It’s summertime, and the newsletterin’ isn’t easy. Beeler’s on the microphone with Ms. MC. All the people in the game would agree that we’re well qualified to represent the P. U. B.s
Oh, Sublime, we appreciate you, and we appreciate everyone who helped us get into the Inc. 5000 list. Here’s the story of how that came to be. My wife was quick to point out that #2,524 on the list narrowly beat out a gym franchise we almost joined. In your face! We don’t care, we’ll take the win.
Speaking of winning, ad tech will often talk about win-win situations for the buy-side and the sell-side. Publishers will occasionally discuss win-win-win scenarios where the advertiser, publisher, and visitor all benefit. But I wonder about the buy-side and what they say. I suspect win-win is a happy advertiser and a happy consumer. I wonder if in the history of digital advertising, an agency or a DSP has uttered the words, “and the publisher came out ahead as well!”
I make this observation after a week of watching some back and forth on LinkedIn and within our community about the far-from-perfect dynamics of programmatic. I’m going to weigh in with my thoughts on our Community Slack and see if my arguments hold up before getting louder. What I will say is that programmatic is not designed with trust at the core. Publishers lose if they share too much. Adtech manipulates the signals for its own advantage (“pubwashing”), and buyers say they want Wagyu but budget for Steak-umms. Meanwhile, consumers are left with terrible online experiences. Mutually assured destruction is the result.
Let’s leave negotiation to the bidders and start using the existing specs to build trust into our ecosystem. If the specs don’t work, let’s rewrite them. Let’s get serious and fix this shit.
Summer/pre-Savannah check list:
- August Camp.Fire call for publishers and In View clients on August 20th will include our 2026 event plans, some community updates, and other announcements. Those in the know will get the links needed. It’s this week, don’t dawdle.
- Third-party cookies are on life support. Programmatic is evolving fast. And the only thing publishers can truly control? Their data. That’s where identity strategy becomes the make-or-break factor. So, Rob sat down with Alexandre Guertin-Aird, VP of Customer Solutions at Optable, to talk about how leading publishers are rethinking identity, enrichment, and monetization.
- I’ll be at IBC. I’ll be at DMEXCO. If you are planning to be at either, I’d love to know that.
Base.Camp Savannah is this October, folks… have you seen the agenda?
We’re honing in on the conversations publishers need right now. The kinds of collaborative discussions that lead to real change once you’re back at your desk. Here’s just a taste of what we’re going to be talking about:
- Why build it if you can’t sell it? Jana Meron (Lioness Strategies LLC) on helping sales teams turn clean data and solid tech into wins that count.
- Are publishers ready to act like brands? Amanda Sabreah (Thought Factory) on why brand strategy drives loyalty, advertiser trust, and long-term revenue.
- What’s the real cost of hidden intermediaries? Patrick McCann (Raptive) on tracing and cutting middleman costs that drain publisher revenue.
- How is AI and automation actually working right now? Courtney Glaze (The New York Times) on what’s delivering results and how to adapt workflows for direct-sold.
- Revenue 2026: Where will it come from? A candid conversation about the bets we can confidently make for the year ahead.
- Data rizz that eats. You can have the best first-party data, but without the right narrative, it doesn’t sell. So how do you tell your story?
- Site traffic is everything, so what’s the plan? From people to platforms, how publishers can drive the right audience, not bots.
- Using disruption to build the future. Dr. Deborah Gilboa on turning disruption into a strategic tool for growth and resilience.
Publishers already confirmed for Savannah include WeatherBug, New York Post, The Weather Company, PGA TOUR, The New York Times, Optimism, Zynga, NASCAR, Ancestry.com, LoveToKnow Media, Ziff Davis, Tripadvisor, Graham Media, Edmunds.com, FanDuel Sports, and Chegg.
We’re almost there. Join us in Savannah to dig into the big questions, share what’s working, fix what’s not, and leave with a plan you can put into motion the very next day.
The momentum Digital Day Camp is building
Pelmorex, Narcity Media Group, Better Collective, and Kobayashi + Zeitguys (just to name a few) are already locked in for Digital Day Camp in Toronto on October 22, 2025.
We’ll be tackling the big questions shaping Canadian media’s future:
- Where should we really be placing our bets for 2026?
- What role will agentic advertising play in redefining the market?
- How do we raise the bar for CTV ad quality?
- Can direct-sold strategies still thrive alongside programmatic dominance?
- And what does it take to make data-driven approaches actually pay off?
If you’re in the business of shaping where our industry goes next, early bird registration for Digital Day Camp is open!
ICYMI: The Base.Camp Lisbon agenda is live…
… and it’s a big one, folks.
At Base.Camp Lisbon, we’ll dig into AI’s impact, Europe’s retail media trajectory, and the rise of agentic advertising. We’ll also unpack what direct-sold innovation looks like in a programmatic-first world, how publishers can finally align sales and ops, and the future of ad ops itself. Plus, we’ll tackle the practical challenges including identity strategies that connect, stacks that deliver, privacy compliance that doesn’t just slow you down, and what publisher quality really means in today’s market.
Already on the list? Leaders from The Weather Company, PGA TOUR, Publisher Collective, Twist Digital, Telegraph Media Group, Livenation, City Digital Oy, and Condé Nast.
Base.Camp is coming to Lisbon, November 2-5, 2025. You should be there. Check out the still-growing agenda. Then raise your hand.
A full list of our 2025 events all in one nice little package:
- Base.Camp: Savannah, GA - October 5-8
- Digital Day Camp, Toronto - October 22
- Base.Camp: Lisbon, Portugal - November 2-5
2026 event dates to be announced at the August Camp.Fire this Thursday. Pubs and Partners: read your email invites.
More things to keep your eyes out for:
- Read our take on the top updates/news items from around the industry.
- Look for your next job on our job board. Also - sign up for our Jobs Newsletter (delivered every Thursday). Subscribe here.
- Fill your open positions by helping us help you: Submit a job and check out a job seeker like Job Seeker 34, just search “Job Seeker 34” to be taken directly to their description.
Women’s Space
Our Women’s Space is growing. We are working on a Code of Conduct for events. One that Beeler.Tech will use and ask all our attendees to agree and adhere to, while then asking the industry to sign on to the same code of conduct. There are lots of ideas about where to do with this to make real change, not only for women, but for everyone. We want to elevate respect and professionalism.
We have a Slack channel and a WhatsApp group. The WhatsApp group has more conversation, but join either or both and add to the conversation!
Please reach out to Melissa if you would like to join one or both.
Going to DMEXCO?
Our friends at The Digital Voice have put together a crowdsourced DMEXCO event list. Check it out and add your event(s).
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Biking to Support Multiple Sclerosis
Chris Starr is at it again, cycling all over the place to raise money for worthy causes. This year it’s Waves to Wine, raising money for Multiple Sclerosis research and care.
Whether you have a personal connection to MS, want to support Chris’ effort, or have community support goals, I hope you will join me in supporting this effort. Learn more and donate here.