The subject line was inspired by a conversation in our publisher-only Slack about the best monetization metrics for in-app publishers to work across finance and product teams. If that kind of conversation is your jam but you’re not a publisher, I recommend exploring In View or starting with The Stack, our subscription that launched this past week. Don’t forget our events!
(Look at me trying to increase my ARPU with those not-so-subtle pitches. Anyway, back to my point.)
Discussing metrics like ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is the kind of in-the-weeds conversation that we need to have today while we design or fall victim to the future. The Us are being offered an entirely new digital experience built on our backs without us seeing the R. If we have neither the Us nor the Rs, you are left with zero or “undefined”.
The math is that you better understand your business today while questioning everything you think you know about it. The time of new math is upon us, as much as you might hate to hear it. Let’s roll up our sleeves and make the equations make sense.
Hot off the presses, we’ve got four juicy reads for you this week:
- Start ’em, sit ’em: publisher priorities for H1 2026 As Fantasy Football season has wrapped and we’re now enjoying the NFL playoffs, Rob is back in the “ad ops draft room” with Craig Leshen, CEO at adops․com, for the latest installment of Start ’em, Sit ’em – diving into H1 2026. The big question for the first half of 2026 is: how do publishers protect, productize, and scale what they already have in a world shaped by AI, automation, and fewer traditional clicks?
- Trust, scale, and the new economics of programmatic In December’s Camp․Fire, guest speaker Chris Kane, Founder of Jounce Media, unpacked the findings from their latest annual market sentiment survey. Chris provided a rare, data-driven overview of how publishers and supply-side platforms are perceived by the buy side and, crucially, how those perceptions translate directly into spend. This conversation is for our exclusive publishers and partners only community. Please ask in the community for the password to watch this video.
- Brand safety theater: We have a keyword blocklists problem, people Brands have a right to buy whatever impressions they want based on whatever criteria they deem important. Full stop. Publishers have the right to publish whatever content they think will attract an audience and have it monetized by advertising from advertisers that want to be seen by that audience. Full stop. What is lost is that, when evaluating impressions is done poorly, it can punish publishers who have invested time, money, and effort into creating content. Subscriber-exclusive editorial by Rob Beeler.
- Testing the real impact of client-side, server-side, and parallel bidding with Olli Järvilehto For years, publishers have been caught between competing narratives about client-side, server-side and parallel header bidding, with each touted as the definitive way to increase yield, performance, or privacy. In reality, it’s a bit more complex. As third-party cookies decline, browser restrictions increase, and page performance becomes ever more closely tied to revenue outcomes, publishers are under pressure to make decisions that balance monetization, user experience, and operational stability. And often without clear, comparable data to hand.
Want to get caught up on everything we’ve published? Start here.
Here’s the latest news, and yes, it’s all true:
- ICYMI: The Stack from Beeler.Tech is now open! The Stack is a paid subscription that gives publishers, ad tech partners, and industry players intelligence. This includes real conversations from our ad ops and publisher community, anonymous publisher op-eds, expert industry analysis, and the actionable context you need to stay looped in.
- AI Publisher Response Live (January 23, 1:00 pm ET, Virtual)A standing podcast, call, meeting - whatever you want to call it. Bottom line, we need to talk as a community about the AI Publisher Response. Sometimes this will be a guest, sometimes a community member, sometimes just Rob. But this conversation needs to be a priority. Join us every other Friday to discuss the big and small topics, not commiseration, but real discussion about AI and how it impacts the Publisher landscape and what publishers are doing, and planning to do, about it. You can register here
- The full agenda is now live for the Advertising Economic Forum! On day one, founders will present bold theses across agentic commerce, creative, and agency models to a panel of leading investors, all competing for the AdEF Charging Bull Award. On day two, hundreds of the industry’s most influential investors, analysts, and C-suite executives will gather for our finance continuum to examine where media and investor capital is flowing, and why. Join us this March in New York City!
Let’s talk about 2026, folks, because we’ve got a lot planned:
- Base.Camp San Antonio: March 1-4, 2026
- Navigator NYC: May 5, 2026
- AI Publisher Response: May 6, 2026
- Navigator London: June 9, 2026
- Base.Camp La Jolla: October 4-7, 2026
- Base.Camp Madrid: November 8-11, 2026
Now is the time to raise your hand if you’re interested in attending any of these events. The earlier you raise your hand, the more we can work with you (and your budget) to help you be in the rooms you need to be in.
A full list of all 2026 events we’re involved in, all in one nice little package:
- Base.Camp San Antonio - March 1-4, 2026
- Advertising Economic Forum NYC - March 18-19, 2026
- Digital Day Camp: Spring - April 15 & 16, 2026
- Navigator NYC - May 5, 2026
- AI Publisher Response Event - May 6, 2026
- Navigator London - June 9, 2026
- Base.Camp La Jolla - October 4-7, 2026
- Digital Day Camp: Fall - October 21 & 22, 2026
- Base.Camp Madrid - November 8-11, 2026
TD Foundation 20th Annual Holiday Cocktails Gala
January 22, 6:00 pm ET - this week!
New York Athletic Club
Celebrate our 2025 successes and discuss how the TD Foundation has been helping the children and families of wounded warriors and fallen heroes at the 20th Annual TD Foundation Holiday Cocktail Event!
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