It’s earnings season in AdTech, and the juice is definitely dripping! Adam and Gareth tackle a jam-packed news cycle, starting with the mess that is Supply Path Optimization (SPO) and why the industry’s "transparency" efforts, like sellers.json and ads.txt, are causing buyers to blindly block legitimate publisher agents.Then, the duo dives into the explosive Digiday whistleblower report exposing the "Carnage" of Principal-Based Buying and the clandestine world of agency rebates. Are advertisers getting played by their own procurement departments? And why is the biggest player in the market conveniently avoiding the mud?Finally, they break down The Trade Desk’s soft earnings guidance. Is TTD in a death spiral, or just returning to earth after years of insane market froth? Adam and Gareth debate how TTD won the DSP wars of 2015 via "bid expressiveness" and whether performance alone is still a big enough moat in the modular, AI-driven landscape of 2026.00:00 Intro: Earnings Season is a Dumpster Fire01:57 The Mess of Supply Path Optimization (SPO)05:25 The History of ads.txt and "Resellers"12:23 News: The Whistleblower & Principal Buying18:02 How Rebates Warp Media Planning22:19 Defending Against Principal Buying25:21 The Bizarre Pricing Inefficiency of CTV30:55 The Logic of DSP Bidding & Valuation37:25 The "Two Markets" of Ad Tech41:50 TTD Earnings: Is The Trade Desk in a Death Spiral?47:28 How Trade Desk Won the Consolidation Wars53:35 Bid Expressiveness: The Original TTD Pitch58:24 Can Open Path Survive the Backlash?
