The Big Story

By AdExchanger

What's The Big Story about?

Each week, the AdExchanger editorial team drills into the week's most urgent headlines in digital marketing. Hosted by Executive Editor Sarah Sluis, this podcast gets listeners up to speed on the most pressing news in ad tech and beyond, with key background details and analysis.

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The Big Story episodes:

04.18.2024
Retreat To MMM
One side effect of signal loss? Media mix modeling is coming back in fashion. Google’s Meridian is the latest entrant in the MMM space, which is being embraced by large ad platforms and startups alike. Plus: Differentiating between shoppable...
04.11.2024
Hidden Made-For-Advertising (MFA) - E288
Inside Forbes’ hidden MFA site, and the industry reactions to the ad-crammed subdomain. Plus: a dispatch from the Global Privacy Summit in Washington D.C., where ad tech is a hot topic.
04.04.2024
Ad Tech’s Performance Review
TV ad buying platform Cadent acquires AdTheorent, setting its sights on omnichannel. Also in this episode: The less-than-kosher attribution game that retail media networks are playing with brands.
03.28.2024
Bot Or Not?
Inside the Nubai Ventures lawsuit against Outbrain. Plus: The broadcaster-backed joint industry committee and the Media Rating Council clarify their complementary roles.
03.22.2024
Goodbye, Outstream: The Digital Video Classification Shakeup - E285
More granular video classifications are replacing outstream video. But the move may devalue some inventory. Plus: GPTs are coming for contextual.
03.14.2024
MFA: The A Is For Arbitrage … And Adalytics - E284
Why the 4A’s is hosting secret meetings to redefine MFA from “made for advertising” to “made for arbitrage.” Plus, a new report from Adalytics reveals that MFA-blocking solutions aren’t as effective as tech vendors claim.
03.07.2024
Privacy Sandbox Isn’t Passing The Test - E283
In a world without cookies, ads aren’t viewable and yield goes down. But it’s still early days. Mediavine SVP Amanda Martin shares early results from its Privacy Sandbox tests.
02.29.2024
When Generative AI Makes The Ad
Need ad creative? Here’s what you need to know about using a generative AI startup to make your ad. Plus: Reddit opens its books before a planned IPO.
02.22.2024
When Walled Gardens Collide - E281
Walmart bought Vizio for a foothold in streaming – a move that will take the retailer’s ads business to new levels. Then, a deep dive into the “sky bridges,” a new term for partnerships between walled garden platforms.
02.15.2024
The Temu Bowl - E280
After Temu’s 5+ Super Bowl ads and billions in ad spending, will people shop like a billionaire? We discuss the strange profligacy of the discount shopping app.
02.07.2024
Finding Holes In The Privacy Sandbox - E279
The gap analysis of the Privacy Sandbox is out. And the gap is…large. Then, a case for why hype about first-party data hasn’t been matched in reality.
02.01.2024
The Stages Of Cookie Grief - E278
After going through denial and anger over the death of third-party cookies, the ad tech industry enters the bargaining stage. Plus, top takeaways from the FTC's first-ever AI tech summit.
01.25.2024
Personalization Put-Offs - E277
Getting personalization right remains tricky, and AI will only make it trickier. Then, inside Privacy Sandbox testing and the rise of curation tech.
01.18.2024
Programmatic Excess, From Bid Duplication To VideoAmp’s Reckoning - E276
This week’s theme is programmatic excess. We start with bid duplication and end with VideoAmp’s fall back to Earth.
01.11.2024
Streaming Services Take On CES - E275
As the ad world descends upon Vegas for CES, streaming services from Netflix to Amazon to Disney are turning out in force. Then, all the intrigue unearthed from the lawsuit that pitted LG Electronics against the startup it acquired,...
01.04.2024
The Cookieless Expanse Ahead - E274
The end of third-party cookies is upon us, and independent ad tech is diverging on the best approach for cookieless targeting. Meanwhile, agencies and marketers are zooming out from programmatic to a bigger picture that’s focused on first-party data.
12.21.2023
Recapping The Year In SPO And Data Privacy
In 2023, supply-path optimization took off, brands took their scalpels to made-for-advertising websites and DSPs and SSPs launched SPO products to cut down on hops. Plus: lessons from the year in data privacy.
12.14.2023
The Alternative Currency Slowdown - E272
Marketers are choosing either Nielsen or alternative currencies (or both) for TV measurement. Learn what’s ahead for alternative currencies in 2024. Plus: the latest outlook on programmatic audio.
12.07.2023
Programmatic Fog - E271
Marketers are wasting 25% of their ad spend on inefficiencies and made-for-advertising websites, and the ANA thinks consolidation and education are the solutions. Plus: In 2024, ad spend will grow, but at a slower rate than 2023. And streamers...
11.30.2023
The Dark Corners Of Google Search - E270
Google search ads appear on a host of unsavory and offensive sites, according to recent Adalytics research. And without any transparent reporting from Google, marketers can’t do anything about it.
11.16.2023
The Big Story: The Specialists Are Back - E269
This week we take a look at the rise of new specialist DSPs that thrive in respective categories, regardless of the power of omnichannel giants. Also, why targeting US Hispanic audiences – and targeting by language and ethnicity in general...
11.09.2023
Ad Tech Report Card - E268
DSPs and SSPs are being graded by TAG TrustNet on whether they comply with a key transparency initiative: sharing log-file data. Find out who’s passing and who’s failing. Then, we count the ways CTV suppliers are embracing programmatic buying.
11.02.2023
Commerce Media Flywheel - E267
As Omnicom’s $835 million acquisition of commerce specialists Flywheel Digital attests, commerce media is flush. Then, why the most sophisticated and data-rich programmatic marketers are intrigued by custom algorithms.
10.26.2023
Simmering Frustrations In Publisher Land - E266
The impact of tech on monetization – from SPO sustainability initiatives to the looming end of the cookie and the challenges of implementing its replacements – has publishers feeling jaded. Plus, for retail media fans: inside the Pantry Wars.
10.19.2023
The Sorta SSP - E265
Yahoo Backstage is a “sorta SSP” that’s emblematic of a larger SPO trend that hops over either DSPs or SSPs. Plus: a primer on the ecommerce ad metrics and tools that are changing how marketers buy digitally, from ACOS...
10.13.2023
The FTC Is Keeping An Eye On AI
Scam ads featuring AI-generated celebrities are catching the FTC’s attention. Hear what the creator economy fears about generative AI. Plus: the latest on the US v. Google trial.
10.06.2023
Google’s Quarter-Life Crisis - E263
Does Google have a monopoly on search? The trial to answer that question is underway, and we go through the juiciest highlights.
09.29.2023
The One With The Programmatic IO Recap - E262
The AdExchanger editorial team recaps what we learned in data privacy, retail media and connected TV at this year’s Programmatic IO.
09.21.2023
Quitting Over The Trust Deficit - E261
The widening “trust gap” between consumers and the ad industry is enough to make a chief privacy officer quit. So Arielle Garcia did. She explains why.
09.18.2023
Solving The Advertising Puzzle With New York Times’ Joy Robins
At The New York Times, paying subscribers come first – an approach that works on advertising side, too. Hear from newly appointed Chief Advertising Officer Joy Robins, who believes that when media has gone astray, it’s because publications didn’t put...
09.14.2023
Why MMM Is Back In Fashion - E260
Media mix modeling is back in fashion. Meta, Amazon and Google are finding ways for marketers to measure the effectiveness of their entire advertising spend. Should we trust them?
09.07.2023
No Reason For Negativity - E259
While everyone feared the worst for the ad ecosystem in 2023, Q4 will finish out with 8% growth. Madison and Wall analyst Brian Wieser explains why he sees green shoots of growth across the industry.
08.24.2023
Grownup Ads Have Infiltrated Kids’ Spaces On YouTube - E258
Personalized ads aren’t supposed to run on YouTube’s kid-focused content. But they’re showing up anyway. We bring on Adalytics researcher Krzysztof Franaszek to discuss his growing body of research into YouTube’s murky ad practices.
08.17.2023
The Squeeze on Streaming - E257
Streamers are raising prices amid a challenging environment to win subscribers. Plus: what big changes in data privacy and portability in Europe mean for ad tech.
08.10.2023
New Beginnings
Is the ad tech freeze starting to thaw? The tides may be changing after a private equity firm bought Cadent for $600 million this week. Plus: Programmatic ads hit the big screen, brought to you by National CineMedia.
08.03.2023
We’re Going On A Treasure Hunt
Why DoubleVerify is acquiring Scibids. Plus: How the ascent of YouTube TV has led to CTV advertisers landing premium inventory for a song.
07.27.2023
The Downstream Effects Of MediaMath Bankruptcy - E254
Publishers are feeling the ripple effects from MediaMath’s bankruptcy, as SSPs claw back media spend. Plus, Twitter rebrands to X.
07.20.2023
YouTube’s Proclivity For The Opaque - E253
We dive into the muck that is YouTube’s partner network. Plus, how that lack of transparency relates to its burgeoning YouTube TV supply.
07.13.2023
MediaMath’s Bankruptcy Fallout - E252
Get the inside baseball on MediaMath’s bankruptcy. Plus,what its demise means for the rest of ad tech.
06.29.2023
Just Give Me Transparency, Already - E251
Why retail media is going in-house. Plus, Prebid.org’s latest update addresses three biggies: SPO, data privacy and the end of third-party cookies:
06.22.2023
Candid Cannes - E250
"How did they let us into this thing?" After a week at the Cannes Lions, Sarah and Allison share what they learned from advertising's networking festival, set against the backdrop of White Lotus and Below Deck.
06.15.2023
The AI Gold Rush - E249
Everyone is infusing their tech with generative AI, from startups to Salesforce to Google. Understand the throughlines of these product updates. Plus, the challenge of finding publisher playmates in the Privacy Sandbox
06.08.2023
Trouble In The Twitterverse - E248
Twitter ad revenue is down, brand safety is MIA and the product appears to be breaking. As newly appointed Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino starts her first week on the job, can she engineer a turnaround? Plus: the launch of...
06.01.2023
GDPR Turns Five - E247
Happy birthday, GDPR! On this week’s episode, we dissect how GDPR, now five years old – and a few billion dollars accumulated in fines – has affected the online economy. We also dissect the end of AddThis, a third-party...
05.25.2023
TV Progress Under Pressure - E246
From a data-fueled TV upfronts to recent changes in streaming pricing, ad load and bundles, the TV industry is making progress under pressure. Plus: Google’s third-party cookieless plan and new AI features.
05.19.2023
Ad Tech’s Big Bets - E245
Where does ad tech see future growth? And where do expanding areas like retail media, privacy tech and connected TV need a reality check? Listen in to hear both cases as the editorial team recaps the Programmatic IO conference.
05.11.2023
SPO Spring Cleaning - E244
Cutting out hops in the supply chain means skipping over a DSP or an SSP – especially for video inventory. Plus, inside Cadent’s bid for bankrupt SSP EMX.
05.04.2023
Wait For Consent - E243
If you thought ad tech was technically tricky, listen to this saga, in which too-short timeouts in an identity wrapper put publishers in peril.
04.28.2023
Hey, Meta – Where’s My Refund? - E242
With a mostly silent response to marketer outrage after an outage, Meta has lost the pulse of its customer base. Plus: the tricky yet worthwhile challenge of targeted health care marketing.
04.20.2023
The Case For Digital Out-Of-Home - E241
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is growing, but it’s still the minority of the market, and programmatic is just a fraction. Learn what’s accelerating the industry’s transition to digital and programmatic and what’s holding it back.

What's The Big Story about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Big Story episodes:

Retreat To MMM

Hidden Made-For-Advertising (MFA) - E288

Ad Tech’s Performance Review

Bot Or Not?

Goodbye, Outstream: The Digital Video Classification Shakeup - E285

MFA: The A Is For Arbitrage … And Adalytics - E284

Privacy Sandbox Isn’t Passing The Test - E283

When Generative AI Makes The Ad

When Walled Gardens Collide - E281

The Temu Bowl - E280

Finding Holes In The Privacy Sandbox - E279

The Stages Of Cookie Grief - E278

Personalization Put-Offs - E277

Programmatic Excess, From Bid Duplication To VideoAmp’s Reckoning - E276

Streaming Services Take On CES - E275

The Cookieless Expanse Ahead - E274

Recapping The Year In SPO And Data Privacy

The Alternative Currency Slowdown - E272

Programmatic Fog - E271

The Dark Corners Of Google Search - E270

The Big Story: The Specialists Are Back - E269

Ad Tech Report Card - E268

Commerce Media Flywheel - E267

Simmering Frustrations In Publisher Land - E266

The Sorta SSP - E265

The FTC Is Keeping An Eye On AI

Google’s Quarter-Life Crisis - E263

The One With The Programmatic IO Recap - E262

Quitting Over The Trust Deficit - E261

Solving The Advertising Puzzle With New York Times’ Joy Robins

Why MMM Is Back In Fashion - E260

No Reason For Negativity - E259

Grownup Ads Have Infiltrated Kids’ Spaces On YouTube - E258

The Squeeze on Streaming - E257

New Beginnings

We’re Going On A Treasure Hunt

The Downstream Effects Of MediaMath Bankruptcy - E254

YouTube’s Proclivity For The Opaque - E253

MediaMath’s Bankruptcy Fallout - E252

Just Give Me Transparency, Already - E251

Candid Cannes - E250

The AI Gold Rush - E249

Trouble In The Twitterverse - E248

GDPR Turns Five - E247

TV Progress Under Pressure - E246

Ad Tech’s Big Bets - E245

SPO Spring Cleaning - E244

Wait For Consent - E243

Hey, Meta – Where’s My Refund? - E242

The Case For Digital Out-Of-Home - E241