AdTechGod Pod

AdTechGod joins with Gil Sommer, Vice President of Product Management at FreeWheel, to explore how connected TV advertising is evolving as live sports move deeper into streaming. They discuss the technical challenges of advertising at massive scale, contextual targeting, programmatic buying, measurement, advertiser outcomes, and how agentic AI could bring greater automation and precision to direct advertising.

Takeaways:

Live sports are creating new opportunities and technical challenges for CTV advertising.

Contextual targeting can make live ad breaks more relevant to the action viewers just watched.

Programmatic and guaranteed buying are likely to coexist across premium streaming inventory.

Better measurement and standardization could help CTV demonstrate stronger advertiser outcomes.

Agentic AI could bring more automation and precision to direct advertising.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction01:42 Gil Sommer’s Journey Into Ad Tech04:21 How Live Streaming Changes CTV Advertising06:35 Contextual Targeting in Live Sports07:44 Handling Millions of Concurrent Viewers09:25 The Technical Challenges of Live Ad Delivery11:30 Can Live Sports Become Fully Biddable?13:50 Friction Between Advertisers and Publishers15:11 Solving CTV’s Measurement Problem18:49 Moving Ad Budgets From Linear TV to CTV21:11 Does the Ad Tech Ecosystem Need Simplification?23:33 What’s Next for Advertising24:10 Outcomes and the Future of TV Measurement25:05 Agentic AI in Advertising26:25 Closing Thoughts
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AdTechGod is joined by Tanja Mimica, Co-Founder and COO of Kovva, to discuss her journey from building and selling Martin to PubMatic to launching an AI-powered platform for media buyers. Tanja explains how Kovva automates cross-platform operational workflows, what AI could mean for junior media buyers, and why the future of agencies may depend on turning institutional knowledge into intelligence that compounds over time.

Takeaways:

Kovva automates operational workflows across media-buying platforms and productivity tools.

AI could shift media-buying roles toward higher-value work rather than simply eliminating them.

Kovva uses agency knowledge and playbooks to automate workflows within existing processes.

AI can help agencies retain and scale institutional knowledge across teams.

The future may be a “compounding agency” where organizational intelligence improves with every workflow.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction01:09 Tanja’s Journey Into Ad Tech02:07 Building Martin and a New DSP03:37 The Road to PubMatic04:23 From PubMatic to Founding Kovva05:49 Building a Company With Your Co-Founder and Spouse07:19 Why Tanja Built Kovva08:14 How Kovva Automates Media Buying Workflows10:00 Where Kovva Fits Into the Media Buying Process11:01 Playbooks and Agency Knowledge12:29 Will AI Replace Media Buyers?14:19 How Agency Roles Could Change16:12 The AI Adoption Gap18:21 Using AI to Train Junior Media Buyers19:46 Kovva as an Orchestration Layer21:57 What’s Next for Programmatic Advertising22:18 AI and the Future of Agency Operations24:18 Building the “Compounding Agency”25:34 Closing Thoughts
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AdTechGod joins Alistair Hill, CEO and Co-Founder of OnDevice, to explore how advertising measurement has evolved beyond clicks. They discuss brand lift, data quality, incrementality, survey fraud, AI’s growing role in measurement, and why measurement should help improve the next campaign instead of simply reporting what happened.
Takeaways:

Clicks don’t tell the full story of brand advertising effectiveness.

Reliable brand lift depends on accurate exposure data and comparable audience groups.

Data quality is increasingly important as fraud affects survey-based measurement.

AI can turn brand lift data into smarter campaign planning and optimization.

Measurement should be the starting point for improving the next campaign, not just a post-campaign report.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction00:13 Meet Alistair Hill, CEO & Co-Founder of OnDevice01:21 How Alistair Got Into Advertising and Measurement02:11 Why Clicks Were Never Enough04:32 What OnDevice Is Solving in Brand Lift06:12 The Problem With Misleading Measurement Metrics09:59 Has Advertising Measurement Become Too Complicated?11:16 What Good Brand Lift Measurement Looks Like12:20 Data Quality, Survey Fraud and Real Audiences14:40 AI and Machine Learning in Measurement16:52 The Biggest Measurement Challenge Today18:48 The Future of Brand Lift, Outcomes and AI20:54 Why Log-Level Data Matters21:27 Alistair’s Unexpected Excel Love Story22:05 Closing
Guests: AdTech God
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AdTechGod joined Tommy Burton, VP, Global Partnerships at Pacvue, to discuss the evolution of retail media, his experience at Amazon Ads, and how AI and automation are changing commerce. They explore measurement challenges, Amazon Business, agentic shopping, CTV, and what’s next for brands navigating the growing commerce media landscape.

Takeaways:

Retail media remains fragmented across platforms and retailers.

Measurement continues to be a major challenge for brands.

AI is making commerce data easier to access and understand.

Automation helps advertisers save time and improve campaign performance.

Agentic shopping is changing how consumers discover products.

Commerce data is connecting branding, CTV, and performance marketing.

Retail media is evolving toward a more connected commerce ecosystem.

Chapters:00:00 Introduction00:13 Meet Tommy Burton, VP, Global Partnerships at Pacvue01:13 Tommy’s Journey Through Yahoo, AOL and Amazon02:44 Joining Amazon Ads and the Rise of Retail Media04:26 Key Lessons From Building Amazon DSP05:58 From Amazon to Pacvue08:06 What Pacvue Does for Brands and Agencies09:28 Is Retail Media Still in Its Early Stages?11:14 Fragmentation and the Retail Media Measurement Challenge13:09 How Pacvue Is Using AI14:58 Unlocking the B2B Opportunity With Amazon Business17:12 Automation, Reach and Conversion Results19:04 What’s Next for Commerce Media?19:35 Agentic Shopping and the Future of Product Discovery20:24 Connecting Media to the Point of Purchase21:12 CTV, Branding and Performance Marketing23:23 Why Commerce Data Could Break Down Media Silos23:56 Where to Connect With Tommy and Pacvue
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AdTechGod is joined by Bill Condon, Head of Global Advertising Sales at Gracenote, to discuss why content-level transparency is becoming essential in connected TV advertising.

They explore how Gracenote’s content intelligence gives advertisers a clearer picture of where their ads appear, improves brand suitability, and helps identify premium inventory. Bill also discusses the importance of persistent content signals, the rise of truly live sports inventory, Gracenote’s work with The Trade Desk and other programmatic platforms, and what’s next for CTV advertising.

Takeaways:

CTV needs greater transparency: Advertisers need clearer visibility into where their ads actually run.

Content intelligence goes deeper: Gracenote provides detailed signals beyond broad genre categories.

Better brand suitability: Content-level data helps brands choose what to align with or avoid.

Transparency benefits buyers and publishers: Advertisers gain control while premium publishers can better demonstrate their value.

“Live live” matters: More precise signals help distinguish truly live sports from other sports content.

Content signals are becoming essential: Gracenote is bringing its content intelligence into major programmatic platforms.

Outcomes are next: Content intelligence could help improve purchase intent, brand favorability, and campaign performance.

Chapters:00:00 Welcome to the AdTechGod Pod00:13 Introducing Bill Condon of Gracenote01:26 Bill’s Journey to Gracenote03:13 The Convergence of Streaming and Traditional TV03:42 Do Advertisers Really Know Where Their Ads Run?05:17 Why CTV Still Has a Transparency Problem06:40 Gracenote’s Content Intelligence and Metadata08:23 Going Beyond Basic Genre Targeting09:01 Building a Deeper Content Graph10:42 Brand Suitability and Show-Level Signals11:22 Persistent Content Signals Across Platforms13:15 Three Key Use Cases for Content Intelligence14:09 Transparency, CPMs and the True Value of Inventory15:25 Show-Level Reporting and Post-Campaign Validation16:02 How Content Signals Benefit the Sell Side17:55 Why Premium Publishers Benefit From Transparency19:13 Dos Equis, Dentsu and the Power of “Live Live” Sports21:32 Gracenote’s Partnership With The Trade Desk24:02 The Future of Connected TV Advertising25:40 Connecting Content Intelligence to Outcomes26:22 Why Transparency Will Shape the Future of TV Advertising28:39 Closing Thoughts
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