Money, markets & M&A
Every ad dollar gets sliced up on its way from a brand to a website. This track shows who takes each slice, how ad tech companies turn those slices into revenue, how to read their earnings reports, and why the industry keeps merging into fewer, bigger owners.
This track counts towards the ClearTrust Programmatic Advertising certificate
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advanced · 5 lessons · 42 minutes
- 01
The ad tech tax: where the advertiser’s dollar goes
A brand spends a dollar on programmatic ads. Studies in the UK and US found only part of it reaches the publisher, and less reaches real people. Here is why.
8 min - 02
How ad tech companies make money
Take rates, CPM fees, subscriptions and ex-TAC: the handful of business models behind almost every ad tech company, explained with simple examples.
8 min - 03
How to read an ad tech earnings report
Revenue vs gross spend, ex-TAC, adjusted EBITDA, guidance and retention: a plain-English walkthrough of an ad tech earnings report, with a made-up example.
9 min - 04
Why ad tech keeps consolidating
From Google buying DoubleClick to Omnicom buying IPG: why ad tech companies merge, the big deal waves, and what consolidation means for buyers and sellers.
9 min - 05
Who owns who in ad tech
A readable ownership map of ad tech: the tech giants, media and telecom owners, agency holding companies, independents and private equity.
8 min