Tag Archives: adtech

Paywalled, but interesting article at New York Times today on Renee DiResta’s work on peer-to-peer disinformation and how social media can be gamed to lead one into an echo chamber where vaccines can cause autism, planes distribute chemicals via chemtrails, … Continue reading →

Posted on Monday, 13 November 2017 1:30 pm by markpilip | Comments Off on Peer-to-Peer Disinformation

“Guessing is a Dumb Man’s Job”

Posted on Sunday, 15 October 2017 8:30 am by markpilip

I was watching a Richard Feynman lecture from 1964, during which he described the scientific process. As usual, he did it in a way that even I could understand. Tell me if, in the next roughly 32 seconds of this … Continue reading →

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Ads.txt: Cui bono?

Posted on Thursday, 5 October 2017 8:27 am by markpilip

Ads.txt is not the answer to solving the widespread problem of fraud in the digital marketing ecosystem, but it’s a small step in the right direction. I was glad to hear that MediaMath announced that it will begin rapidly rolling out … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, digital marketing, fraud, Media | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Ads.txt: Cui bono?

Go “Out There” For Education

Posted on Thursday, 28 September 2017 8:58 am by markpilip

Does your company have an internal education system? You probably go there once a year or quarter for the compliance training, and not much else. It probably has some nice introductory music, cute little branded cartoons, and has scored quizzes at … Continue reading →

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How Many Tracking Pixels to Screw in a Light Bulb?

Posted on Friday, 4 August 2017 11:59 am by markpilip

I turned on WordPress’s WordAds on this blog a couple of days ago. It takes a couple of days for the ad tech ecosystem to smell the fresh blood, but as of this morning, there are 66 tracking pixels firing … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, digital marketing, Marketing, Media, Privacy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on How Many Tracking Pixels to Screw in a Light Bulb?

Fake News Root Cause: Digital Advertisers

Posted on Wednesday, 10 May 2017 9:32 am by markpilip

Somewhere in our rush to use digital media, we got obsessed with reach and the size of audiences (the magic word again) and impressions. We got taken for a ride by the ad tech industry hucksters, who built an almost-perfect money-making machine on top of fake inventory created on phony websites. Continue reading →

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AdTech Beware: The Rise of the Sophisticated Buyer

Posted on Tuesday, 18 April 2017 7:30 am by markpilip

The sophisticated advertising buyer will be the death of ad tech. Using ad tech by itself doesn’t make you a sophisticated buyer. Continue reading →

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Fairy Tale: “Ads We Want to See”

Posted on Wednesday, 8 March 2017 8:57 am by markpilip

One of the biggest fantasies shared by digital marketers and advertising technology providers is that people want to see ads. The problem isn’t them, it’s us. If only we installed more technology (and chipped away at privacy a little more), we’d … Continue reading →

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Buying Audiences, Getting Worked

Posted on Tuesday, 6 December 2016 9:59 am by markpilip

I thought the modern age of non-intrusive advertising was supposed to give me only the relevant ads I wanted to see, lovingly presented to me by some perfect algorithm hand-crafted in a loft in SoHO? Ta-da–you’ve just seen what happens when you get stuffed into an “audience.” Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Strategy, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gaming AdTech: Easier Than Go Fish

Posted on Sunday, 27 November 2016 9:27 am by markpilip

How easy is it to game the AdTech ecosystem and steal–yes, steal–money from advertisers? Incredibly easy. The sad thing is that very few players in the industry care enough to do anything about it. Continue reading →

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