Digital Advertising

Podcast: The blandification of marketing (with Adam Singer)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0AC7lwSuD4u0IbxA0Afe8Q?si=8b4a3f546998489c In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Adam Singer about the general trend of brands pivoting their…

September 16, 2025

Agentic commerce is a mirage

In late July, The Information reported that Amazon had begun blocking external chatbots and shopping agents from accessing product listings…

September 3, 2025

Diffusion models for ad creative production

Denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPM), also known as diffusion models, represent an important area of frontier research in machine learning.…

August 25, 2025

Reddit is double-dipping

Reddit reported its Q2 2025 earnings last month: Total revenue increased 78% year-over-year to $500MM, with ad revenue increasing by…

August 20, 2025

Podcast: What is signal engineering? (with Itai Kafri)

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5K6X3AAhjzD8AzV5rWCj5e?si=f6bcc1e7277d4c19 In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Itai Kafri on the topic of signal engineering. Itai is…

August 19, 2025

AI is not the Metaverse

A pervasive narrative frames large-scale investments in AI by the behemoths of digital advertising as speculative, long-term bets with potential…

Book review: Yield (by Ari Paparo)

In April, Google was found in violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by federal judge Leonie…

Alphabet Q2 2025 earnings: 10% growth in AI Overviews queries

Alphabet reported its Q2 2025 earnings this week: Overall advertising revenue of $71.3BN represented year-over-year growth of 10.4%; Search revenue…

Netflix’s advertising pivot is complete

Netflix reported Q2 2025 earnings last week: $11.1BN in revenue (up 16%, year-over-year); Operating profit of $3.8BN for an operating…

Google’s Gambit, Part 3: Consumers embrace AI Mode

Last week, Search Engine Land published data from January to June 2025 related to consumer conversion metrics in Google Search.…