to day agency work. They also cover Blu ID, performance-based pricing, the LLM ad debate, and key takeaways from IAB ALM. Takeaways Indie agencies move faster because they don’t carry legacy tech and data debt. Horizon OS keeps the stack open so brands can swap partners as needed. Blu ID links Horizon’s identity to client first-party data for more precise planning. Horizon wants performance based pay so incentives match business results. AI delivers quick wins through reconciliation and workflow automation. The ads debate is really a trust play between Anthropic and OpenAI. Chapters 00:00 Travel, Super Bowl, and AI talk. 04:22 Bob Lord joins the show. 06:38 Why holdcos struggle with tech and data debt. 08:17 Horizon OS and client access to data. 10:39 Switching agencies and owning first party data. 11:40 What Blu ID is. 12:13 Open ecosystem and partner plug-ins. 14:19 From staffing to growth partnership. 15:45 Performance based agency economics. 16:59 Why AI fits open systems. 18:12 Agent Q, Gemini, and fewer hallucinations. 20:14 AI wins: reconciliation and pitch work. 21:30 Horizon and Havas partnership. 23:41 Viveki then vs now. 28:45 LLM ad war and Anthropic ads. 36:33 IAB ALM and publisher AI accountability. 40:02 Project Ados and ADCP friction. 45:24 Earnings: Google, YouTube, Uber Ads. 51:56 Closing thoughts on open ecosystems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Paparo explains why outcomes have become the defining metric in digital advertising, how AI and platform consolidation are reshaping the buy and sell sides, and what the decline of the open web means for marketers, publishers, and ad tech moving forward. Takeaways Outcomes have always existed in digital advertising, but pressure on CMOs has made measurable results unavoidable. Closed loop platforms outperform the open web because scale, identity, and measurement live in one system. Experimentation and advanced modeling are replacing traditional attribution as cookies disappear. AI agents may reduce fragmentation by automating buying, negotiation, and optimization across publishers. Programmatic advertising is circling back to outcome driven models similar to early ad networks. Antitrust actions may reduce Google’s efficiency but will not eliminate its dominance in outcomes. Chapters 00:00 Outcomes become the central measure of marketing success as CMO accountability increases. 02:10 AppLovin shows how repeatable performance drives massive valuation. 04:08 Experimentation and AI modeling replace fragile attribution systems. 06:01 Why publishers struggle to compete with closed platforms on outcomes. 09:12 AI search and summaries dramatically reduce traffic to the open web. 12:09 Fragmentation creates opportunity in a multipolar content ecosystem. 14:14 Agentic buying hints at a future with less friction and more scale. 15:20 Programmatic advertising evolves back toward outcome focused systems. 20:31 Antitrust remedies may reshape Google’s stack without killing outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rajeev Goel, CEO of PubMatic, joins Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi to discuss how agentic AI and AdCP are reshaping the media buying process, collapsing the ad tech value chain, and creating new opportunities for publishers and advertisers to compete with walled gardens. Takeaways Agentic AI can automate planning, buying, and optimization beyond today’s DSP workflows. PubMatic’s AgenticOS lets advertisers transact through AI agents using AdCP. AI efficiency may grow digital ad spend and shift more ROI budgets to the open internet. Seller agents and marketplaces could help publishers unlock demand without big sales teams. The open web will compete better with stronger identity, measurement, and a simpler supply chain. Chapter 00:00 Travel check and AI kickoff 01:05 Moltbot and why autonomous assistants matter 01:56 Rajeev Goel on agentic AI at PubMatic 07:00 RTB automates only the impression moment 08:37 RFPs, emails, spreadsheets — the manual reality 10:05 Agents scaling campaign management 15:15 Butler Till and Clubtails case study setup 18:37 PubMatic agent recommends inventory, audiences, and data 22:34 Agents compress the value chain, weaken DSP lock-in 45:05 OpenAI ads debate, CPM economics, answer engine ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Knegten draws on his experience as a former Beeswax CMO and long-time ad tech marketer to explain what actually works in marketing as the industry heads into 2026. The conversation covers AI hype versus real value, why founder voice matters more than positioning decks, how buyers actually make decisions, and the difference between a marketing problem and a real business problem. Paul also breaks down where ad tech companies lose the plot when talking to brands and agencies, and why relevance beats buzz every time. Takeaways AI does not fix weak positioning and only works when it solves a real customer problem. Founder-led communication often outperforms polished brand messaging in ad tech. Buyers care more about results than transparency when performance is strong. LinkedIn and major industry events remain the two most effective channels to reach decision makers. Many companies think they have a marketing issue when they actually have a product-market fit problem. Chapters 00:09 Intro and guest welcome, Paul Knegten 01:04 Marketecture Live and Startup Showcase 04:05 Paul’s background in ad tech marketing 05:34 State of ad tech and the AI rush 06:39 Consolidation and “quietly winning” ad networks 08:44 Transparency vs performance for buyers 10:11 Founder-led marketing and being the face of the brand 13:13 Avoiding the ad tech echo chamber 15:26 Reaching buyers on LinkedIn and tentpole events 20:15 Brands and agencies vs ad tech priorities 22:06 AI hype and differentiation 24:05 “Marketing problem” vs “problem problem.” 28:39 OpenAI rolls out ads in the free tier 38:58 CTV News, EDO vs iSpot TV lawsuit 47:48 Gamera launch and open-web signals Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi are joined by Erez Levin, a former Googler who focuses on media and inventory quality. They dig into what “quality” really means in programmatic advertising, why short-term outcomes can be misleading, and how incentive structures have pushed spend toward lower-value impressions. Takeaways Quality is best understood through effectiveness, but most measurement overweights short-term signals. “Not all impressions are created equal.” quality varies by context, format, and goal. Video definition loopholes led to premium pricing for lower-attention formats and contributed to market confusion. MFA, SPO, and curation are connected symptoms of incentives that reward cheap scale and vanity metrics. Verification helps, but quality needs to be addressed across the full media workflow, including experimentation and MMM. Agentic buying could either improve quality controls or make it easier to optimize only to what’s measurable in the near term. Publisher traffic declines reinforce the difference between commoditized content and differentiated journalism or creator-led media. Chapters 00:00 Welcome and introduction to media quality 01:29 Marketecture Live updates and announcements 04:18 Erez Levin on why advertising quality matters 06:00 Defining quality vs outcomes in digital advertising 08:30 Brand impact, long-term effectiveness, and mental availability 09:43 Lessons from Google AdX and DV360 10:58 Video misclassification, IAB definitions, and market fallout 14:03 Outstream video, pricing, and mobile gaming use cases 17:00 MFA, SPO, and the real causes of inventory quality problems 19:03 Tools, verification, and the role of measurement frameworks 20:30 Agentic buying, AI, and control over media quality 22:41 AI news: Google UCP, AdCP, and agentic commerce 30:13 Apple, Siri, and Google Gemini’s implications 34:16 Publisher traffic decline and the future of content 36:23 Agentic buying vs RTB and portfolio theory 42:34 AppleCart funding and influence-based advertising 45:04 Liftoff IPO filing and the mobile ad tech landscape 47:57 Google antitrust lawsuits update 49:03 Closing thoughts and wrap-up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From CES, Ari Paparo talks with Co-founder and CEO Tim Vanderhook and Co-founder and COO Chris Vanderhook of Viant about what automation looks like in a DSP workflow, using Viant’s Lattice Brain and Outcomes as the framing. They cover how goal-based optimization is set up (CPA/ROAS), what they observed in tests comparing automated and human-managed campaigns, and why “decision latency” is a recurring issue in day-to-day programmatic execution. Takeaways They describe Outcomes as a goal-based workflow where an advertiser provides key inputs and the system handles ongoing optimization decisions. The guests share results from internal tests comparing automated vs human-managed campaigns, and discuss what signals they looked at beyond the final CPA. A main theme is “decision latency”; humans operate on meeting and approval cycles, while automated systems can adjust continuously. They distinguish between transparency and control: visibility into where spending goes, but limited ability to override optimization choices. They expect a hybrid approach, with some budgets remaining hands-on and others shifting toward more automation. Chapters 00:00 CES check-in and episode setup 00:55 The AI-assisted song launch tangent 01:54 What “Lattice Brain” refers to 02:39 What Outcomes is meant to do 03:42 CPA/ROAS now, incrementality later 05:21 Why run an AI vs human comparison 06:36 Test setup, including excluding retargeting 08:06 What the results suggested and what they focused on 10:25 What automation changes reveal about typical workflows 12:19 Transparency vs manual overrides 14:16 Why open-web performance has been difficult historically 16:29 What they think needs to be true for better open-web performance 17:33 Hybrid buying and where automation fits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi break down the biggest themes coming out of CES and across ad tech. Ari speaks with Mike Khristo, CEO of Layers, about turning code directly into customers, automating marketing for developers, and how vibe coding is enabling a new wave of profitable niche apps. Ari and Eric then cover AI-powered ad platforms, agentic buying and selling, and major industry announcements from Walmart, Viant, Reddit, Amazon, and The Trade Desk. Takeaways Layers automates marketing for developers who lack marketing skills. Vibe coding allows non-professionals to create viable apps. AI tools are improving the quality of code produced by non-developers. Organic growth is becoming increasingly important for app distribution. App Store Optimization is crucial for visibility in app stores. TikTok and Meta are key platforms for app marketing. Non-technical individuals can successfully build and market apps. The rise of niche apps is creating new opportunities in the market. Developers can focus on building features rather than marketing. The future of app development is empowering individuals to create without needing extensive technical backgrounds. Chapters 00:00 Intro and CES check-in 02:05 Upcoming interviews and announcements 04:00 MADDB product update 05:26 Interview begins: Mike Khristo, CEO of Layers 10:10 Vibe coding and production-quality apps 15:02 App growth channels: Meta, Apple Search Ads, and ASO 17:58 Managed UGC and creator scale 25:20 News of the Week begins 29:34 Amazon DSP and Reddit automation (“Max” modes) 31:06 Viant Lattice Brain and outcomes-based buying 37:27 Agentic advertising and IAB roadmap 46:59 Closing and Marketecture Live reminder Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Walmart Connect has quickly evolved from a search-driven retail media platform into a full-funnel advertising powerhouse. In this episode, Ari Paparo sits down with Khurrum Malik, VP of Business and Product Marketing at Walmart Connect, to unpack how Walmart is combining on-site search, off-site media, CTV via Vizio, and closed-loop measurement to spark real sales impact. Khurrum shares why he joined Walmart Connect, how “couch to cart” is becoming a reality, what performance TV means for emerging advertisers, and why incrementality is the new gold standard for retail media. The conversation also previews Walmart Connect’s CES announcements, including AI-driven ad tools, search incrementality GA, and new third-party benchmarks that position Walmart Connect against digital and social media. Takeaways Walmart Connect is a multi-billion-dollar retail media business growing 30%+ by focusing on sales impact, not just media delivery Search and PLAs remain the core, but Walmart Connect is expanding aggressively into brand, video, CTV, and off-site media Vizio enables true “couch to cart” activation by connecting CTV exposure directly to Walmart sales outcomes Incrementality and IROAS are becoming the measurement bar for retail media, not just attribution Walmart’s omni-channel footprint of 4,600+ stores and 150M weekly shoppers is a core competitive advantage CES announcements highlight AI-powered tools, search incrementality GA, and third-party benchmarks that outperform digital and social media norms Chapters 00:00 Welcome & Introduction 00:38 Why Khurrum Joined Walmart Connect 02:18 What Is Walmart Connect Today 03:57 Beyond PLAs and Search 05:03 Scale, Brand, and Performance 06:33 Measurement and Incrementality 06:47 Vizio and “Couch to Cart” 09:30 Performance TV for Emerging Advertisers 11:09 Third-Party Measurement & Trust 13:50 CES Preview 17:10 Lightning Round 19:31 Wrap-Up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Marketecture Live, Jayson Dubin, CEO and Founder of Playwire, explains how publishers can grow revenue and improve performance by combining machine learning with human intelligence. He shares concrete results from AI-driven traffic shaping and price floor optimization, walks through Playwire’s Quality, Performance, Transparency (QPT) initiative, and discusses major ecosystem issues like supply chain opacity, malicious ads, and the shifting realities of AI-driven discovery. He also introduces RAMP, Playwire’s Revenue Amplification Management Platform, built to give enterprise publishers control, visibility, and optional AI automation. Takeaways AI is best for repetitive, rapid decisions; humans are best for contextual strategy and judgment in a gray, complex ad ecosystem. AI traffic shaping drove a 21% lift in Revenue Per Session versus 9% without it. AI price flooring delivered about a 20% uplift in RPM through multidimensional, per-request adjustments. Cutting bid requests can increase performance and revenue while also improving page speed and traffic. QPT shifted Playwire from quantity to quality, strengthening trust with buyers and partners. Transparency remains uneven: publishers still struggle to identify buyers and stop malicious ads across the bidstream. RAMP unifies traffic shaping, bid shaping, and flooring into a platform designed for enterprise publisher control and visibility. Chapters 00:00 Intro Jayson Dubin and the core theme 00:55 What Playwire does and why automation matters at scale 01:23 The false choice: automation vs human involvement 01:38 Decision framework where AI wins vs where humans win 02:31 Traffic shaping explained feed DSPs and SSPs what they eat 03:15 Traffic shaping results 21% RPS lift and fewer bid requests 04:01 AI price flooring moving beyond GAM rule limits 05:23 Origin story industry feedback and the shift to quality 05:57 QPT Quality Performance Transparency 06:57 Two-year impact: fewer requests, higher CPM, higher revenue 09:37 Marketecture Live Q&A: What AI means for publishers now 18:56 Scale and leverage who gets to command better terms Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi reflect on the past year in ad tech and discuss their predictions from the previous year, the growth of Marketecture, and the biggest news stories in the industry. They highlight key CEOs and companies, explore current trends, and make predictions for the upcoming year, particularly focusing on the impact of AI and the evolving landscape of CTV advertising. Takeaways Our audience was up 200% year over year on Spotify. This year was the year of strategic M&A in ad tech. AI tools were rolled out by many companies this year. TikTok didn't get banned, but it will be controlled by a US entity. Live streaming continued to grow significantly this year. Sundar Pichai of Google had an incredible turnaround year. YouTube and Netflix are creating a duopoly in streaming. Content marketplaces will become a big thing next year. The in-app advertising space is heating up due to competition. 2026 will see a significant rise in M&A activity. Chapters 00:00 Year-End Reflections and Predictions 03:04 Marketecture's Growth and Achievements 06:03 Evaluating Last Year's Predictions 11:55 Biggest News in Ad Tech 15:01 CEO Highlights and Trends 20:58 Current Trends in Ad Tech 22:31 The Streaming Duopoly: YouTube and Netflix 24:18 The Impact of CTV Consolidation on Advertising 25:44 The Rise of Agentic AI in Advertising 26:49 Spotlight on Hot Startups: Swivel and Branch Labs 29:28 Predictions for 2026: M&A and Market Dynamics 32:33 Learning from the Best: Key Podcast Insights 37:08 The Future of Google and CTV Advertising 41:13 The In-App Advertising Landscape: A New Era 43:21 The TikTok Election: Shaping Political Advertising Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mark Grether, SVP & General Manager, PayPal, unpacks how PayPal is reshaping commerce media by leveraging its transaction graph across 30 million merchants and 400 million consumers at Marketecture Live. From democratizing retail media for SMBs to monetizing Venmo’s social feed and enabling agentic commerce with trusted payments, this conversation explores why PayPal sits at the center of advertising, AI, and the future of buying online. Takeaways PayPal’s transaction graph spans 30 million merchants and 400 million consumers, giving it a horizontal view that powers audience targeting, market share insights, and closed-loop measurement. The new SMB Ads Manager unifies demand and supply so smaller merchants can both buy previously unreachable audiences and monetize their own site traffic. Venmo’s social feed and Gen Z heavy user base create high demand, upper funnel ad inventory tied to real spending behavior and cultural signals like emoji usage. Honey contributes large-scale intent and catalog visibility, letting PayPal connect discovery to checkout and measure impact even for off-site channels like CTV. In agentic commerce, PayPal aims to be the trust and payments layer that reduces friction while humans still make emotional final decisions. Chapters 00:00 PayPal Today: Scale, Brands, and the Transaction Graph 01:09 Retail Media Fragmentation and the SMB Challenge 01:53 PayPal Ads: On-Site, Off-Site, and Storefront Ads 03:57 Ads Manager: Unifying Demand and Monetizing SMB Eyeballs 06:37 Open Commerce: Relevance and Brand Safety at Scale 08:24 Venmo Ads: Social, Gen Z, and Upper-Funnel Moments 10:36 Honey: Intent Signals, Catalog Data, and Targeting 12:15 Closed-Loop Measurement and CTV Attribution 16:14 Agentic Commerce: Trust, Payments, and In-Flow Checkout 24:04 Five-Year Outlook: What Changes and What Doesn’t Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Scott Spencer, co-founder of Rewarded Interest and former DoubleClick and Google product leader, explains why cookie banners failed, how consumer privacy still feels broken, and what it takes to give users real control without hurting publishers or advertisers. Takeaways RTB wasn’t invented in a single moment. It emerged organically as multiple teams solved latency, bidding, and scale problems in parallel. Cookie banners fail both consumers and regulators by creating friction without real control or understanding. Rewarded Interest aims to replace site-by-site consent with centralized, programmatic privacy preferences across devices. Privacy control likely belongs above the browser level, especially as agentic browsing and AI assistants become mainstream. Changes proposed to GDPR may reduce protections around pseudonymous identifiers, increasing the need for user-centric control tools. The industry risks pushing users toward ad blocking if it can’t offer meaningful, trusted privacy solutions. Scott’s biggest regret from the RTB era isn’t technical. It’s not taking time to appreciate the magnitude of the transformation and the people behind it. Chapters 00:00 Intro: Scott Spencer’s DoubleClick and Google legacy 01:29 Year-end notes: Marketecture Wrapped and MadDB.ai 03:35 Why Scott founded Rewarded Interest 05:00 Coalition for Better Ads and reducing ad blocking 06:20 Why cookie banners are broken 07:55 Centralized privacy control across the web 08:52 Browsers, OS-level identity, and agentic browsing 10:54 Minor mode and protecting children from tracking 12:10 Do consumers want granular control? Rewards and defaults 13:43 GDPR, Digital Omnibus, and Europe’s direction 18:21 Aligning incentives for users, publishers, and ad tech 21:56 22 years at DoubleClick and Google 22:12 Did Scott invent RTB? Network proxy bidding explained. 31:00 The Refresh: Google, Meta scams, and agentic ads 54:15 Wrap-up: YouTube vs Netflix and the Oscars move Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Casale, CEO, Index Exchange, and Megan Pagliuca, Chief Product Officer, Omnicom Media Group, unpack how live sports and streaming are becoming more addressable through programmatic, why new standards are fixing real-time “spike” problems, and how sell-side decisioning and AI-driven curation could reshape efficiency and fees across the open internet. Takeaways Live sports are becoming truly addressable through programmatic. Targeting is shifting to moment-level signals, not broad demos. Standards like podding and advanced ad requests reduce live break spikes. Pre-fetching and smarter pacing keep delivery stable. Sell-side decisioning now happens earlier and faster. That speed opens new optimization before bids reach DSPs. The supply chain may be split into modular parts to cut fees. AI is already boosting inclusion lists, safety, and creative workflows. Chapter 00:10 Intro to live sports and programmatic. 00:45 Megan on addressable “magic moments” in live sports. 03:12 Andrew on podding standards for live streams. 04:23 How advanced ad requests prevent break spikes. 06:36 What sell-side decisioning is and why it’s faster now. 09:50 Two futures: bundled platforms or unbundled chain. 15:07 Megan on SPO and tighter partner sets. 17:45 Practical AI wins in lists, safety, and creativity. 23:20 Rapid-fire predictions for 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices