Season 5, Episode 1: Achieving product personalization at scale (with Raveesh Bhalla)

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

34:56

In this premiere episode of "The God Hook," host Carol Costello introduces the chilling story of Richard Beasley, infamously known as the Ohio Craigslist Killer. In previously unreleased jailhouse recordings, Beasley portrays himself as a devout Christian, concealing his manipulative and predatory behavior. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Beasley's deceitfulness extends beyond the victims he buried in shallow graves. Listen to the preview of a bonus conversation between Carol and Emily available after the episode. Additional info at ( carolcostellopresents.com ) Do you have questions about this series? Submit them for future Q&A episodes . Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see additional videos, photos, and conversations. For early and ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus content, subscribe to the podcast via Supporting Cast or Apple Podcasts. EPISODE CREDITS Host - Carol Costello Co-Host - Emily Pelphrey Producer - Chris Aiola Sound Design & Mixing - Lochlainn Harte Mixing Supervisor - Sean Rule-Hoffman Production Director - Brigid Coyne Executive Producer - Gerardo Orlando Original Music - Timothy Law Snyder SPECIAL THANKS Kevin Huffman Zoe Louisa Lewis GUESTS Doug Oplinger - Former Managing Editor of the Akron Beacon Journal Volkan Topalli - Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology Amir Hussain - Professor of Theological Studies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://evergreenpodcasts.supportingcast.fm…

about a year ago 49:13

MP3•Episode home

How large technology companies implement product personalization;
The promise of LLMs and other AI tools for product personalization;
What the objective or goal function is of product personalization, and how it varies across different features within the same product;
The kinds of domain expertise needed to implement product personalization at scale and how that differs from "traditional" product management;
How these kinds of initiatives integrate within a broader product organization;
How the practice and implementation of product personalization might evolve over the medium term.

Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:

Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.
InMobi. InMobi offers a full-stack, AI-powered suite of solutions to help app marketers and publishers conquer the modern mobile era. Explore how InMobi Advertising can drive growth for your business at go.inmobi.com/memo.
INCRMNTAL⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.

Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠.

119 episodes

#Business #MobileDevMemo

Season 5, Episode 1: Achieving product personalization at scale (with Raveesh Bhalla)

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

16 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

How large technology companies implement product personalization;
The promise of LLMs and other AI tools for product personalization;
What the objective or goal function is of product personalization, and how it varies across different features within the same product;
The kinds of domain expertise needed to implement product personalization at scale and how that differs from "traditional" product management;
How these kinds of initiatives integrate within a broader product organization;
How the practice and implementation of product personalization might evolve over the medium term.

Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:

Vibe. Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance.
InMobi. InMobi offers a full-stack, AI-powered suite of solutions to help app marketers and publishers conquer the modern mobile era. Explore how InMobi Advertising can drive growth for your business at go.inmobi.com/memo.
INCRMNTAL⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.

Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠.

119 episodes

#Business #MobileDevMemo

All episodes

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 18: Advertising measurement in an uncertain economy (with Olivia Kory) 50:20

4 days ago50:20

50:20

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Olivia Kory , the Chief Strategy Officer of Haus , an advertising measurement platform. Against the backdrop of tariffs and economic uncertainty, Olivia and I discussed how firms can think about assessing the efficiency of their marketing spend. Among other topics, we cover: Why the open web is so foreign to many performance advertisers; The right way to conceive of platform A/B testing tools that automatically optimize targeting; How advertisers are auditing their measurement solutions in light of the tariffs and economic volatility; What steps marketing teams can take to "get fit" ahead of a potential economic recession. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 17: MDM Mailbag #1 (with Taylor Holiday) 49:36

11 days ago49:36

49:36

This week's episode of the podcast is in a new format: MDM Mailbag. I recruited Taylor Holiday, the CEO of eCommerce advertising agency Common Thread Collective and a prominent voice on DTC Twitter , to answer questions submitted by the MDM community. Among other topics, those questions related to: Any visible weakness in consumer spending related to tariffs; The viability of AppLovin and Pinterest for eCommerce advertising; The evolving business model of digital advertising agencies; The appropriate proportion of platform budget to route through Advantage+ and PMax. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 16: Quantifying the impact of ATT (with Daniel McCarthy) 47:55

18 days ago47:55

47:55

My guest on this week’s episode of the podcast is Daniel McCarthy , who is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. The topic of our conversation is a draft paper for which Daniel is a co-author: Evaluating the Impact of Privacy Regulation on E-Commerce Firms: Evidence from Apple’s App Tracking Transparency . I cited this paper in Could ATT be rolled back? , and we unpack the paper’s findings in detail in the episode. Among other things, we discuss: Background on the paper, including its general methodology and principal findings; Why so little academic research has been dedicated to the effects of ATT; The qualities of small business marketing that made it disproportionately susceptible to the restrictions of ATT; How SMBs have adapted to ATT; The consequences of ATT on lower-funnel metrics and how the impact of ATT on upper-funnel metrics might be misleading; The misapprehensions or points of confusion about ATT that are most common; Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 15: Spotify's down-funnel advertising ambitions (with Lee Brown and Per Sandell) 44:24

25 days ago44:24

44:24

In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Lee Brown , Spotify’s Global Head of Ad Business & Platform, and Per Sandell , Spotify’s VP of Product, about Spotify's recent advertising product expansion, including its Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) and its mobile app install product. Among other things, we discuss: The history of Spotify's advertising platform, which predates the Everything is an Ad Network phenomenon; The current state of Spotify advertising, including the product announcements made at Spotify's advertising event in New York City last week; How Spotify is bringing generative AI to audio; How performance advertisers use Spotify's advertising platform; The options for targeting on Spotify's platform; What role Spotify sees its ad exchange playing in the programmatic ecosystem; How Spotify plans to eventually automate ad placements and insertions. Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 14: The full-funnel marketing philosophy (with Alex Schultz) 46:37

5 weeks ago46:37

46:37

My guest on this week’s episode of the podcast is Alex Schultz , the CMO and VP of Analytics at Meta. Among other things, Alex manages marketing, analytics, and internationalization for the company and directed its rebrand from Facebook to Meta. Additionally, Alex recently wrote a book, Click Here , which is currently available for pre-order. Among other things, we discuss: Alex’s background and long tenure at Meta; Alex’s distaste for the term “performance marketing” and his philosophy around full-funnel management; Whether Alex’s background in analytics has made him a more effective CMO; How AI will impact the marketing profession in the near and medium terms; Whether the marketing function necessarily becomes more product-focused when AI-enabled automation can handle campaign optimization, audience segmentation, and creative production; How marketers can better embrace AI; How the quantitative frameworks for growth change when a company reaches 1BN+ user scale; The aspects of growth marketing least understood by the general public. Thanks to the sponsor of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 13: The evolving TV advertising ecosystem (with James Borow) 40:51

6 weeks ago40:51

40:51

My guest on this week's episode is James Borow , the Vice President of Product and Engineering at Comcast's new Universal Ads effort, which was introduced this January . James was previously the Global Director of Product Strategy at Snap. The topic of our conversation is the evolving TV advertising ecosystem. Among other things, we discuss: The current state of performance advertising on TV; The historical process of buying linear TV advertising inventory; The boundaries between CTV and linear TV advertising; How advertisers approach measurement with CTV; Where YouTube fits into the CTV space; What linear TV can do to provide performance capabilities to marketers; The demographics of TV that make it attractive to marketers. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 12: A deep dive on dating apps (with George Hadjia) 48:15

7 weeks ago48:15

48:15

This week, I speak with George Hadjia , the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Bristlemoon Capital , a long-short hedge fund. George publishes regular insights on his firm's blog , including a recent post on Match Group , the company that operates Tinder and Hinge. The topic of our conversation is the dating app market and its prospects for growth after the tumultuous COVID era. Among other things, we discuss: The impact of COVID on the dating app market; Whether consumer attitudes have soured on dating apps; The demographic component to the decline of these apps, and how engagement varies by age; The upper limit on how large any one app can get; How defensible these scaled dating app businesses are; The match-making dilemma; Whether advertising is an opportunity. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 11: The evolution of browser gaming (with Antti Jäderholm) 43:10

8 weeks ago43:10

43:10

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Antti Jäderholm , the founder and COO of Ray Browser , a web browser built and optimized for gaming. In our conversation, we discuss: The history of browser gaming and where it stands today; The limitations that have historically prevented the browser from becoming a mainstream platform for AAA-quality gaming; The forces of change that are expanding the browser gaming category; The current size of the browser gaming market, and it is expected to grow in the medium term; The web technologies that enable high-fidelity browser gaming experiences; Whether most console streaming services will end up in the browser. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 10: Podcast: Understanding "Brandformance" marketing (with Jess Jacobs) 46:55

8 weeks ago46:55

46:55

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Jess Jacobs , the CMO of MDVIP , having previously served in senior marketing roles at Shopify and Wayfair. The topic of our conversation is Brandformance marketing -- or brand-oriented marketing pursued with specific sensibilities around directly-measurable business objectives. Among other things, we discuss: The definition “brandformance," and differentiation between brandformance and traditional brand marketing; The approach to measurement that best integrates top-of-funnel brand marketing into a performance marketing workflow; The common characteristics across marketing teams that are effective at utilizing both brand and direct response tactics; What companies tend to get wrong about brandformance; Why brand marketing is incorrectly viewed as less analytically rigorous than direct response marketing; The optimal level of integration between brand and direct response efforts; Whether a CMO can capably manage both brand and direct response initiatives. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 9: AdTech M&A and the business cycle (with Terence Kawaja) 47:45

9 weeks ago47:45

47:45

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Terence Kawaja , the CEO and founder of LUMA Partners , a boutique investment bank focusing on the digital media sector. Terry is a high-profile advisor for transactions in the marketing and advertising spaces, and LUMA Partners publishes the infamous LUMAscapes market maps for those ecosystems. The topics of our discussion include: Terry's general perspective on the digital advertising fundraising and M&A environment at the start of 2025; Why 2024 was so slow regarding digital advertising fundraising and M&A; Whether AdTech M&A follows the general business cycle; Whether the social media platforms are acquisitive; How the changing composition of the FTC impacts the outlook for ad tech M&A; Which companies might be underestimated as buyers of AdTech; Whether the widespread adoption of AI tools within the digital advertising space is an accelerant for M&A; Whether the current digital media environment is closely comparable to any historical point in time. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 8: The state of eCommerce in 2025 (with Rishabh Jain) 44:08

11 weeks ago44:08

44:08

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Rishabh Jain , the CEO and co-founder of FERMÀT Commerce , an eCommerce advertising optimization platform. This is Rishabh's third appearance on the podcast (see one and two ). I invited Rishabh back to the podcast to provide a broad overview of the state of eCommerce advertising at the outset of 2025. Among other things, we discuss: Rishabh's outlook on eCommerce this year; Meta's opportunities with Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (ASC); Whether Meta is purposefully slow-rolling the introduction of generative AI tools for ad creative; Whether generative AI for ad creative will be captured entirely by the big platforms by necessity; TikTok shop; How Shopify's advertising products might evolve over the next 3-5 years; The rise of incrementality among eCommerce merchants; Rishabh's spiciest AppLovin take. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 7: Understanding the EU's AI Act (with Mikołaj Barczentewicz) 54:53

12 weeks ago54:53

54:53

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Mikołaj Barczentewicz . Mikołaj has appeared on the podcast a number of times -- he's a professor of law at the University of Surrey and holds a PhD in Law from the University of Oxford. He also regularly publishes thoughtful commentary on the EU regulatory landscape on his Substack . In this episode of the podcast, among other topics, we discuss: The EU's AI Act, which was passed in July 2024; The broad status of AI regulation in the EU; The Hamburg DPA's proposal that large language models do not store personal data and whether that view might be adopted broadly; The EDPB's updated guidance on the ePrivacy Directive; Google's decision to route cookie deprecation in Chrome through consent and whether the CMA is likely to accept that. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user’s real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 6: The intended and unintended consequences of privacy regulation (with John Lynch and JP Dube) 39:00

13 weeks ago39:00

39:00

My guests on this week's episode of the podcast are John Lynch and JP Dube . John is the University of Colorado Distinguished Professor at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado-Boulder, and JP is the James M. Kilts Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Together, along with a number of co-authors, they have written a draft paper titled The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Privacy Regulation for Consumer Marketing , which is the subject of our conversation. Among other things, we discuss: The various compromises that are inherent in instituting privacy-related data restrictions; What regulators and government officials get wrong about personalized advertising; The difference between consumers' stated and revealed privacy preferences; The benefits to consumers of privacy; The potential win-win proposition of personalized advertising and price discrimination; How the GDPR should be instructive for US policymakers. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. ContextSDK . ContextSDK uses over 200 smartphone signals to detect a user's real-world context, allowing apps to deliver perfectly timed push notifications and in-app offers. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 5: The measurement myth 32:31

14 weeks ago32:31

32:31

"Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Knowing the context of his work, my view of the infamous quote attributed to John Wanamaker is that advertising measurement is fundamentally and necessarily uncertain, even in success. This surfaces another, in my view, invalid interpretation of the quote: that advertising is only effective when it can be measured perfectly, absolutely, and with total precision. To my mind, this has been the prevailing view within digital advertising sector: that advertising measurement is inherently defined by total, deterministic precision. This is the measurement myth. In this podcast, I’ll unpack the measurement myth and why I believe the digital advertising ecosystem is abandoning it in favor of more holistic, statistically sophisticated, and scalable approaches to advertising attribution and measurement. I’ll discuss some of the methodologies at the frontier of advertising attribution that are alleviating the need for deterministic identity in advertising measurement and how their use allows advertisers to materially expand the reach of their messaging, and what the implications of that are for the digital economy. Resources referenced / cited in this podcast: CapitalOne Mobile e-Commerce Statistics Sensor Tower 5 Year Market Forecast IAB 2025 Outlook Study Meta’s Renaissance Everything is an ad network Netflix and Disney+ advertising, two years in Flying blind Last-click attribution, deterministic measurement, and Wittgenstein’s ruler A Comprehensive Guide to Bayesian Marketing Mix Modeling Podcast: Understanding Interoperable Private Attribution (with Ben Savage) What is Federated Learning in digital advertising? Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 4: The state of mobile programmatic advertising in 2025 (with Pan Katsukis) 46:22

14 weeks ago46:22

46:22

In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Pan Katsukis , the CEO of Remerge , a mobile DSP. Our conversation centers around the state of mobile programmatic advertising. Among other things, we discuss: How the mobile programmatic space has evolved in recent years; The misconceptions that advertisers have about mobile programmatic; The mistakes that advertisers make when they first explore programmatic; The targeting techniques that you see advertisers have the most success with in programmatic; The typical platform budget split with programmatic; The type of non-gaming inventory that is available in the programmatic sphere; Whether gaming companies can be successful in buying non-gaming inventory programmatically; The measurement challenges with mobile programmatic? Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 3: Marketing experiments and probabilistic measurement (with Koen Pauwels and Julian Runge) 51:41

16 weeks ago51:41

51:41

In this episode of the podcast, I'm joined by two academics -- Julian Runge from Northwestern University's Medill School and Koen Pauwels from Northeastern University -- for a conversation about the methodological (and stylistic) distinction between marketing experimentation and probabilistic measurement. Julian has previously appeared on the podcast and recently contributed a guest article for Mobile Dev Memo, and he and I have co-authored a number of articles (including this Harvard Business Review piece ). Koen runs the Marketing and Metrics blog as well as the Pauwels on Marketing newsletter on LinkedIn. Some of the topics addressed in our discussion include: Experimentation in marketing measurement; The most popular techniques for probabilistic measurement, and how they are implemented; How a firm can integrate experimentation into its marketing measurement efforts; How firms tend to improperly implement Media Mix Modeling; Whether it is possible to measure incrementality for a specific channel, using that channel's tools; How marketers should think about demonstrating the value of their efforts; How the value of brand equity can be measured and integrated into marketing measurement; How a firm should think about experimentation and opportunity cost. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 2: Meta's Renaissance 53:55

17 weeks ago53:55

53:55

Meta’s trajectory over the past few years has been defined by its response to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, or ATT, privacy policy, with its recovery serving as a blueprint for success in the modern digital advertising operating environment. And in adapting to ATT, Meta may have executed one of the most remarkable, wholesale business model transitions in modern corporate history. The company transformed the core engagement model of its two flagship products, Facebook and Instagram, while re-engineering the digital advertising infrastructure that serves as the singular revenue engine of its business. And in doing so, Meta grew its stock price from a low point of less than $100 in February 2023 -- a level the company hadn't seen since 2016 -- to over $600 today. How did Meta go from a 4% year-over-year revenue decline in Q3 2022, with Mark Zuckerberg earnestly entreating investors to remain patient, to 25% revenue growth in Q3 2023? And what catalyzed both of these inflections? In this podcast, I’ll tell the story of Meta’s renaissance : the factors that led to the company’s tumultuous decline in 2022 and, critically, what the company changed to invigorate growth in 2023 and 2024. Resources referenced in this podcast: Understanding conversion optimization in digital advertising Facebook’s App Event Optimization tool showcases the power of its data in Q1 earnings Digital Advertising, Demand Routing, and the Millionaires’ Mall The changing face of mobile marketing with event-based bidding Facebook may take 7% revenue hit from Apple privacy changes The App Tracking Transparency recession The perilous mythology of Brand Marketing for digital products The big economy of small advertisers Evaluating the Impact of Privacy Regulation on E-Commerce Firms: Evidence from Apple's App Tracking Transparency (working paper) Unpacking Meta’s pivot to an open graph and short-form video Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Morgan Stanley 2024 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (Transcript) Unpacking Meta’s Q2 2022 earnings: measurement still looms large Is CAPI future-proof? Meta’s AEM update and the disappearing IP address Understanding Google’s Universal App Campaign (UAC) changes What comes next after Facebook’s VO campaign strategy? Generative AI for ad creative: five value milestones Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 5, Episode 1: Achieving product personalization at scale (with Raveesh Bhalla) 49:13

19 weeks ago49:13

49:13

My guest on this episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast is Raveesh Bhalla , the Product Lead for Homepage Recommendations at Netflix. Our topic of conversation is product personalization and, specifically, how scaled consumer products curate experiences for individual users and for what purpose. Among other things, we discuss: How large technology companies implement product personalization; The promise of LLMs and other AI tools for product personalization; What the objective or goal function is of product personalization, and how it varies across different features within the same product; The kinds of domain expertise needed to implement product personalization at scale and how that differs from "traditional" product management; How these kinds of initiatives integrate within a broader product organization; How the practice and implementation of product personalization might evolve over the medium term. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. InMobi . InMobi offers a full-stack, AI-powered suite of solutions to help app marketers and publishers conquer the modern mobile era. Explore how InMobi Advertising can drive growth for your business at go.inmobi.com/memo . INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 16: TikTok's approach to marketing measurement (with Jorge Ruiz) 46:16

19 weeks ago46:16

46:16

In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Jorge Ruiz, TikTok's Global Head of Marketing Science, about the measurement methodologies that TikTok employs with its advertising clients. Among other things, we discuss: How TikTok provides measurement solutions to clients in light of a more restrictive privacy environment; The approaches, methodologies, and tools are "future-proofed" for further data restrictions; The most common mistakes that advertisers make with measurement; The measurement solutions that clients have seen the most success with; How measurement methodologies differ between app and eCommerce advertisers; How advertisers should approach creative analytics, and what kinds of metrics are the most important to consider when assessing creative; How advertisers should approach incrementality measurement; How advertisers should think about balancing awareness and direct response budget; Whether and when advertisers should invest into building measurement tools internally; The best ways for advertisers to adapt to a dynamic privacy environment. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. Moloco . Moloco is a trusted and transparent advertising platform powered by machine learning. Moloco can drive the best outcomes for mobile app advertising through Moloco Ads as experienced by marquee brands such as Bumble, Draftkings, and Playrix. For retailers and streaming enterprises, Moloco also provides a best-in-class advertising platform powered by machine learning to build and manage their own ad businesses. Learn more at www.moloco.com/podcast . INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 15: Understanding Shopify's advertising strategy (with Andrius Baranauskas) 39:21

20 weeks ago39:21

39:21

Shopify today published the latest version of Edition , its regular overview of the new product features it has made available to its merchants. As part of this release, I had the exclusive opportunity to speak with Andrius Baranauskas , Shopify's Director of Advertising Products, about Shopify's advertising products and strategy. Among other things, we discuss: Why Shopify is building marketing tools for merchants; What makes Shopify's data relevant for ads targeting; How Shopify's ad products are structured and how advertisers interface with them; Shopify's ad products roadmap; How Shopify's advertising products fit into the broader eCommerce advertising ecosystem. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. InMobi . InMobi offers a full-stack, AI-powered suite of solutions to help app marketers and publishers conquer the modern mobile era. Explore how InMobi Advertising can drive growth for your business at go.inmobi.com/memo . INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 14: The challenges of building apps for kids (with Niels Hoven) 42:26

22 weeks ago42:26

42:26

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Niels Hoven , the CEO of Mentava , a tutoring app that helps top-performing students achieve their potential. In this episode, Niels and I discuss: The special design considerations inherent in building an app for children; How the interface of an app needs to be adapted to users who have never used another app before; The kinds of feedback that can be used to improve a children's product, given a lack of analytics; The design challenges that arise when building for two audiences: children and their parents; Price sensitivity for educational apps and whether going premium is the best option; The limitations or constraints faced with monetization for a children's' app; The best way to approach growth for a children's app; How to consider user outcomes and churn; The story of Mentava's unplanned launch. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. Moloco . Moloco is a trusted and transparent advertising platform powered by machine learning. Moloco can drive the best outcomes for mobile app advertising through Moloco Ads as experienced by marquee brands such as Bumble, Draftkings, and Playrix. For retailers and streaming enterprises, Moloco also provides a best-in-class advertising platform powered by machine learning to build and manage their own ad businesses. Learn more at www.moloco.com/podcast . INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 13: Changing attitudes on marketing measurement (with Maor Sadra) 48:58

23 weeks ago48:58

48:58

In this episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast, I speak to returning guest Maor Sadra , the CEO of INCRMNTAL , about changing attitudes toward marketing measurement. The catalyst for this conversation was a set of diagrams that Maor recently published on the INCRMNTAL blog, ranking various marketing measurement methodologies across a number of features. In this episode, we discuss: The tradeoffs inherent in the above spiderweb diagram; Whether and how app advertisers implement experiments in their marketing; The popularity of media mix modeling in the app advertising ecosystem and whether enthusiasm for it has changed; Trends in the composition of user acquisition budgets by channel for app advertisers; Whether budget is shifting meaningfully to the web for app advertisers; The gaps in measurement that app advertisers struggle to close; Whether budgets are increasing on Meta and Google as their AI-empowered solutions expand; How AI plays a role in marketing measurement. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ . The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 12: The mobile gaming fundraising market (with Annina Salvén) 49:01

24 weeks ago49:01

49:01

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Annina Salvén, the COO of BIT ODD, a Helsinki-based gaming studio that was recently profiled by the WSJ . Bit Odd raised $18MM in a seed extension this month, following on from the €5MM seed round it raised in 2022. My fund, Heracles Capital, is an investor in both rounds. I asked Annina to join me on the podcast to discuss the current state of venture fundraising for mobile gaming. Specifically, we cover: Why Anniina returned to mobile gaming, given the challenges; How the 2016-era of mobile gaming compares to today; The distribution challenges now relative to 2016-2018; The opportunities in mobile gaming now from a revenue growth perspective; How mobile gaming start-ups should think about exit opportunities; The process for BIT ODD in raising its Seed extension; What mobile gaming start-ups should look for in an investor; The cross-platform gaming opportunity; Whether games publishing is still viable; Helsinki's evolution as a mobile games development hub. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 11: Understanding AppLovin 39:22

25 weeks ago39:22

39:22

In this episode, I present a long-form analysis of AppLovin's business and its significant recent growth. But understanding AppLovin the company is fundamentally predicated on understanding the market in which it operates, mobile games advertising, and the direct response digital advertising landscape more broadly. And so this podcast is structured in three parts: Understanding direct response advertising Understanding mobile gaming advertising Understanding AppLovin’s growth All of these topics can seem unapproachable and impenetrable from the outside. I hope this episode clarifies them. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on.…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 10: AI Overviews and consequences for the open web (with Paul Bannister) 43:49

26 weeks ago43:49

43:49

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Paul Bannister , the Chief Strategy Officer at Raptive . Paul is returning to the podcast for the third time; see the first two episodes here and here . Our topic of discussion is Google's AI Overviews product, which I profiled in Google's Gambit . Among other things, we cover: How web publishers perceive AI Overviews; Whether AI Overviews have yet appreciably impacted publisher traffic; How AI Overviews might fit into Google's broader strategy with respect to the Open Web and Cookie deprecation; Google's claim that AI Overviews result in increased clicks to publisher websites; Whether AI Overviews can fortify Google against competition from other LLM-based search or chatbots, like Perplexity; Whether AI Overviews incentivize publishers to license their data to Google in exchange for exposure; Google's Quick View feature; What it means that Google's share of the search advertising market is expected to drop below 50% in 2025. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Vibe . Vibe is the leading Streaming TV ad platform for small and medium-sized businesses looking for actionable advertising campaign performance. ⁠⁠⁠ Clarisights⁠⁠ ⁠ . Marketing analytics that makes it easy to get answers, iterate fast, and show the impact of your work. Go to ⁠⁠⁠ clarisights.com/demo⁠⁠⁠ to try it out for free. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on.…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 9: The current state of app marketing analytics (with Kate Minogue) 53:33

27 weeks ago53:33

53:33

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Kate Minogue, who previously served as Meta's Head of Marketing Science for EMEA and now serves as a fractional C-level executive for various companies. Kate published one of the first guest posts on Mobile Dev Memo in 2019: The LTV metric isn’t dead. Here’s why . The post was a rebuttal / response to my own contentiously titled post, It’s time to retire the LTV metric . Among other topics, Kate and I discuss: The core of a capable marketing analytics function for an app developer -- the "minimum viable marketing analytics" organization; The key considerations that app developers should make in building "optimization moments" in their apps; How app marketers should think about channel diversity; How the most sophisticated app advertisers approach measurement; How app advertisers should think about about organic contribution to ROAS; What a "fractional CMO" is, and when a company might consider engaging a fractional CMO; The differences between fractional executives and consultants; How a fractional CMO's performance should be evaluated. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Moloco . Moloco is a trusted and transparent advertising platform powered by machine learning. Moloco can drive the best outcomes for mobile app advertising through Moloco Ads as experienced by marquee brands such as Bumble, Draftkings, and Playrix. For retailers and streaming enterprises, Moloco also provides a best-in-class advertising platform powered by machine learning to build and manage their own ad businesses. Learn more at www.moloco.com/podcast . INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 8: Click-to-cancel, web-to-app, and all things subscription apps (with Thomas Petit) 51:48

28 weeks ago51:48

51:48

In this episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast, I speak with Thomas Petit, a well known voice in the mobile ecosystem and a veteran of the podcast. In the episode, we discuss all things related to subscriptions for mobile apps, including: The current state of web acquisition for subscription apps; The timeline over which web acquisition gained traction for subscription apps; The downsides of web acquisition for subscription apps; How web acquisition differs from app acquisition; How gaming apps and subscription apps pursue web acquisition differently; The measurement benefits of web acquisition; How and whether the FTC's recent "click-to-cancel" rule will change the dynamics of web acquisition for subscription apps; Whether Apple or Google will crack down on web-based acquisition for subscription apps. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Moloco . Moloco is a trusted and transparent advertising platform powered by machine learning. Moloco can drive the best outcomes for mobile app advertising through Moloco Ads as experienced by marquee brands such as Bumble, Draftkings, and Playrix. For retailers and streaming enterprises, Moloco also provides a best-in-class advertising platform powered by machine learning to build and manage their own ad businesses. Learn more at www.moloco.com/podcast .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 7: The power of AI in game development (with Christoffer Holmgård) 38:57

29 weeks ago38:57

38:57

My guest on this week's episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast is Christoffer Holmgård , the CEO and co-founder of modl.ai , which allows game developers to deploy AI-empowered bots into their games to discover bugs and personalize game experiences. Our conversation is focused on the use of AI in game development. Among other things, we discuss: How AI is being used to assist with game development now, and how that might change or expand in the near term; Which of the less glamorous aspects of game development are the most natural places to apply AI; How AI-assisted bots differ from those that were programmed with deterministic logic; How AI might play a role in live ops; How AI enables much larger and richer open worlds; How AI can be adopted by gamers; How AI can be used to radically personalize game experiences. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Moloco . Moloco is a trusted and transparent advertising platform powered by machine learning. Moloco can drive the best outcomes for mobile app advertising through Moloco Ads as experienced by marquee brands such as Bumble, Draftkings, and Playrix. For retailers and streaming enterprises, Moloco also provides a best-in-class advertising platform powered by machine learning to build and manage their own ad businesses. Learn more at www.moloco.com/podcast . INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 6: Consumer welfare and antitrust in tech (with Andrey Fradkin) 45:00

30 weeks ago45:00

45:00

My guest on this week's episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast is Andrey Fradkin , an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Boston University's Questrom School of Business. The topic of our conversation is the role of antitrust in tech and the various design decisions impact consumer welfare. Among other things, our discussion covers: The role of antitrust law with respect to digital marketplaces; Whether digital marketplaces naturally trend toward anticompetitive behavior; How and whether certain consumer tech design practices can benefit consumers and still be considered anti-competitive; Amazon's treatment of its own products in search rankings (from Andrey's paper on the subject); Whether Amazon's branded search advertising product impacts the economics of retail on the Amazon platform; The tradeoffs that must be considered in the Amazon antitrust case (from Andrey's HBR article on the subject); How the impact on advertisers and consumers of advertising on the Amazon platform should be considered; How antitrust enforcement of Big Tech might evolve. Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast: Moloco . Moloco empowers businesses of all sizes to grow through advanced machine-learning solutions that deliver digital growth and performance for customers. INCRMNTAL ⁠⁠ . True attribution measures incrementality, always on. Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠Marketecture⁠ .…

Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

1
Season 4, Episode 5: Understanding the retail media landscape (with Andrew Lipsman) 46:51

31 weeks ago46:51