11 must-listen podcasts for ad tech industry professionals
For advertising aficionados looking to keep their fingers on the pulse of the latest trends and strategies, podcasts have become invaluable resources.
We’ve compiled a curated list of the top ad tech podcasts that promise a wealth of knowledge for both newcomers and industry veterans. With insights from the brightest minds in the business, they’ll help you navigate the complex waters of today’s ad tech landscape.
So, grab your headphones, pick a podcast, and get ready to learn!
AdExchanger Talks
Overview: AdExchanger Talks is an extension of the popular AdExchanger website, providing in-depth discussions on everything related to digital advertising. The episodes feature interviews with experts, innovators, and leaders in the industry.
Why Listen: AdExchanger’s award-winning editorial team, led by senior editor Allison Schiff, dives into topics such as programmatic advertising, data strategies, privacy, and other issues that are hot in digital advertising.
Recommended Episode: Check out their recent episode with the New York Times’ Chief Advertising Officer Joy Robins, who shares her approach to advertising and her advice to publishers—put users first.
The Digiday Podcast
Overview: Digiday’s weekly podcast provides listeners with a candid look at the big stories and issues that matter to brands, agencies, and publishers as they transition to the digital age.
Why Listen: Understand the changing media landscape, from platform changes to the evolving habits of consumers.
Recommended Episode: Hearst Magazines’ Executive Vice President and Global Chief Revenue Officer Lisa Howard discusses the upswing she has seen so far this year in publishing and her predictions for what’s to come in 2024.
Marketing Over Coffee
Overview: Hosted by John J. Wall and Christopher S. Penn, Marketing Over Coffee covers both classic and new marketing topics. They discuss the latest news on subjects such as email marketing, SEO, social networks, copywriting, and more.
Why Listen: Listen for actionable insights and advice, mixed with interviews of marketing legends and listeners’ Q&A.
Recommended Episode: In this episode, Wall and Penn cover multiple topics including upcoming trends for the holiday season, AI productivity, and how iOS 17 will affect tracking links.
Slice of Ad Tech
Overview: Hosted by Blockthrough, Slice of Ad Tech features an in-depth interview with an ad tech veteran in each episode. Discover their journey into ad tech along with their perspectives on monetization strategies, revenue growth, and the future of the industry.
Why Listen: Cover all the big topics in the industry as well as other interesting areas of discussion such as revenue recovery, sustainability, and the landscape of ad blocking.
Recommended Episode: This episode’s guest, Ratko Vidakovic, the founder of AdProfs, dives into the Retail Media Wave, the key challenges he expects for publishers in 2024, and his thoughts on different ad blockers.
The Big Story
Overview: Also brought to you by AdExchanger, The Big Story features a roundtable discussion that offers unique perspectives from different industry experts on the week’s biggest stories in ad tech news.
Why Listen: Stay up-to-date with the latest trends, mergers, controversies, and other news in easily digestible episodes that feature lively discussion.
Recommended Episode: Listen to AdExchanger’s recap of Programmatic I/O in New York to hear key insights from the show, including hot topics like data privacy, retail media, and connected TV.
Blood, Sweat, and CPMs
Overview: Blood, Sweat, and CPMs is presented by Freestar and hosted by their President & CEO, Kurt Donnell. Donnell provides his own tips and interviews different industry leaders to get their opinions on the hottest topics.
Why Listen: Donnell and his guests offer great insights into the world of ad tech that are interesting and entertaining.
Recommended Episode: In episode 46, Donnell interviews Matt Prohaska, CEO and Principal of Prohaska Consulting on publisher traffic trends, how many SSPs are too many, and his top Ad Tech conferences.
Nudge
Overview: Hosted by Phil Agnew, Nudge focuses on consumer psychology and how it can be applied to marketing. Uncover practical advice from entrepreneurs and behavioral scientists that can be applied to your marketing strategy.
Why listen: This is not your typical business podcast. Dive into human behavior and motivations to gain invaluable insights into your customers—and even yourself.
Recommended Episode: In this episode, Agnew discusses rhymes and why they are so compelling for advertising, the science behind them, and their broader implications when it comes to effective communication.
The MadTech Podcast
Overview: ExchangeWire brings you a weekly podcast discussing the convergence of media, advertising, and technology—aka madtech—and the latest trends. Stay informed on topical trends in the ever-expanding madtech space and pick the minds of leaders in the space.
Why Listen: Even though the subjects can be pretty complex, the hosts and guests have a knack for making information accessible to both newcomers and seasoned professionals in the industry.
Recommended Episode: Want to learn more about the data landscape? This episode explores the future of data, especially with the deprecation of third-party cookies looming in the future.
AdTech Heroes
Overview: The AdTech Heroes podcast is presented by Seedtag and offers weekly interviews with experienced leaders in the ad tech space. You can pick the brains of these experts and hear their candid thoughts on different industry subjects.
Why Listen: Listen to insights and advice directly from advertising technology executives that can be applied at your business.
Recommended Episode: In a recent episode, the “AdTech Heroes” deconstructed the Barbie movie and its marketing success, in particular its multi-media approach that was able to activate multiple audiences while staying authentic to the Barbie brand.
Making Sense of Martech
Overview: Making Sense of Martech is hosted by Juan Mendoza and includes interviews with world-class marketers who walk listeners through their career path, challenges they have faced, and their thoughts on different martech topics.
Why Listen: As an extension of The Martech Weekly newsletter, Mendoza goes deeper into the latest topics and shifts in the industry that he thinks you should be paying attention to.
Recommended Episode: Want to dig into privacy in the digital world? Mendoza interviews Shoshana Wodinsky about the ongoing challenge of user privacy and why she dedicated her career to investigating large tech companies and how they track consumers.
How Agencies Thrive
Overview: Hosted by StackAdapt, How Agencies Thrive discusses the challenges faced by agencies and marketers in the dynamic digital landscape. Gain both strategic and tactical advice to not only survive, but thrive in the competitive advertising ecosystem.
Why Listen: Get actionable insights and best practices on using technology to drive customer acquisition and retention.
Recommended Episode: This episode focuses on AI, in particular machine learning, and how it has evolved to be a beneficial asset for programmatic advertising plus the discussion of some potential drawbacks.