An insider look at Amazon Marketing Cloud and why trust is the central currency in data partnerships
Release Date: 04/03/2025
AI in Ad Tech: Workflow Automation, Decisioning, and the Ethics of Walled Gardens
First-Party Pod
The pace of change in advertising has never been faster—or more uncomfortable. As AI transitions from hype to practical implementation, media buyers, creative teams, and tech platforms are under increasing pressure to adapt. While automation promises efficiency, the rise of AI-driven decisioning is sparking fundamental questions about trust, transparency, and the future role of agencies and platforms. In this episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio sit down with Ed Dinichert, Chief Revenue Officer at TripleLift, to discuss how AI is reshaping every layer of ad tech—from daily workflows...
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Sell-side decisioning and the rise of demand path optimization
First-Party Pod
The shift from third-party cookies, increasing demand for transparency, and the commoditization of SSPs have triggered a new phase in digital advertising—one that repositions publishers at the helm of media decisioning. In this episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio sit down with Scott Messer, founder of Messer Media and long-time sell-side advocate, to unpack the growing momentum behind Sell-Side Decisioning (SSD), the reimagining of curation, and what it means for SSPs, DSPs, and agencies alike. They explore how SSD empowers publishers to attach deal IDs and activate data in the...
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Rethinking Curation: How Publishers and Agencies Can Reclaim the Open Web
First-Party Pod
The deprecation of third-party cookies and rise of privacy regulations have reshaped digital advertising—and publishers are feeling the pressure. While curation was once hailed as a fix, its first wave prioritized intermediaries over true innovation. Today, a new model is emerging: one that puts publishers back in control and redefines how agencies access high-quality, trusted supply. In this episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio sit down with Joe Root, CEO and co-founder of Permutive, to unpack the evolution from Curation 1.0 to 2.0—and what it means for publishers, agencies, and the...
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An insider look at Amazon Marketing Cloud and why trust is the central currency in data partnerships
First-Party Pod
The pressure to drive measurable outcomes while protecting consumer data has never been higher. Clean rooms are emerging as the go-to solution, but making them work across teams, platforms, and priorities is still a work in progress. For Amazon, establishing trust—across underlying tech, legal, and business dimensions—is foundational to successful clean room adoption and broader collaboration within Amazon Marketing Cloud. In this episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio are joined by Alan Lewis, Director of AMC at Amazon Ads, to explore how Amazon is investing in tools that make secure,...
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The true meaning of incrementality and the rise of AI in MMMs
First-Party Pod
Incrementality is often misunderstood—with many misusing the term, relying on attribution reports instead of true controlled experiments. So how can brands ensure that they are running an incrementality test correctly? In the latest episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio break down the differences between incrementality, MMMs, and attribution and how the three can work together to prove the effectiveness of advertising. They also explore the downfall of last-click attribution, the rise of clean rooms, and how first-party data collaboration improves measurement accuracy. With cookies...
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The role of CDPs in a world of increased data ownership, control, and AI
First-Party Pod
The acquisitions of CDPs like ActionIQ and mParticle are ushering in a new world in which CDPs are disappearing as standalone products. With brands and marketers increasingly conscious of data ownership, control, and AI, CDPs must evolve to stay relevant. But what does that evolution entail? In the first episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio explore why many CDPs are struggling and how composable architectures and cloud-based solutions could be the answer. Plus, with potential AI-driven segmentation, personalization and reporting, could AI truly replace a CDP’s core offerings? And...
info_outlineThe pressure to drive measurable outcomes while protecting consumer data has never been higher. Clean rooms are emerging as the go-to solution, but making them work across teams, platforms, and priorities is still a work in progress. For Amazon, establishing trust—across underlying tech, legal, and business dimensions—is foundational to successful clean room adoption and broader collaboration within Amazon Marketing Cloud.
In this episode of First-Party Pod, Gloria and Rio are joined by Alan Lewis, Director of AMC at Amazon Ads, to explore how Amazon is investing in tools that make secure, scalable data partnerships possible. From the rise of interoperable data environments and evolving advertiser expectations to data collaboration via AMC on AWS Clean Rooms, they unpack how Amazon is designing for trust, transparency, and long-term collaboration.
They also discuss how brands are using AMC through new innovations like Brand+ and Performance+, why path to purchase reports often lack actionability, and how aggregation thresholds shape what advertisers can and can’t measure. Plus, Alan shares thoughts on agency complexity, third-party partnerships, and the overlooked opportunity in frequency optimization.