ADOTAT

Is the adtech ndustry a theater where most people know the play, but play a specific role? Pesach Lattin interviews Alessandro De Zanche This dynamic highlights a cycle of outrage. When scandals arise, we demand transparency. Yet, mere weeks later, the memory fades, and the issues are forgotten. This pattern suggests a performative engagement rather than a genuine commitment to change. If the collective will were truly there to solve these issues, the forgetting would not happen so rapidly. #IndustryDynamics #Transparency #Accountability #SocietalPatterns #Engagement

On July 13, the Media Rating Council dropped one of those quarterly PDFs that six compliance leads open and nobody prints. Buried under "Television" was a single bloodless line: VideoAmp had been removed from in-process status "due to VideoAmp's lack of intent to continue the audit." Translated from bureaucrat: they told the referee to stop mid-inspection and walked off the field. No press release. No explanation. No "here's why," which is exactly the part companies with a good reason cannot wait to tell you. Here's what makes it sting. VideoAmp wasn't built to be vendor number fifteen. Ross McCray started it in 2014 on the premise that the incumbents counting America's eyeballs were, his words, "egregiously misrepresenting the truth." The whole pitch was truth. The honest alternative. And the honest alternative just opted out of the honesty check. Two things the trades got wrong, because the MRC crams a quarter into one file and makes coincidences look like movements: Nielsen did not leave. Its national TV currency is still accredited. What exited was Nielsen One, a specific product, and it left to rebuild its methodology. You don't pay auditors to inspect a kitchen you're mid-renovation on. And VideoAmp didn't lose measurement. It kept the badge handed out by the seller-organized JIC, the folks who profit from a generous count, and returned the one earned by the people paid to be skeptical. Then there's Josh Chasin. He didn't attack alternative currency. He simply pronounced the time of death. And it's hard to argue with the guy who helped build the patient. I like this company. I think Ross McCray is a genuine genius. Which is the whole problem. Something changed between the company he built and the company that quit the audit this month, roughly around when he stepped back from CEO in January 2024. That gap is the story. Below the wall: the real reason VideoAmp walked, in the words of its own former measurability chief. The barrier-to-entry logic that quietly makes independent audits optional the moment a category agrees to skip them. Why the alternative-currency revolution is simply over. And what all of it dumps onto the buyer's desk when "outcomes" becomes the new unscored frontier.

A key concern in AI's application to advertising isn't AI itself, but how we approach it. With Alessandro De Zanche | Audience Monetisation Consultant It's crucial to distinguish AI as a tool from strategy. AI can powerfully support a well-defined strategy, but it cannot replace it. True innovation lies in combining strategic thinking with AI's capabilities. Clips exclusively sponsored by Eric J. Troutman and Troutman Amin LLP How are you ensuring AI serves your strategy, rather than the other way around? #AIStrategy #AdvertisingTech #DigitalMarketing #BusinessStrategy #Innovation

Five sell-side executives lined up to trash The Trade Desk in print. All five did it anonymously. "In exchange for candor," the article said, which is a lovely way of saying nobody wanted their name on the sentence. Alessandro De Zanche read that and did the radical thing. He said it out loud, on the record, with his whole name attached. His thesis: ad tech doesn't have a transparency problem. It has a courage problem. The data's all there. The dashboards work fine. What's missing is anyone willing to stand behind what they actually think when there's a cost to thinking it. So he came on the show and we got into it. Why Jeff Green is an actor, not a villain, and why that distinction matters. Why Andrew Casale saying the quiet part out loud was the entire point, not a gaffe. Commoditization 1.0 versus 2.0, or the story of how premium publishers walked into the casino and personally handed the house their credibility. The diamond dealers who need the sewage to stay in business. And why a hammer beats AI every time, if you haven't fixed the plumbing first. His take that'll annoy the most people: AI is the single most overrated thing in ad tech, and strategy is the most underrated. Self-sustaining media owners aren't a charity case. They're a democracy problem. Also a desert island draft featuring Phil Jackson, Rosalía, the Fonz, and pointedly nobody from this industry. Read into that whatever you like. He did. The man calls things "sewage" and somehow stays on the right side of sharp versus cruel. That's a skill. Most people who talk like that are just being cruel and calling it honesty. Thanks to Troutman Amin LLP and Incremental for backing conversations the industry would rather you have anonymously. Eric J. Troutman Link in comments. Watch the whole thing.

The 'courage gap' in professional discourse is starkly illustrated when industry leaders shy away from public statements. When an ad tech executive faced an article mischaracterizing SSPs as mere resellers, several industry figures anonymously provided counterpoints, yet none were willing to be named. With Alessandro De Zanche This reluctance highlights a missed opportunity for open debate and industry advancement. While Andrew Casale of Index Exchange and Jeff Green of The Trade Desk are both commendable for initiating difficult conversations, the broader industry's reliance on anonymity hinders progress. True leadership requires the courage to voice opinions openly, fostering transparency and driving necessary evolution. Is the industry better served by a figure who forces a conversation, even if contentious, or by those who speak anonymously? The path forward demands more public candor. #Courage #Leadership #AdTech #IndustryInsight #Transparency

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Ever wonder what separates seasoned DTC pros from the newbies? It's all about pattern recognition – that almost magical ability to see what's coming based on past experiences. Think of it as your internal cheat code, learned from playing the game across countless companies. It’s what helps you dodge the rookie mistakes, like thinking Instagram content boosts are a magic bullet for growth. Hint: A solid strategy and persona building are way more important than just pretty ads. Jordan Finger What brilliant patterns have you spotted that saved the day (or the bank account)? #DTCGrowth #StartupTips #MarketingStrategy #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth

📣 "Everybody still files Snap under 'the app my teenager won't let me see,' and that reputation is years out of date and doing real damage to people's media plans." One of the MORE interesting takeaways about Snap Inc. from ADOTAT's latest survey of media buyers. The BIGGEST opportunity 🎯 may be the platform many advertisers still misunderstand.... Read more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g-pgHgZV

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