Duration Media on their new business, Curation Media.

Summary

Marketecture Podcast Summary: Duration Media Launches Curation Media

Episode Overview In the April 28, 2025 episode of the Marketecture Podcast titled "Duration Media on their new business, Curation Media," hosts Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi engage in an insightful conversation with Andy Batkin, CEO of Duration Media. The episode delves into Duration Media’s latest venture, Curation Media, exploring its innovative approach to ad tech, its impact on the advertising ecosystem, and its strategic positioning in the market.

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Introduction to Duration Media and Curation Media

Ari Paparo opens the discussion by introducing Andy Batkin, highlighting his role as CEO of Duration Media and setting the stage for the announcement of Curation Media.

[00:00] Ari Paparo: "I'm Ari Paparo and I'm joined today by Andy Batkin. Andy is the CEO of Duration Media and he is here to announce a brand new offering called Curation Media."

Andy Batkin provides a brief history of Duration Media, emphasizing the company's foundation in 2018 with the goal of establishing a global ad tech software presence. He underscores the company's pioneering work in real-time viewability ad tech, which earned Duration Media two patents.

[01:13] Andy Batkin: "I founded Duration Media in 2018 with a goal of establishing it as a global ad tech software company. And we built real time viewability ad tech that was so innovative we actually received two patents on that."

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Understanding Curation Media

Ari probes into the essence of Curation Media, seeking clarity on how it differentiates from Duration Media's existing services focused on viewability.

[01:04] Ari Paparo: "Exactly. Yeah, that should be. That's the alternative name for my podcast, two OGs hanging out. All right, tell me, what is Curation Media?"

Andy explains that Curation Media is essentially an evolution of what Duration Media has been doing over the past seven years—curating high-quality inventory based on viewability—but with a significant pivot: eliminating intermediaries by connecting directly with Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs).

[03:01] Andy Batkin: "Curation Media is a unique SSP, a differentiated SSP. It enables us to continue to do what we've been doing for seven years but what we're doing now is we're removing the middleman. We are going direct to DSPs."

This strategic shift aims to streamline the ad buying process, reducing the complexity and inefficiencies associated with multiple bid requests in traditional Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs).

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Technical Mechanics of Curation Media

Ari seeks a deeper understanding of how Curation Media operates, particularly its technical underpinnings in ad placement and viewability.

[08:16] Ari Paparo: "All right, so let's do a quick sort of lightning round, some relatively quick questions, relatively quick answers."

Andy elaborates on the technology, describing how Curation Media uses real-time viewability to detect when an ad meets predefined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such as 90% pixel visibility for 30 seconds. Upon meeting these criteria, the impression is offered to DSPs as a high-quality, single bid request, significantly reducing the usual flood of bid requests in the ecosystem.

[09:02] Andy Batkin: "When it meets those KPIs, we then have the ability to offer that impression or the opportunity to buy that impression, which is always 90% plus viewable, has high attention scores, is removing multiple bid requests."

This approach not only enhances the efficiency of ad placements but also ensures that advertisers receive impressions that are more likely to drive engagement and conversions.

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Market Positioning and Differentiation

Ari challenges the "curation" nomenclature, questioning how direct dealings with DSPs align with traditional curation practices that often involve adding data to third-party SSPs.

[04:40] Ari Paparo: "Right. So it's interesting. This is sort of anti curation. You're called curation media. But what you're doing is going direct. Instead of the classic definition of curation which is adding data on somebody else's ssp, could you kind of square the circle on, on how this fits into the curation narrative?"

Andy clarifies that Curation Media focuses on the quality of supply, ensuring that only high-viewability and high-attention impressions are curated. He introduces the concept of "scarcity at scale," offering billions of high-quality impressions while maintaining their exclusivity to a select group of DSPs.

[05:56] Andy Batkin: "We're focused on curating the supply and that what we, our new term is what we call we're going to create scarcity at scale. We are going to create billions of these impressions, but there'll be a finite amount of them."

This differentiation allows Curation Media to stand out in a crowded SSP market by offering unique, high-quality inventory that traditional SSPs, which often deal with vast but less targeted impressions, cannot match.

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Competitive Advantages and Challenges

When pressed about the greatest challenges, Andy acknowledges the skepticism around introducing another SSP into an already saturated market. His strategy hinges on clearly communicating Curation Media’s unique value proposition—offering curated, high-quality supply directly to DSPs.

[14:17] Andy Batkin: "Our greatest challenge is that when we use the three letters of SSP, people look at us and say, well, why would we need another SSP in a multiple and duplicate the market in an undifferentiated market is probably the best way."

Regarding competitive advantages, Andy highlights their differentiation through unique supply and the ability to deliver only highly viewable, high-attention, sustainable impressions.

[15:14] Andy Batkin: "We're creating these impressions and Google buys them, the trade desk buys them. ... we are, from what I can see, the only SSP that Offer a unique supply of only highly viewable, high attention, sustainable impressions that deliver high performance and outcomes."

When questioned about why industry giants like Google haven’t replicated their model, Andy speculates that Google focuses on scale over quality and notes that Duration Media’s patented technology may serve as a deterrent.

[15:47] Andy Batkin: "I think the key answer is they optimize for scale, right? What we do is we optimize for quality."

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Launch and Availability

Ari inquires about the availability of Curation Media and how interested parties can access the service. Andy announces that Curation Media is officially launching on the podcast date, making the Marketecture audience the first to hear the news. He directs listeners to the dedicated website for publishers and advertisers to sign up and learn more.

[17:14] Andy Batkin: "Well, we're launching on this podcast today. Your audience is the first to learn about this."

The website, curationmedia.net, serves as the hub for information and registration, facilitating connections between publishers seeking to monetize high-quality inventory and advertisers aiming to purchase premium impressions.

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Conclusion

The episode wraps up with Ari thanking Andy Batkin for sharing insights into Duration Media’s new venture, Curation Media. The discussion provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of how Curation Media aims to revolutionize ad tech by prioritizing quality over quantity, directly connecting publishers with DSPs, and offering a unique value proposition in a competitive market.

[18:35] Ari Paparo: "Thank you for being here."

Listeners are encouraged to explore further by visiting curationmedia.net and staying tuned to upcoming Marketecture episodes for more executive interviews and industry insights.

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Notable Quotes:

• Andy Batkin [05:56]: "We're going to create billions of these impressions, but there'll be a finite amount of them. There will be infinite amount of these impressions."

• Andy Batkin [15:14]: "We are the only SSP that offer a unique supply of only highly viewable, high attention, sustainable impressions that deliver high performance and outcomes."

• Andy Batkin [17:22]: "I would say a tiger."

Key Takeaways:

1. Curation Media represents a strategic pivot for Duration Media, focusing on curating high-quality ad impressions by eliminating intermediaries and connecting directly with DSPs.
2. The platform leverages patented real-time viewability technology to ensure ads meet stringent KPIs, enhancing advertiser confidence and performance outcomes.
3. By reducing the multiplicity of bid requests, Curation Media streamlines the ad buying process, increasing efficiency and sustainability within the ad ecosystem.
4. The company faces challenges in differentiating itself in a saturated SSP market but leverages its unique value proposition and patented technology to stand out.
5. Curation Media is now live, inviting publishers and advertisers to engage through their dedicated website.

This episode offers valuable insights into the evolving landscape of ad tech, highlighting how innovative approaches like Curation Media can address longstanding inefficiencies and elevate the standards of digital advertising.

Transcript

[Ari Paparo]

This podcast is brought to you by Adelaide Media. Verification and measurement are undergoing major disruption. Legacy players are pivoting to performance. Advertising AI is reshaping brand safety and attention is replacing viewability. Adelaide is leading the shift with au, a new way to assess media quality that scores placements based on their potential to drive attention and outcomes. Before your ads run, think of it like a credit score for media. Finally, a clear view of quality. Before you buy, take the guesswork out of your investment strategy and try Adelaide AU on your next campaign. Welcome to marketecture where you can get smart fast with in depth interviews with leading technology executives. I'm Ari Paparo and I'm joined today by Andy Batkin. Andy is the CEO of Duration Media and he is here to announce a brand new offering called Curation Media. So we're excited to hear about it. Andy, thank you for joining us.

[Andy Batkin]

Ari, it is always great to see you two OG is hanging out for sure.

[Ari Paparo]

Exactly. Yeah, that should be. That's the alternative name for my podcast, two OGs hanging out. All right, tell me, what is Curation Media?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, it's interesting question because it actually is what we've been doing for the last seven years. I founded Duration Media in 2018 with a goal of establishing it as a global ad tech software company. And we built real time viewability ad tech that was so innovative we actually received two patents on that enables us to detect and measure viewability in real time. That for hundreds of publishers globally in emea, us, apac, et cetera, we actually create incremental inventory and revenue that we have been delivering to the marketplace but through intermediaries, through the SSPs. So when we actually detect that an ad is in view, we offer our multiple demand sources the ability to bid on these what are always highly viewable, highly attentive, highly performant inventory as well as sustainable. We could talk about that.

[Ari Paparo]

So duration, duration has been in a sense curating inventory keyed off of viewability.

[Andy Batkin]

That's correct. You know, that's the, the, the, the, the, the key aspect one performance advertiser said to us a few weeks ago is that I have to keep buying ads from you guys because people don't see my ad they can't click on.

[Ari Paparo]

That's, that's always been the argument for viewability. You can't click on something that's not viewable. So what, what is Curation Media?

[Andy Batkin]

So Curation Media is a unique ssp, a differentiated ssp. It enables us to continue to do what we've been doing for seven years but what we're doing now is we're removing the middleman. We are going direct to DSPs. The market has demanded this and this is in essence a pivot for us is to basically do the same thing we've been doing for publishers and we have always been a public publisher centric company to help publishers curate these incremental inventory and drive new revenues for them, but have the ability to offer buyers a quality supply. Right. So we're going to go directly to the dsps. The DSPS love what we're doing because when we curate an impression at a publisher and we offer it to our DSPs, it's going to be one bid request instead of what Jounce Media says is 135 bid requests for each and every one of the multiple trillions of auctions that occur. So we are truly a differentiated SSP where we will provide unique supply and only unique supply to just a select group of DSPs.

[Ari Paparo]

Okay, so which DSPs are currently integrated?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, we're just in the process of doing that. We'll be announcing who those partners are shortly. But they are names that you would certainly recognize.

[Ari Paparo]

Right. So it's interesting. This is sort of anti curation. You're called curation media. But what you're doing is going direct. Instead of the classic definition of curation which is adding data on somebody else's ssp, could you kind of square the circle on, on how this fits into the curation narrative?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, we, we think it starts with supply and the, the curation of a quality, the quality inventory is really what we're focused on. You look at, you could have all the great data in the world. Right. But if the impression that you're targeting is not viewable, does not have high attention scores, doesn't deliver performance and outcomes and we think sustainability is also a very key component of that and has to be efficient and that's what the market wants. So we're focused on curating the supply and that what we, our new term is what we call we're going to create scarcity at scale. We are going to create billions of these impressions, but there'll be a finite amount of them. There will be infinite amount of these impressions.

[Ari Paparo]

Scarcity of scale. That really is a fun one. So you're direct with publishers from an ads txt perspective. Do you know, are you listening as direct or he lists as a reseller?

[Andy Batkin]

Yes. And that's the other thing is that publishers today, we're just as bad or as the culprit, you know, of the Multiple duplicate bid request, you know, aspect. And the reason why the market is, you know, asking for, you know, supply path optimization is we have 24 lines of ads. Txt. Right. And those publishers that, that we have relationships with for years, those that are just now putting our tech on their site and those that are committed to the launch will enable us to curate billions of these highly viewable, highly attentive, efficient, high performant and sustainable impressions.

[Ari Paparo]

Right. What about on the buy side? So you mentioned DSPs. Are you talking to agencies and advertisers directly? And are what extent are you curating within the curated media exchange?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, that's a great question because the agencies and brands have inclusion lists and what we're working on with a number of those buyers are, here's the inclusion list. Let's say an agency has a thousand sites. We are going to those thousand sites and saying this agency wants to surface these valuable, this quality inventory that will enable them to buy the best impressions only on the sites that they want to buy on. So when you think about it from a publisher pitch, if you were a publisher and I came to you and said this agency wants to buy these kinds of impressions, put this technology on your site and we'll curate these, this incremental inventory that will deliver as a one bid request to this DSP and they will buy these impressions on behalf of that agency. So there isn't a publisher who says no to that.

[Ari Paparo]

Right? Right.

[Andy Batkin]

One thing I want to make clear on the SSP side, we're not in the header. So we're not resurfacing or reselling or offering for sale any of the impressions that the publisher actually creates themselves.

[Ari Paparo]

Okay.

[Andy Batkin]

What our tech does is it enables us to see that an ad is in view and then we then offer the rdsps the opportunity to bid on an ad that replaces that particular ad that is sitting there.

[Ari Paparo]

Oh, that's interesting. So you have, you have, you have code on the page, but it's not going through the normal flow of the header to the ad server. Instead it's kind of sniping the impressions and running an auction as soon as they become visible.

[Andy Batkin]

Right. And because what we do is we have the work of the publisher to set KPIs. So we say, okay, let's have that ad be in view for 30 seconds and we want 90% of the pixels to be in view. And here's where our real time viewability technology comes in, is that we have the ability to detect when that ad has hit the page and then what Percentage of the pixels are in view and then what the duration of time that ad is in view. And when it meets those KPIs, we then have the ability to offer that impression or the opportunity to buy that impression, which is always 90% plus viewable, has high attention scores, is removing multiple bid requests. We're taking 135 bid requests down to seven. So we'll be able to then quantify with third parties how much carbon is actually being removed from the ecosystem. And because of all of this, these are impressions that deliver high performance and outcomes, which is ultimately what, what advertisers want.

[Ari Paparo]

Does the ad ultimately get served by the publisher's ad server or do they have account in the publisher ad server? Because you're effectively after the publisher ad server has made a decision, we, we.

[Andy Batkin]

Actually take over the impression. So either we serve it or the, the DSP or the agency. There's a third party ad server, let's put it that way, right, that serves the app and then, then all of the third party measurement comes in. If they're using, I'm sure, you know, lumen for attention, you know, and ultimately measuring the outcomes, whether it be conversions, clicks, you know, roas, et cetera.

[Ari Paparo]

But what happens to the original ad that isn't shown it?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, the original ad, if there's a new ad, Is that what you're asking?

[Ari Paparo]

Yeah. If there's a new ad, what happened to the ad that would have been.

[Andy Batkin]

Literally lays over the existing ad? So that first ad was in view for 30 seconds. Our industry, you know, is crazy. You know, the fact that a, an ad could be in view, 50% of an ad could be viewed for one second and it counts as a viewable ad is insane. Right? So as a part of the quality, we want to make sure that an ad is in view for a length of time that has the opportunity to increase brand awareness or to have the ad clicked on, whatever the KPIs are.

[Ari Paparo]

Right, I see. So the original ad is shown and then the new ad is shown as well. So let's go back to curation. So this seems a little bit anti curation. Even though the company's called Curation Media. How do you see what I think of curation, that market playing out where you have an SSP and you have a third party adding data or adding targeting info to that, do you see that as continuing as a trend?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, listen, data is important, right? We know that talking to the dsps, we become more of a friend of the dsps versus a competitor, right? Because we're creating these quality impression where they now have the ability to target using their data sources, really put them back into that, that margin business that the sell side curation players have been taking from them. So that's part of the embrace of the dsps is that we're showing them unique supply that is incredibly, that is quality and giving them the ability to use their data to be able to target versus a middleman or one of the sell side partners.

[Ari Paparo]

DSPs meanwhile, are doing their own curation, bringing inventory together on their platform. So how does this relate to that?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, the beauty of our technology is that the impressions that we offer them didn't exist a nanosecond ago. So we're curating billions of incremental impressions that always have the attributes of high viewability, high attention, high performance and outcomes and are sustainable, that are actually removing big requests from the ecosystem so they know when they're bidding on these pressures. Matter of fact, some of the DSP saying we don't need to have a deal ID with you, we know every impression that you're going to deliver to us is going to have those attributes. So those that have self serve platforms need a deal ID because those are using IT need to identify that these are those quality impressions.

[Ari Paparo]

Right, got it.

[Andy Batkin]

Helping the DSPS find the impressions, the best quality impressions that they can find on the web.

[Ari Paparo]

All right, so let's do a quick sort of lightning round, some relatively quick questions, relatively quick answers. What is your greatest challenge?

[Andy Batkin]

Our greatest challenge is that when we use the three letters of ssp, people look at us and say, well, why would we need another SSP in a multiple and duplicate the market in an undifferentiated market is probably the best way. And so we have to clearly describe that we are differentiated. We are curating unique supply to the marketplace. And again, we've been doing this for seven years. The DSP has been buying our impressions, billions on them. Right. And the SSPs of course, have been the middlemen who've been sending those to the DSPs. So I think from a publisher standpoint, we have to clarify that we're not in the header, we're not trying to resell your impressions, we're only offering the impressions that we curate for you that didn't exist before.

[Ari Paparo]

All right, and what's your biggest competitive advantage?

[Andy Batkin]

I think competitive advantage is, is the fact that we are differentiated. You know, the DSP has reacted incredibly well to this pitch of offering unique supply. We are, from what I can see, the only SSP that Offer a unique supply of only highly viewable, high attention, sustainable impressions that deliver high performance and outcomes.

[Ari Paparo]

Right. And why won't the big guys like Google and other people just reproduce this?

[Andy Batkin]

I have nightmares about that every day. I often said, we're a Google certified publisher partner, one of only 120 some odd in the world. I often wonder why Google hasn't done, you know, try to recreate. Now we have patents, so maybe that's a deterrent. But, but I think the, the key answer is they optimize for scale, right? What we do is we optimize for quality. So you know, we have, as I mentioned before, you know, we, we, we've been curating these impressions and Google buys them, the trade desk buys them. You know, it's an interesting story about the trade desk is that many years ago they tossed out resellers, right? And we went back to them and said, well, the nomenclature is wrong for us. You know, we're classified as a reseller, but here are the impressions that we curate and look, look at the quality of what they are and they put us back on the buy less. Right? So we, we, we think there's a real opportunity here to build a huge business and to work with the DSPs directly is probably the best way to do that.

[Ari Paparo]

All right, and last question. If Duration media or Curation media was an animal, what animal would it be?

[Andy Batkin]

Wow. What are your best questions?

[Ari Paparo]

It's always, we ask the question every time, so you got to come prepared.

[Andy Batkin]

I would say a tiger. That's what I.

[Ari Paparo]

Okay, so when is curation Media going to be available and how do you get it?

[Andy Batkin]

Well, we're launching on this podcast today. Your audience is the first to learn about this.

[Ari Paparo]

Oh, wow. Exclusive here at Architecture.

[Andy Batkin]

Yes, it is exclusive from Architecture. Our website will be curationmedia.net and people can go and find out if you're a publisher and want to sign up or if you're an advertiser. Want to find out more about how we can work together, especially with your inclusion list, to be able to go to those sites and help you buy the best quality impressions you can buy only on the sites you want to buy. We love to work with both the buyers and the sellers, which again, we've been doing for seven years.

[Ari Paparo]

All right, Andy Batkin of Duration Media and now Curation Media. Thank you for being here.

[Andy Batkin]

Hey, Jari.

[Ari Paparo]

Thank you for listening to the marketexture podcast. New episodes come out every Friday and an insightful vendor interview is published each Monday. You can subscribe to our library of hundreds of executive interviews at Markitecture tv. You can also sign up for free for our weekly newsletter with my original strategic insights on the week's news at News Market tv. And if you're feeling social, we operate a vibrant Slack community that you can apply to [e-mail].