Quo Vadis: Advertising Economic Forum Podcast

Quo Vadis: Advertising Economic Forum Podcast with Brian Wieser

Episode Summary

In this episode of The Advertising Economic Forum Podcast, Tom talks with two-time guest Brian Wieser about the surprising resilience of the open web, the diverging fortunes of companies like Magnite and PubMatic, and the evolving strategies of brand versus direct-response advertisers.

Episode Notes

💡Takeaways:

• ⚖️ The Open Web is Not Dead: The open web, or open internet, is not a rapidly growing business but remains surprisingly resilient and is not in decline, with a U.S. market value of around $50 billion.
• 🤝 Consolidation is Key: The lack of significant growth in the open web incentivizes companies to consolidate and merge to reduce costs and gain market share with better solutions.
• ⚙️ Go-to-Market Strategy Matters: The success of AdTech companies is not tied to a rising tide; instead, it is driven by effective go-to-market strategies, partnerships, and product elements.
• 🌱 Growth Seeking vs. Loss Aversion: Companies, especially incumbents, often shift from growth-seeking to loss-aversion strategies, focusing on protecting what they have rather than pursuing new growth opportunities.
• 🤖 AI's Role in Advertising: AI is a significant new factor in the market, particularly within the search business and with the rise of chatbots and generative AI.
• 📊 Financials Over Traffic: In the advertising world, the focus is on the financial economics of the market, as money is not necessarily directly related to traffic volume.
• 📈 The Power of Platforms: Walled gardens and other major platforms are expected to continue taking a meaningful share of media spend because marketers trust the identities they get from these platforms.
• 💼 Agencies and Ad Tech are Alike: Core services in both agencies and ad tech are becoming commoditized, making continuous investment in people and processes essential for developing new offerings and staying competitive.

📚Chapters:

Discussion on the Open Web Advertising Market ‎ 2:32

Industry Consolidation and Company Performance ‎ 5:33

Advertiser Behavior Framework ‎ 8:59

The "Last Media Dollar" Game ‎ 14:16

Costco's Retail Media Network ‎ 18:53

Media Industry Consolidation News ‎ 25:05

S4 Capital and Final Thoughts ‎ 29:07

🎙 Guest: Brian Wieser

🎤 Host: Tom Triscari

📺 Sponsors:  Yahoo! &  DoubleVerify