Podcast Summary: AdTechGod Pod, Ep. 106

"Redefining Quality in Ad Tech: Erez Levin on Marketing Effectiveness and Media Value"
Date: November 11, 2025
Host: AdTech God
Guest: Erez Levin

Overview:

This episode dives into the complex, evolving definition of “quality” in ad tech, as seen through the eyes of Erez Levin—a Google veteran and founder of Emmett Advisory. The discussion focuses on why quality goes beyond simple metrics like viewability, how digital advertising incentives encourage the wrong behaviors, and what the future holds for media buyers, publishers, and the evolving programmatic landscape. Levin argues that true marketing effectiveness requires a fundamental re-evaluation of how the industry perceives, measures, and pays for quality.

1. Erez Levin’s Journey and Perspective on Quality

Key Discussion (02:28 – 04:51):

• Levin’s background: 13 years at Google, with roles bridging account management, product, and agency partnerships.
• Early fascination with marketing; academic background in marketing is rare in ad tech.
• Career pivot from Google's search to programmatic and sell-side, then into integrating SSPs.
• His marketer’s mindset shapes his focus:

  "I pinpointed a lot of those challenges and issues in the industry to a lack of focus on quality—on media quality, audience quality, creative quality." (04:36, Levin)

Notable Quote:

"Some of the fundamentals of marketing effectiveness were being violated and increasingly so ... ultimately I pinpointed a lot of those challenges and issues in the industry to a lack of focus on quality." —Erez Levin (04:36)

2. What is “Quality” in Ad Tech?

Key Discussion (06:14 – 08:22):

• Complexity: Quality isn’t straightforward because marketing is inherently unpredictable, akin to Karl Popper’s "cloud vs. clock" sciences analogy.
• Marketing has mistakenly been treated as a measurable, clockwork science.
• Digital era’s focus on "vanity metrics" (e.g., viewability, surface-level conversions) obscures real quality.
• Not all impressions or placements are equal—context greatly matters.

Notable Quote:

"Marketing is much more of a cloud science ... digital made it easy to follow the wrong type of measurement that looks good on paper and is convincing enough but doesn’t necessarily tell the full story." —Erez Levin (06:51)

3. The Challenge of Determining & Valuing Quality

Guidance for Buyers (08:57 – 10:32):

• Quality is a spectrum, not a premium vs. non-premium binary.
• Low-quality media isn’t “bad” if the price is right—overpaying is the problem.
• The value should derive from measured effectiveness, not from meeting superficial metrics.
• Most effectiveness is demonstrated by incremental performance, not just correlation.

Notable Quote:

"It’s just a matter of not overpaying for low-quality media ... not paying the same for all of these impressions, ignoring most of these important dimensions of quality." —Erez Levin (09:39)

4. How Incentives and Scale Undermine Quality

Industry Dynamics (10:32 – 15:56):

• The open web’s scale makes granular quality control tough.
• The buy side’s indifference to quality—chasing scale and cheap CPMs—feeds the proliferation of Made-for-Advertising (MFA) sites, clickbait, and misinformation.
• Shift in blame: Publishers get blamed for junk content, but the real issue lies in buyers’ willingness to spend without demanding standards.
• Incentives matter—publishers respond to where the money flows.

Notable Exchange:

“The proliferation of low-quality media ... is because advertisers incentivize that, effectively ... [it’s] not any one person, but if anyone can change it, it’s going to be those marketers demanding that they get better effectiveness for their spend.” —Erez Levin (12:00, 15:20)
“It rarely shifts to the other side ... Nobody ever blames that side of the business ... But I think it’s the marketers who have the money who need to say, ‘Hey, no, I’m not spending with you unless you are hitting these particular quality guidelines.’” —AdTech God (14:17)

5. Fragmented Solutions & Limits of Allow Lists

Practical Realities (15:56 – 17:39):

• “Tight” allow lists still include tens of thousands of sites—practically unmanageable for ongoing quality vetting.
• Scalable solutions are elusive; small, vetted lists limit reach, drive up CPMs, and create pressure from procurement or cost-containment teams.
• The industry is approaching a tipping point as smarter marketers begin to demand better, but change is slow.

6. Decommoditization and the Future for Publishers

Market Evolution (17:39 – 21:49):

• Media has been commoditized, priced as if all impressions are equal—a “race to the bottom.”
• Publishers with unique, high-attention content and strong data will win; true long-tail, low-value sites will see their CPMs drop even lower.
• Premium content publishers (e.g., news media, high-quality video) suffer most from undifferentiated pricing.

Memorable Example:

“There’s still plenty of opportunity for niche sites. But if you’re just another recipe site ... you didn’t earn that. You can get whatever you can get, but it’s going to be commodity prices.” —Erez Levin (19:13)

• High-quality media may increasingly leave open programmatic marketplaces, favoring direct deals.

7. The Role of AI and Agentic Solutions

Looking Forward (21:08 – 24:04):

• AI is hot, but it’s unclear how successful it will be in distinguishing true quality at scale.
• Expect “quality-adjusted reach” to become a key metric.
• Premium inventory will become scarcer and less likely to be traded on the open web.
• CTV and other formats with high attention and good audience data will prosper.

“I see a decommoditization happening where higher quality media is going to get valued more ... It doesn’t mean every impression is priced perfectly, but we start to think about quality adjusted reach.” —Erez Levin (21:51)

8. Practical Advice for Agencies, Brands, and Platforms

Professional Reflection (24:04 – 26:22):

• Levin’s move from Google to founding Emmett Advisory has reinforced the need for a pragmatic, not perfectionist, approach.
• The North Star for all stakeholders should be genuine marketing effectiveness.
• Don’t be an absolutist—progress toward quality is incremental and context-specific.
• Question status quo, examine differing industry views, and trust your instincts against consensus thinking.

“It’s important to not be like an absolutist or perfectionist. Really important to understand what the North Star is—the North Star is more effective ... buying.” —Erez Levin (24:34)
“Attribution has sort of been gamed and it’s more correlation than causation ... If you sort of sniff that, trust your gut and at least question things a little bit more than I think the industry has in the last 10, 20 years.” —Erez Levin (25:44)

9. Final Reflections—Challenging the Status Quo

Encouragement and Mindset (26:22 – end):

• The culture of complacency is widespread; meaningful change starts with honest questioning.
• Social networks (X, LinkedIn) are key platforms for challenging consensus and surfacing constructive dissent.
• Even anonymous or pseudonymous voices (“create a fake Twitter, name a pseudonym and go at it”) can provoke needed industry conversation.

“If your gut is telling you something isn’t right, it’s okay ... raise a flag, bring up the conversation.” —AdTech God (26:30)

Key Takeaways

• Quality is spectrum-based and effectiveness-driven—not binary or metrics-based.
• Advertisers’ incentives drive media quality standards, for better or worse.
• Measurement must go beyond vanity metrics; focus on incremental impact.
• AI may help, but cannot replace the need for buyer vigilance and smart incentives.
• Change is underway: true quality is slowly being rewarded, commoditized junk losing ground.
• Question the status quo, engage in open debate, and always strive for marketing effectiveness.

Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• "Some of the fundamentals of marketing effectiveness were being violated ... I pinpointed a lot of those challenges and issues in the industry to a lack of focus on quality." —Erez Levin (04:36)

• "Marketing is much more of a cloud science ... digital made it easy to follow the wrong type of measurement that looks good on paper and is convincing enough but doesn’t necessarily tell the full story." —Erez Levin (06:51)

• "It’s just a matter of not overpaying for low-quality media ... not paying the same for all of these impressions." —Erez Levin (09:39)

• “The proliferation of low-quality media ... is because advertisers incentivize that, effectively.” —Erez Levin (12:00)

• “There’s still plenty of opportunity for niche sites. But if you’re just another recipe site ... you didn’t earn that. You can get whatever you can get, but it’s going to be commodity prices.” —Erez Levin (19:13)

• “If your gut is telling you something isn’t right, it’s okay ... raise a flag, bring up the conversation.” —AdTech God (26:30)

For those interested in getting involved or following up, connect with AdTech God on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or join the ATG Slack community.