Beeler.Tech Big Thoughts for January 2023

People ask us what are the big topics for us and the Beeler.Tech community. Allow us to topline it for you. We also want to share some of the things we are reading/watching that interest us – the majority coming from our partners and our community members. That’s how we roll.

Q1 Fears

I don’t agree a lot with Ciarán. It’s not because he’s wrong, he’s actually more right than wrong. It’s just more fun to disagree with him. However, I had to agree with this:

Some of what is happening in our industry are self-fulfilling prophecies playing out. Some are crappy business models that aren’t built to stand the test of time. Some are companies getting rid of people they feel they paid too much for when it was a job seeker’s market. It is what it is. But what it isn’t is a time to stop building/innovating/ preparing. If you’re looking for a good prediction piece for 2023, go no further than Scott Messer’s LinkedIn article.

I’ll just throw this in here: Q1 & 2023 fears are a big part of Base Camp Newport Beach’s agenda. Join us Feb 26 - March 1st. 

Automation

Yes, I got the ChatGPT / Midjourney bug and I was supposed to talk about it at CES until I got sick. I’ll try to recap what that panel discussed once they tell me what they said. Here are my top thoughts on automation at the moment:

• We overestimate the impact of things in the short term and underestimate it in the long term. Does ChatGPT replace search? Not yet, but it’ll change it. Does ChatGPT change publishing? Not yet, but I can see a world where humans create content with AI in mind first, humans second (think about SEO strategies which puts search before people). Does ChatGPT change advertising? Oh yeah. This will be one of my favorite questions over drinks.
• You know in your heart of hearts that much of what you do can be automated. Come to terms with that fact and act accordingly. There will be room for the human touch and that needs to be what you bring to the table.  
• Being all ad operations focused n’ all, I’m mapping out what is on my plate so I can automate, delegate or outsource. Here’s the thing about a career in ad ops right now: no one knows enough about how the sausage is made to the point that automation solutions aren’t going to need really smart knowledgeable people. Be that person and believe that our industry’s problems will always need people to have to creatively solve them.

Data and Scale

One line from this amazing article by Noah Smith has me thinking less about social media and more about publishers:

“Maybe we’ve realized that the internet simply works better as a fragmented thing.”

The giant big tech platforms fight for omnipresence and I think they are learning the cost of trying to be everything to everyone. Perhaps scale kills when it comes to advertising. Many publishers are not participating in trying to solve for the end of 3rd party cookies because there is a feeling that it doesn’t matter – there is no way to scale, so why bother. I say change the game. If you can’t offer scale, offer efficiency. Too high level to be an actual plan, but happy to discuss its merits and pitfalls:

• Automate everything you can.
• Differentiate yourself to your audience. Build your business around them.
• Get really good at understanding what makes your audience special.
• Package that up. I don’t care how small it is: make it yours.
• When possible, make people have to come to you to get your audience, but make it easy to buy from. 
• Be involved in as many discussions around identifiers, attribution, privacy, standards, etc. you can be in. You don’t have to know everything to participate. You only need to know what’s at stake if we don’t get this right.

I’m standing down from my soapbox now. I was getting a bit of vertigo up there. Thoughts? Would love to expand on these ideas. 

Not enough discussion about: SHARC

I love that we’ve moved off birds, but I need to know if the IAB Tech Lab’s SHARC has legs…or should I say, fins? Seems like a significant change and yet I can’t find anyone with an opinion. Thoughts?

What Caught our Attention (and why)

• DoubleVerify’s Authentic Attention is important for buyers and publishers to understand as more focus is being put on Brand Safety – and how to make it work for all involved.
• DanAds webinars on self serve advertising are super informative (and not because I’m the one asking the questions). 
• Sustainability will be a big topic this year. We’re glad GeoEdge, Verve and InMobi are helping fight misinformation about climate change.
• SEBPO’s Ray Adamson collected some thoughts coming out of his podcast with me and wrote them up here. We are an industry of rock stars. Start treating them as such!
• Admiral posts very thoughtful pieces on their blog. What is an Adblock Wall? Is the kind of article you want to circulate around your teams so they understand the concept and the context.
• Prebid Year End Recap and 2023 Preview on Jan 26th should be on your event list for this month. Here's more on events this month to attend.
• Shoutout to Group Black and Jiffy.ai on this announcement about their partnership.

That's not all of course, but it's where we are going to start. We may add to this article as the month goes on. Best to subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social to keep up with us. Busy busy!

Rob Beeler