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ADOTAT

The publication of record for advertisers

Independent reporting on advertising, media and marketing

The industry describes itself. We read the filings.

ADOTAT covers ad tech fraud, programmatic economics and the holding companies that move the money. We take what companies say about themselves and check it against their contracts, SEC filings, invoices and court records.

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Ten beats, one question: who is getting paid
ProgrammaticFee stacks, take rates, supply paths
CTV and streamingInventory, identity, measurement
Retail mediaClosed loops and self-graded results
MeasurementCurrencies, accreditation, audits
Ad fraudWho catches it, who bills for it
Brand safetyVerification and its conflicts
Holding companiesPrincipal media, rebates, structure
Privacy and identityIDs, blocklists, consent
AI in advertisingAgents, outcomes, claims
PublishersYield, traffic, survival

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Recent stories from ADOTAT

  1. Breaking: Google Certified Discover-Tech for Six Years. Its Ads Hacked Al Jazeera.
  2. Discord's Ad Chief Lists Three Exits. FaZe Clan Went for $17 Million.
  3. IAS and DoubleVerify Sell Independence. Neither Sale Needed Your Signature.
  4. Unmeasured: Nielsen Sells DoubleVerify as Independence. Its Contract Lets It Refuse a Firewall.
  5. The Trade Desk and Magnite Sold the Same Independence. Only One Is Repricing Its Options.
  6. GumGum Calls Itself The Mindset Company. Katy Loria Has to Make It Pay.
  7. Tuesday Thread: MediaSense Says Clients Must Understand Agency Margins. They "Can Ask But May Not Get."
  8. Lisa Kopp Johnson Sells DeepIntent as Privacy-First. Its Audience FAQ Still Lists IQVIA.
  9. Lauren Benedict Sells Roku as TV's Front Door. Fox Is Buying the House for $22 Billion.
  10. Rita Ferro Sold Out Disney's First Super Bowl in 20 Years. Its Streaming Ad Rates Are Falling.
  11. Megan Ramm Built Uber's Ad Sales Machine. PubMatic Needs It to Sell Past Three Buyers.
  12. IAS Sells Independence. Its $1 Billion Loan Gets Paid Out of Client Fees.
  13. MediaSense Picks Agencies for a Living. Ryan Kangisser Says Ignore the Demo.
  14. Wire & File: TikTok Shrank Its Ban List. Apple Hid Its Own. Walmart, Best Buy And pubX Graded Themselves.
  15. Mary Ann Belliveau Built Reddit's $1 Billion Sales Machine. Snap Needs Another.
  16. ID5 Calls Its Signals Consented. Apple Blocked It Anyway, for Good.
  17. Cox Pitched "Reserved" Bulldogs Game Ads. Georgia's Rights Holder Says It Gave No Authorization.
  18. Tuesday Thread: IAS Said It Wouldn't Mark Its Own Homework. It Now Owns the Ad Server Viant Runs On.
  19. Unmeasured: CIMM Gave TV Currency 18 Months To Get Its Act Together. Including Itself.
  20. WSJ Asked The ROI Of Brand Raves. It Printed Zero ROI Returns.
  21. Wire & File: Apple Wrote The Trade Desk's Rules. A Jury Wrote Meta's. Dailymotion Wrote A New Name.
  22. Blackburn and Blumenthal Called It a Crime Pipeline. TAG Says They Skipped the Meeting.
  23. Amazon Promised Full Control. Its Agent Won't Let You Pick An Audience.
  24. Thursday Field Kit: Zeta Says It Claws Back CSAM Money. Your Contract Doesn't Say You Can.
  25. AdTech Promised Zero Tolerance for CSAM. And Most Did Nothing
  26. Unmeasured: The JIC Calls It "How a Number Is Made." The 672 Test Results Went To Members.
  27. Tuesday Thread: Viant Says It Measures The Market. It Won't Say How Much Of Its DirecTV Is DirecTV.
  28. Mike Follett Says the Old Farts Were Right About Attention
  29. The Trade Desk Says It's a Platform. It's an Ad Broker.
  30. Wire & File: Everybody Announced A Transformation. The Trade Desk Reset The Options
  31. The Field Kit: Asellus Calls a Client's Sighting Proof. Here Are Seven Questions That Ask for the Paper.
  32. Asellus Sells Ads Inside a Named Team's Live Game. It Won't Say Who Authorized Them.
  33. Unmeasured: Netflix Matched YouTube's 18.5 Million NFL Audience. Nielsen Counted Them Differently.
  34. Tuesday Thread: Tim Vanderhook Wrote The Rule For AI Agents. Eight Experts Say Viant Breaks It.
  35. Wire & File: Roku Grades Roku. Award Shows Grade Award Winners. Everyone Brought A Receipt.
  36. Thursday Field Kit: The Bid Request Says CTV. Nobody Is Required to Check.
  37. AdExchanger Said 60 Days. Problem: Google's Decree Doesn't Exist Yet.
  38. Special Report: Amazon Says No One Paid Over Their Bid. The FTC Says 80% Paid Every Cent.
  39. Omnicom Hears No Client Noise. The ANA Says Many Are On Mars.
  40. Tuesday Thread: IAB TechLab Blames Arrogant Bros for Bidstream Lies
  41. Unmeasured: Samsung Sells The Fix For 41% Duplication. Nobody Owns The Stop Button.
  42. Howard Shimmel: The Currency Is A Dropdown Menu. Nielsen, VideoAmp And Comscore Have Spent Twenty Years Pretending Otherwise.
  43. Wire & File: Everyone Says It's A Competition. WPP, Amazon, Prebid And Meta Are Writing All The Bids.
  44. WPP Wants Foster's Lawyers Fired. Sony Asked Them For A Meeting.
  45. AdTech Plans in Quarters. My Calendar Just Turned 5787.
  46. Thursday Field Kit: The Eight Disclosures Your Agency Owes You Before Every Principal Media Buy
  47. Omnicom's Barter Shop Told Clients Agencies Couldn't Do This. Omnicom Sold It and Built Omnet.
  48. Unmeasured: Samsung Owes $92 Million For ACR Patents Roku Beat Outright
  49. Jared Belsky Took One Rebate, Gave It To 53 Clients, And Won't Say Which Vendor Paid It.
  50. Nothing Without Great Labor. The Trade Desk Cut 575 People Who Supplied It.
  51. Wire & File: Everyone This Week Called It Business As Usual. Their Own Filings Said Otherwise.
  52. Publicis Took Pepsi. WPP Gained Five Percent For Winning Nothing.
  53. Nobody Walks Out of a $4 Billion Pitch. On Wednesday, Publicis Walked Out of Coke's.
  54. Thursday Field Kit: The Questions A Closed-Loop Platform Hopes You Never Send
  55. Publicis Took PepsiCo's Global Media Without A Pitch. Then It Walked Away From Coke.
  56. WPP Is Doing Everything Right. Coke Will Still Leave.
  57. Tuesday Thread: An SSP Kept $20 of a $30 CPM. Ad Tech Held Its Emergency Meeting About Something Else.
  58. Unmeasured: Three Companies Say ACR's Patents Are Expiring. The Oldest One Expired in 2016 and Nothing Happened.
  59. Amazon told advertisers its ads clear at auction. The FTC says Amazon was the other bidder.
  60. IAB Tech Lab Built the Fix for Curated Supply. Nobody Installed It.

Every story in the archive · People we cover · Topics

Recent threads: Verification and Independence · Asellus and Local Sports Streaming · Agency Fees, Rebates and Principal Media · Ad Tech and Child Sexual Abuse Material · MRC Accreditation · Amazon Ads and the FTC · TV Measurement and Currency · Ad Sales Chiefs · Privacy, Identity and Malicious Ads

On the newsletter: The Trade Desk · WPP · Nielsen · Amazon · Measurement · CTV