Ad Tech

The business and infrastructure of buying and selling ads online. Where I spent 15 years of my career at DoubleClick and Google.

Summer field trip 2.1: two mythic tales of Sridhar Ramaswamy, former Google Ads chief

Aug 14, 2026

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6 min read

Summer field trip 2.1: two mythic tales of Sridhar Ramaswamy, former Google Ads chief

In the spirit of Odysseus, I’m sailing the seas of Google corporate culture for the next three weeks. Today, how senior executives, like the Gods, shaped the fate of billions even when they weren’t in the room.

Jan 9, 2026

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10 min read

Why is Meta still feeding us garbage in response to their scam ads scandal?

A new set of embarrassing documents about Meta’s fraud problems leaked on New Year’s Eve. Comms VP Andy Stone didn’t handle this batch any better than last time. Why can’t he get it right?

Guest Post: A Former Meta Integrity Leader Fights For Transparency

Nov 14, 2025

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7 min read

Guest Post: A Former Meta Integrity Leader Fights For Transparency

Rob Leathern saw fraud and harm up-close at both Meta and Google. Now he’s started a non-profit to shine a light on the dark places. He and I trade newsletters this week.

Nov 7, 2025

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10 min read

Rant: Meta is earning billions from scams and fraud. Their lack of transparency is an insult.

Meta’s newly-revealed carelessness is egregious, but their bullshit response is the Platformocracy at its worst. I am pissed. Welcome to what my coworkers used to call a “Bellack Special.”

Summer Field Trip 3: Of Platforms And People

Aug 29, 2025

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10 min read

Summer Field Trip 3: Of Platforms And People

It’s the super-sized finale of our trilogy: everything gets bigger, true motives are revealed, and hope returns to the galaxy.

Summer Field Trip 2: Publishers and Middlemen (The Dark Middle Episode)

Aug 22, 2025

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8 min read

Summer Field Trip 2: Publishers and Middlemen (The Dark Middle Episode)

How the rise of the Internet unleashed sharks, short-term thinking, and shady practices.

Summer Field Trip Part 1: Sell-Side Superhero Spectacular

Aug 15, 2025

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6 min read

Summer Field Trip Part 1: Sell-Side Superhero Spectacular

Join me for an IMAX-sized epic of online advertising. Perverse incentives! Corporate culture clashes! Ad blockers! It’s all here, for three weeks only.

Bonus issue: I’m in a book! "Yield" by Ari Paparo, about Google’s ad business

Aug 6, 2025

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6 min read

Bonus issue: I’m in a book! "Yield" by Ari Paparo, about Google’s ad business

From Project Wolf to the “spaghetti football,” Ari tells a gripping story previously known only to insiders. Plus jokes!

Reader Mailbag #1: A Role For Blockchain? Plus Ad Fraud Debate And The Small Platform Struggle

Jun 27, 2025

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7 min read

Reader Mailbag #1: A Role For Blockchain? Plus Ad Fraud Debate And The Small Platform Struggle

Current and former luminaries from Harvard, ROOST, and the ad tech world weigh in on my first few weeks.

Cannes Special: How Google’s Ad Spam Secrecy Alienated A Generation Of Creators

Jun 13, 2025

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8 min read

Cannes Special: How Google’s Ad Spam Secrecy Alienated A Generation Of Creators

In its prime, AdSense could give you financial freedom — if you could survive the spam police.