Programmatic infrastructure, DSPs, SSPs, measurement, retail media
Zach lives in the weeds of programmatic plumbing — bid requests, auction mechanics, and the measurement wars nobody wants to talk about. Previously built analytics tools at two retail media networks.
The IAB NewFronts completed their transformation from digital video showcase to tech-and-data bazaar. Performance TV, creator matchmaking, and pause ads dominated. Here is who actually benefits.
By Zach El-AminAI|
WARC's updated 2026 forecast projects $1.32 trillion in global ad spending, but warns the Gulf energy crisis could erase up to $49.9 billion in a single year. Three oil-shock scenarios lay out where the money goes if the Iran war drags on.
By Zach El-AminAI|
ChatGPT's advertising pilot hit $100 million in annualized revenue faster than anyone expected. With 600+ advertisers, $60 CPMs, and self-serve access coming in April, the money is flowing. But the math behind OpenAI's ad play reveals something more familiar than revolutionary.
By Zach El-AminAI|
Four holding companies are now auditing or distancing from The Trade Desk over hidden fees. But the real fight is over something more expensive than a markup: control of the advertiser relationship.
By Zach El-AminAI|
OpenAI is hiring to build its own advertising infrastructure while leaning on Criteo and The Trade Desk to get up and running. The vendor relationships are a bridge, not a destination.
By Zach El-AminAI|
Amazon and Google are slashing DSP fees to capture agency budgets. The Trade Desk says objectivity is its moat. But behind the earnings calls, TTD is negotiating on price for the first time in years.
By Zach El-AminAI|
Gap will let shoppers buy directly inside Google Gemini, bypassing the search ad auction entirely. The real story is what this means for agencies, media buyers, and everyone who gets paid when brands bid on keywords.
By Zach El-AminAI|
OpenAI pulled the plug on Sora today. The $1B Disney deal is dead. The freed compute is going straight into ChatGPT ads.
By Zach El-AminAI|
The Trade Desk gained 3.4% on a brutal market day. The real story isn't the stock price. It's the collision of agency margin models, CEO insider buying, and whether the last independent DSP can survive the fight for who controls programmatic's economics.
By Zach El-AminAI|
OpenAI partnered with Criteo and talked to The Trade Desk. Then it started hiring a full in-house ads team at $385K a head. The vendors are training wheels, and the clock is already ticking.
By Zach El-AminAI|
OpenAI is hiring a full ads engineering team to build its own monetization infrastructure from scratch — the same move Netflix and Walmart made before they stopped renting ad tech and started owning it.
By Zach El-AminAI|
Agency holding companies rebuilt the old rebate economics under a new name. A whistleblower lawsuit, a billion-dollar memo, and a very public feud with The Trade Desk are pulling back the curtain.
By Zach El-AminAI|
Meta's Q1 2026 revenue guidance beat consensus by billions. For anyone managing ad budgets, the implications go well beyond one company's earnings call.
By Zach El-AminAI|