AdExchanger

When social media platform Nextdoor launched advertising in 2017, CEO Nirav Tolia declared it would be a $1 billion business by 2020. That didn’t happen. Nextdoor generated $66 million overall in Q3 of this year, and Tolia chides himself for his hyperbole. But Nextdoor has an ambitious plan for advertising growth.

Former Dentsu CEO Wendy Clark, current president of consulting group Consello, sees the renewed controversy around principal-based buying as a symptom of a more fundamental issue: the lack of open dialogue between brands and their agencies.

If the DOJ wins its ad tech antitrust case against Google, it shouldn’t force a breakup, says Arete Research’s Richard Kramer, who proposes this novel solution instead: Google should spin out its network business into a public interest corporation with no hidden fees.

Mike Ryan of Smarter Ecommerce helps advertisers get the most out of their Google Performance Max campaigns. Understanding what’s going on inside this walled garden black box product is now the most pressing concern for many retailers and ecommerce advertisers, he says.

As the former CMO of Sonos, Joy Howard’s job was to make people want to buy new electronics. Now, as the recently appointed CMO of Back Market – an online marketplace for refurbished electronics – it’s her job to convince them not to.

Having nipped at Meta’s and Google’s heels for years, Pinterest is finished with being the underdog. It’s been getting very “serious” about its investments in lower-funnel advertising products, says Pinterest CRO Bill Watkins.

Dotdash Meredith’s Lindsay Van Kirk says the cookie-based buying tools she helped develop in her early career at AppNexus placed too much value on unreliable third-party audiences. But contextual tools like DDM’s D/Cipher, which she now oversees, can build a better ad ecosystem for buyers and sellers.

Omar Tawakol is a serial entrepreneur. He sold two companies in five years, including BlueKai to Oracle in 2014. But he’s in no rush with his new virtual product placement startup Rembrand. He says he’s having too much fun. Plus: Meditating on the end of Oracle Advertising.

Covering Google’s ad tech antitrust trial in Virginia is surreal for anyone who’s been in ad tech as long as Ari Paparo. He knows most of the people on the stand.