AI Agents and Ad Arbitrage Resurface in Programmatic Advertising

Resources

Books

• "The Godfather of Adtech" - Mentioned in relation to Brian O'Kelly, CEO of Scope 3, and his theatrical display illustrating the chaos of the programmatic ad ecosystem.

Research & Studies

• ANA Transparency Report (2017/2018) - This report highlighted issues of transparency in advertising and drove significant attention to ad arbitrage concerns.

Articles & Papers

• "Business Insider reported on former WPP media executive Richard Foster filing a lawsuit against WPP alleging that he was fired for getting vocal about WPP media formerly Group M having a whole agency kickback program" - This article is cited as an example of ongoing issues with agency kickbacks and kickback programs within the industry.
• "Business Insider reported on this the of like Meta's Advantage Plus program which is its AI ad creation platform product" - This report detailed how Meta's Advantage Plus program was creating unexpected ad creative for brands, often due to un-disabled toggles.
• "Ari Paparo had blog posts that he published recently where he weighed in on and on AdCP" - Ari Paparo's blog posts offered commentary on the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), including both positive aspects and criticisms regarding data vulnerability.

People Mentioned

• Josh Shell (Paramount Executive) - Mentioned for making a statement on Paramount's earnings call about hiring Publicis and IPG for marketing, which also involved them serving as ad sellers.
• Brian O'Kelly (CEO of Scope 3) - Referred to as "the godfather of adtech" and described his theatrical display at a previous summit illustrating the chaotic nature of the programmatic ad ecosystem.
• Richard Foster (Former WPP Media Executive) - Filed a lawsuit against WPP alleging he was fired for speaking out about kickback programs at WPP Media (formerly Group M).
• Michael Burgi - Previously appeared on the podcast to discuss agency holding companies seeking new revenue streams.
• Sarah Waglioni - Authored an explainer on Digiday about the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Ari Paparo - Published blog posts weighing in on the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), offering both praise and criticism.
• George Bush - Quoted with the phrase "Fool me once, fool me twice, can't get fooled again" in the context of the industry potentially repeating past mistakes.

Organizations & Institutions

• Publicis - Mentioned as having been hired by Paramount for marketing and also serving as ad sellers for Paramount.
• IPG - Mentioned as having been hired by Paramount for marketing and also serving as ad sellers for Paramount.
• Paramount - Discussed in relation to its earnings call where executives mentioned hiring Publicis and IPG for marketing and ad sales.
• Skydance - Mentioned in conjunction with Paramount's earnings call.
• WPP - Mentioned in relation to Richard Foster's lawsuit and the "whole agency kickback program" at WPP Media (formerly Group M).
• Group M - Formerly WPP Media, mentioned in relation to Richard Foster's lawsuit and alleged kickback programs.
• Meta - Discussed in relation to its Advantage Plus program and AI-generated ad creative.
• True Classic - A brand that reportedly experienced issues with Meta's Advantage Plus program creating unintended ad creative.
• Caruna - A European shoe brand that reportedly experienced issues with Meta's Advantage Plus program creating unintended ad creative.
• Electric - An e-bike company that reportedly experienced issues with Meta's Advantage Plus program creating unintended ad creative.
• IAB Tech Lab - Unveiled the Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF) and is presenting it at the Digital Programmatic Marketing Summit (DPMS).
• Yahoo - One of the parties behind the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Pubmatic - One of the parties behind the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Scope 3 - One of the parties behind the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), with its CEO being Brian O'Kelly.
• Optable - One of the parties behind the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Swivel - One of the parties behind the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Triton Digital - One of the parties behind the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Immediate Media - Mentioned as having its revenue operations lead state that cleaning up data was a priority for the next year.
• OpenX - Noted as a company not currently backing the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Index Exchange - Noted as a company not currently backing the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP).
• Amazon - Mentioned as having announced its ads agent and also as not being a supporter of AdCP.
• Google - Mentioned as having announced its Ads Advisor and Analytics Advisor, and as not being a supporter of AdCP.
• OpenAI - Mentioned as a company that will likely move into the ad space with AI agents.

Tools & Software

• Amazon Ads Agent - An AI agent announced by Amazon for advertising.
• Google Ads Advisor - An AI chatbot from Google for advertising.
• Google Analytics Advisor - An AI chatbot from Google for analytics.
• Meta's Advantage Plus Program - An AI ad creation platform product from Meta.
• ChatGPT - An example of an AI chatbot used in discussion about AI agent response times.
• Gemini - An example of an AI chatbot used in discussion about AI agent response times.
• Claude - An example of an AI chatbot used in discussion about AI agent response times.

Courses & Educational Resources

• Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF) - A new specification from IAB Tech Lab for enabling AI agents to participate in the programmatic bid stream.
• Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) - A new proposed standard for AI agents to interact with existing advertising tools.
• Model Context Protocol (MCP) - The fundamental layer upon which AdCP is built, creating a communication layer for AI agents.

Websites & Online Resources

• Digiday - The publication hosting the podcast and where related articles are published.
• Digiday.com - Where Seb Joseph's story about the Paramount/Publicis/IPG situation will be published.
• Apple Podcasts - Where listeners can write comments and leave reviews for the podcast.

Other Resources

• Ad arbitrage - A business practice discussed extensively in the episode, particularly concerning agencies representing media companies.
• AI agents - A central theme of the episode, discussing their role, capabilities, and the need for guardrails.
• Programmatic ad auction - The process discussed in relation to the Agentic RTB Framework and its speed.
• Containerization - A process within the Agentic RTB Framework aimed at speeding up AI agent participation in the bid stream.
• Prompt engineers - A role discussed in the context of AI tools and the potential for prompt engineering to become a required skill for many.
• Brand safety - A concern raised regarding AI agents and potential messes or issues they might create.
• Data quality - A critical factor for AI agents, with publishers currently working to improve the substance and cleanliness of their data.
• Opaque fees - A long-standing issue in the ad industry that could persist with new protocols if data quality is not addressed.
• Fuzzy supply chains - A long-standing issue in the ad industry that could persist with new protocols if data quality is not addressed.
• Fraud risk - A long-standing issue in the ad industry that could persist with new protocols if data quality is not addressed.
• Walled gardens - Mentioned in the context of large tech companies potentially building their own systems for AI agents.
• Principle of least privilege - A security principle discussed in relation to AI agents, ensuring they only have the power necessary for their tasks.
• Bignets - A type of food mentioned as something to discuss programmatic topics over at the IAB Programmatic Marketing Summit.