Signal & Noise

Commerce media is exploding—projected to surpass $100B in US ad spend by 2028—but beneath the hype, a harder question is emerging: is this truly incremental growth, or just a rebranded tax on brand dollars?In this episode of Signal & Noise, hosts Rio Longacre and Brett House sit down with Amie Owen, Global Chief Commerce Officer at IPG Mediabrands, to cut through the noise surrounding retail and commerce media.With Amazon and Walmart controlling roughly 80-85% of U.S. retail media spend—and more than 200 retail media networks now live—brands are facing growing fragmentation, opaque measurement, and rising pressure to “pay to play” on the digital shelf.Together, we unpack:- The difference between retail media and commerce media—and why it matters- Why many brands see commerce media as both a growth engine and a brand tax- How closed-loop attribution and deterministic purchase data are reshaping media strategy- Whether retail media is truly incremental—or simply reallocating trade spend- The role of CTV, clean rooms, and commerce signals in the next wave of growth- How agencies can help brands navigate fragmentation, standardization, and measurement chaos- What AI, agentic systems, and commerce data mean for the future of media planningIn a wide-ranging discussion, Amie brings a pragmatic, operator’s perspective—grounded in real client outcomes—on how brands should think about commerce media in 2025 and beyond: where to lean in, where to push back, and how to avoid confusing scale with success.If you’re a CMO, media leader, or brand navigating retail and commerce media today, this episode will help you separate signal from noise.

The Customer Data Platform, or CDP, was supposed to be marketing’s system of record. Instead, it’s become one of the most fragmented—and misunderstood—categories in the stack.In this episode of Signal & Noise, hosts Brett House and Rio Longacre sit down with Matthew Niederberger, Founder of MarTech Therapy, for a candid, practitioner-level conversation about where the CDP market actually stands today—and where it’s headed next.Matthew brings 20+ years of hands-on MarTech experience and a global perspective from working directly with brands across Europe and beyond. Together, the group unpacks why so many CDP initiatives stall, why buyers remain confused despite a decade of “category maturity,” and why analyst frameworks like the Gartner Magic Quadrant are becoming increasingly misaligned with how marketing technology is really bought and used.This isn’t a vendor ranking episode. It’s a reality check.Topics include:Why the CDP category feels both overcrowded and incompletePlatform CDPs vs. composable stacks—and where agentic AI actually fitsThe hidden costs of monolithic ecosystems and switching frictionWhy “data quality” still matters more than architecture diagramsHow regional maturity (especially in Europe) changes buying behaviorWhat marketers should actually trust when evaluating CDP optionsWhether “CDP” survives as a standalone category—or dissolves into something else entirelyIf you’re a CMO, CIO, MarTech leader, or practitioner navigating CDP decisions in 2025, this episode will help you separate signal from noise—and avoid buying technology that looks great on a quadrant but fails in the real world.👉 Subscribe to Signal & Noise on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts for weekly, no-BS conversations on data, tech, and AI—and what actually matters next.

In this episode of Signal & Noise, hosts Rio Longacre and Brett House sit down with Erez Levin—former Google leader, ad quality advocate, and cultural reformer—for a wide-ranging conversation about speech, norms, and the dangerous space between censorship and permissiveness.Erez has spent his career challenging broken incentives—from paid media’s obsession with outcomes over quality to workplace norms that quietly discourage responsibility. In this conversation, he turns that same lens toward culture itself, introducing his TABOO framework: a call to restore shared social boundaries around overt bigotry, dehumanization, and the endorsement of violence—without reviving cancel culture or state censorship.The discussion explores how cancel culture unintentionally weakened society’s ability to enforce real moral limits, why antisemitism has become a visible stress test for eroding norms, and how both the “woke left” and “woke right” exploit the same failures from opposite directions. Erez makes the case that social consequences are not censorship, that forgiveness must follow accountability, and that societies collapse not when speech is free—but when nothing is out of bounds.This episode isn’t about partisan politics. It’s about guardrails, courage, and what happens when no one is willing to hold the line.Topics include:- Cancel culture vs. consequence culture- Antisemitism as a warning sign, not an exception- The woke left, the woke right, and tribal immunity- Why taboos protect pluralistic societies- How norms fail—and how they can be restored

Ad verification is no longer just about blocking bad ads—it’s becoming a core input into how media is planned, optimized, and measured. In this episode of Signal & Noise, hosts Rio Longacre and Brett House sit down with Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify, to unpack how verification is evolving in the age of AI.Mark brings a rare perspective, having led multiple AdTech companies across market cycles—from building and selling eXelate to Nielsen, to turning around Telaria, and now steering DoubleVerify as a public company. We discuss how that background shapes his philosophy as DV moves from being the industry’s “referee” to a more active co-pilot for marketers focused on outcomes.The conversation covers a wide range of timely topics: DV’s strong recent performance and what’s driving it, the shift from protection to performance and attention, and how acquisitions like Scibids AI and Rockerbox signal a tighter connection between media quality and business results. We also tackle some of the industry’s toughest debates—over-blocking and its impact on quality news, the role of AI in verification and optimization, CTV fraud and measurement gaps, sustainability and carbon signals, and how brands can invest confidently in credible journalism without sacrificing suitability.This is a candid, operator-level discussion about trust, transparency, and accountability in modern media—and what it really takes to connect quality signals to outcomes in a rapidly changing ecosystem.

From the show floor to the executive suites, CES 2026 wasn’t just another technology expo — it was a global turning point for AI, media, data, and the future of digital experiences. In this special edition of Signal & Noise, co-hosts Rio Longacre and Brett House bring you their top takeaways, on-the-ground interviews, and operator-first analysis straight from Las Vegas. In this finale episode of our CES series, Rio and Brett break down how AI has moved from feature to foundation — reshaping go-to-market strategies, content ecosystems, and the connective tissue between brands, agencies, and consumers. They dive into why AI isn’t just automating yesterday’s playbook but reinventing how decisions get made and value gets created. Along the way, you’ll hear candid field notes and executive voices from across the ecosystem — from founders and technologists to data leaders — illuminating what matters most heading into 2026 and beyond. Whether it’s AI infrastructure, data ontology, media activation, or the renewed energy of in-person connections after years of remote events, this episode captures the signal above the noise.Hit play to learn:- Why AI is now the operating system of modern business- How semantic layers and probabilistic data are reshaping media performance- What executives are prioritizing in a future where trust and context matter more than ever- Real talk on the return of deep human interaction in a digital worldThis is Signal & Noise CES 2026 — an operator’s view on what’s next. Tune in.

Recorded live in Las Vegas during CES 2026, this special Signal & Noise conversation brings together Rio Longacre and Brett House with one of the industry’s most trusted—and outspoken—voices: Lou Paskalis.In this wide-ranging discussion, Lou digs into the future of the industry in light of the rise of a tidal wave of AI-generated content, synthetic versus authentic signals, regulatory changes versus human discernment, and how trust is shifting from institutions to people. Given these dynamics, we dig into the role of creative and how content creators will play an outsized role in the future of the industry—exploring the evolving roles of platforms, advertisers, and agencies in a future that's increasingly fractured and AI-driven.As always, Lou doesn’t pull punches, ending on an surprisingly optimistic note for the industry, especially beleaguered news publishers. "For the industry, this is 1942," he quips. The year 1942, if you'll recall, is when the allies began to turn the war around. This is a candid, no-holds-barred conversation about the future of the industry—and our society.

What actually mattered at AWS re:Invent 2025—once the keynotes ended and the hype faded?In this belated, boots-on-the-ground debrief from Las Vegas, Signal & Noise hosts Brett House and Rio Longacre break down the real signals from re:Invent 2025, drawing on executive conversations, daily floor recaps, and firsthand time with partners and practitioners across the ecosystem. Joined throughout by Credera's Alyssa Furth, the episode focuses less on announcements, and more on what’s actually changing inside modern data, marketing, and AI stacks.Across conversations with partners including Databricks, Tealium, Treasure Data, Claravine, and Jasper, a few themes came through loud and clear:Agentic AI is real now — moving from buzzword to builder toolkit with services like Nova, Bedrock, Transform, and MCPInteroperability matters more than ever — as brands struggle to connect fragmented MarTech and AdTech stacks without massive re-platformingData foundations are non-negotiable — governance, consent, metadata, and taxonomy are still the gating factors for everything AI promisesIRL is back — re:Invent proved that real relationships and in-person collaboration are accelerating progress faster than months of remote meetings ever couldRather than chasing shiny objects, this episode surfaces a more grounded truth: AI doesn’t replace fundamentals—it exposes where they’re broken. And the organizations making progress are the ones investing in connective tissue, not just new tools.If you’re navigating agentic AI, modern data stacks, or the future of marketing and analytics—and want to know what actually changed at re:Invent—this episode separates signal from noise. Enjoy!

Signal & Noise: Live from Advertising Week 2025 dives into the most urgent conversations shaping modern advertising — from AI enablement and data transparency to the evolution of streaming, publishers, and the creator economy. Hosts Rio Longacre and Brett House speak with industry leaders to unpack how technology, innovation, and authenticity are redefining outcomes and quality in media. Tune in for fresh insights from the front lines of ad tech’s most transformative moment. Featured Interviews for AdWeek 2025: Johnathan Barnes, Founder & CEO, Population Science; Alyssa Furth, Senior Manager, Credera; Tim Rowe, Curator, State of Streaming; Scott Messer, Principal & Founder, Messer Media; Krish Raja, Founder, Mindmaker AI; Alexis Hochleutner, Founder, Arc Digital; Shiv Gupta, Founder, U of Digital; Karsten Weide, Principal & Chief Analyst, W Media Research; Ethan Steininger, Founder & CEO, Mixpeek; Erez Levin, Principal, Emet Advisory; Anne Thiel, Senior Director Ad & RevOps, Cox Automotive; and Bob Walczak, Founder & CEO, MadConnect

Hearst Consumer Media Chief Data Officer, Jessica Hogue, joins us to unpack how a 137-year-old publisher is rebuilding its data foundation—linking first-party identity, contextual intelligence, and tighter supply paths—to grow revenue beyond the open auction. We tackle AI’s “zero-click” squeeze, brand-safety overblocking, and the push for outcomes without backsliding into last-click. Enjoy!

This episode of Signal & Noise features industry veteran and well-known personality Lou Paskalis in a wide-ranging conversation on the state of advertising, brand safety, and the future of news media. The discussion explores why marketers have historically avoided advertising in news, the misguided reliance on keyword and domain blocking, and new research showing ads next to quality journalism don’t harm brand perception.Paskalis also dives into how AI, programmatic buying, and publisher data strategies are reshaping the economics of journalism—and why supporting trustworthy reporting is both a civic duty and a smart business move