Ciaran O'Kane is back at his sketchpad, and this week he's focussing on how the retail media market could develop into a two-tier system. Retail media is going to be huge. All online grocery platforms are building a strategy around how [...]

The MadTech Sketch is back. This week Ciaran O'Kane has turned his attention to the nascent world of Web3, and in particular what NFTs and blockchain tech can really do for brands and advertisers. Web3 has always struggled with real-world [...]

In this week’s Madtech Sketch, Ciarán O'Kane outlines a looming battle between SSPs and DSPs. There was a lot of drama around the first anniversary of The Trade Desk’s (TTD) supply path optimisation (SPO) product, OpenPath. OpenPath has been positioned as [...]

The MadTech Sketch is back, and this time Ciarán O’Kane has turned his attention to Google’s Performance Max. The use of “AI” in digital ad buying has moved up a few gears of late. Google is leading the charge with its [...]

On today's MadTech Sketch, Ciaran O'Kane maps out the concept of the No Data Zone, or NDZ, and what it means for the ad tech ecosystem. Ad tech will have you believe that programmatic is putting the right message in front [...]

Following on from last week’s MadTechSketch, Ciaran O’Kane dives a little bit deeper on the “utility publishers” category that is becoming a mainstay of commerce media. Typically a utility publisher is a service not reliant on advertising as the primary revenue [...]

In this week's MadTech Sketch, Ciarán O'Kane outlines the complexity of the Commerce Media ad ecosystem and gives an overview of the demand underpinning this media segment.   The Commerce Media ad ecosystem is complex. From attribution to native ad platforms to clean [...]

In our latest MadTech Sketch, Ciarán O’Kane imagines how TrustPID might work and the inevitable problems it will face. Many have tried; most have failed. Telcos have an exceptionally bad track record in ad tech.  From AT&T to Singtel to Verizon, [...]

Ciaran O'Kane's latest MadTech Sketch looks at three 'what if' scenarios in the event of Google being forced into a sell-side ad tech/ad network spin-off. Much has been written about the DOJ suing Google over anti-competitive activity in the ad tech [...]

In this week's MadTech Sketch, Ciarán O'Kane turns his attention to AI, and how new tech can evolve programmatic creative and aid campaign execution. Much has been written about the magic capabilities of ChatGPT since it was released into the wild [...]