Marketecture Episode 153: Scott Spencer Invented RTB, Now He’s Taking on Cookie Banners

Date: December 19, 2025
Host: Ari Paparo (A) with Eric Franchi (B)
Guest: Scott Spencer (C), Founder, Rewarded Interest; ex-DoubleClick/Google Product Leader

Overview:

This episode dives deep into digital privacy, consumer consent, and the potential of true user control over web identity, led by industry veteran Scott Spencer. Spencer discusses his journey inventing RTB (Real-Time Bidding), critiques the broken cookie banner system, and shares his new approach through his startup, Rewarded Interest. The hosts and Spencer also explore the shifting regulatory landscape, challenges in ad tech trust & safety, and the current wave of innovation (including the impact of AI and video podcasts).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Garden to Startup: Scott Spencer’s Next Act

• Timestamp: 05:29–07:14

• After decades at DoubleClick and Google (22 years), Scott reflects on “unfinished business” in ad tech—especially around privacy and consumer control.

• Past work: Instrumental in the Coalition for Better Ads, which set UX standards that successfully reduced ad blocking rates.

  Quote:

  "We were able to make things better for consumers and make things better for the industry, because lower ad blocking rate, more monetization can happen. The industry's happier. Consumers not being annoyed, they're happier." — Scott Spencer [06:22]

2. The Real Problem with Cookie Consent Banners

• Timestamp: 07:14–09:44

• Cookie banners are frustrating, inconsistent, and fail to provide true user control.

• Mozilla survey: Only 16% of consumers feel in control of their privacy online.

• Banner fatigue means users just “click away” without real consent, defeating their purpose.

  Quote:

  "Cookie banners are broken. Like, that is just not the right interface, the user experience for people to be able to manage their consent... It defeats the whole purpose of control, because control needs to be informed." — Scott Spencer [07:24–08:18]

• Rewarded Interest’s solution:

  • Centralize privacy/consent management for users across the web and devices.
  • Let users set preferences once, then communicate them programmatically.
  • Blocks unwanted trackers and supports the Global Privacy Control (GPC) for complete opt-out.

  Quote:

  "You can manage your settings in one place... You don’t need to have consent banners because you already set your settings." — Scott Spencer [08:36–09:44]

3. Should Browsers Solve This? Why Not?

• Timestamp: 09:44–11:21

• Ari questions why major browsers haven’t solved user consent management.

• Scott: Browsers are siloed, and the need extends across devices and operating systems—from browsers to TVs and mobile.

  • With AI-driven “agentic browsing,” users may want different identities or privacy for different browsing contexts.

  Quote:

  "It’s not just in your browser, though. It needs to be almost at the OS level or cross OS ... so this can be done once and now cross-device, cross-environment, your settings are done." — Scott Spencer [10:11–11:21]

4. Age-Gating and Parental Control

• Timestamp: 11:21–12:32

• Ongoing debate (in US Congress) whether age gating should be managed at the device or app level.

• Rewarded Interest introduces a “minor mode” for parents: minors can’t opt into tracking or consent, providing robust legal protection.

  Quote:

  "As a parent, you can install this, you can then lock out your child, your minor from being able to do any consent... All of the privacy pieces are turned on." — Scott Spencer [11:50–12:32]

5. Do Users Actually Want Granular Control?

• Timestamp: 12:32–14:10

• Most users want simplicity; granular controls are available but rarely touched.

• The app offers “rewards” and super-easy onboarding to boost opt-in rates.

• Control is “there when they need it”—like blocking a specific vendor—without fussing daily.

  Quote:

  "You don’t go and adjust your side view mirrors on your car every day, but you need that control when you want to." — Scott Spencer [13:03–14:10]

6. European Regulatory Changes & Global Privacy Trends

• Timestamp: 14:10–19:05

• Explains the status of GDPR, the Digital Omnibus package (potentially weakening consumer protections), and the ongoing need for some form of user consent and banners—even as laws evolve.

• “Anonymous” or pseudonymous IDs like cookies may soon be exempt from consent requirements, shifting the burden.

  Quote:

  "The criteria for a pseudonymous identifier to be considered personal data is whether or not you as a company can... associate personal data with that user." — Scott Spencer [16:19] "The internet doesn't really like geographic borders." — Scott Spencer [19:05]

7. Incentives & Adoption: Will the Industry Embrace User-Controlled Privacy?

• Timestamp: 19:05–21:54

• Spencer believes Rewarded Interest offers publishers and ad networks a way to trim compliance costs and friction while keeping users happy—potential industry pull coming from this angle.
• Eric Franchi highlights the investor perspective: the privacy/consumer engagement space is tough to win, but the upside is huge.

8. The Origins of RTB: “Did You Invent It?”

• Timestamp: 22:25–28:58

• Scott’s history at DoubleClick/Google: 22 years, co-inventor with George Hayley of “network proxy bidding” (later known as real-time bidding, RTB).

• The patent, technical groundwork (internal redirects, “in-reds”), and key innovations that enabled real-time exchange auctions.

• RTB’s emergence was a collaborative, industry-wide phenomena—many claim firsts, but Spencer’s work was foundational within Google/DoubleClick.

  Quote:

  "What I definitely did invent was what we call network proxy bidding." — Scott Spencer [22:36] "It was super organic... we had to connect Google and DoubleClick and the data centers, they’re in different locations... had to come up with this just low latency way to pass the information across." — Scott Spencer [26:58]

• Regrets?

  • Main regret: not taking time to enjoy the moment more and celebrate with the team, rather than technical or strategic missteps.

  "My biggest regret is just that there's some amazing, amazing people forgotten to time who were responsible for this transformation." — Scott Spencer [28:58–30:46]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cookie banners:

  "Cookie banners are broken. Like, that is just not the right interface, the user experience for people to be able to manage their consent... It defeats the whole purpose of control, because control needs to be informed." — Scott Spencer [07:24–08:18]

• On what’s needed for true privacy control:

  "It’s not just in your browser... It needs to be almost at the OS level." — Scott Spencer [10:11–11:21]

• On parents managing minors’ privacy:

  "You can then lock out your child... they can't actually consent." — Scott Spencer [11:50]

• On RTB’s invention:

  "What I definitely did invent was what we call network proxy bidding... Along with George Hayley who co-invented it with me." — Scott Spencer [22:36–22:57]

Timestamps for Major Topics

• 05:29 — Scott’s post-Google motivation, the origins of Rewarded Interest
• 07:14 — Coalition for Better Ads, lasting problems with cookies/consent
• 08:36 — How Rewarded Interest centralizes and simplifies privacy control
• 09:44 — “Why haven’t browsers solved this?”
• 11:21 — Age gating, “minor mode,” and US regulatory parallels
• 14:10 — State of consent and privacy in Europe and globally
• 19:05 — Industry incentives: How user-centric privacy can benefit all players
• 22:25 — The history—and mythology—of RTB’s invention
• 28:58 — Regrets and reflections on changing an industry

Industry News Highlights (with Commentary)

Google Makes Quiet Changes in Response to EU (Unified Pricing Rules/Rev Share)

• Relevant Segment: [34:53–37:49]

• Google eliminated “Unified Pricing Rules,” a controversial change cited in antitrust proceedings, and set open bidding rev share in the EU to 0%.
• Ari: “This particular thing, Unified Pricing Rules, was so obviously wrong that they knew they were going to have to remove it.”

Meta’s Ad Revenue from Chinese Scam Ads

• Relevant Segment: [39:13–43:49]

• Reuters reports $3B+ of Meta’s China-driven revenue is from “scams, gambling, [and] illegal content.”
• Scott (on trust & safety): “When I was managing trust and safety, the goal was trust. If you have this much bad ads running on a system, that’s going to mean anybody… is not going to trust you as much in the long term. So it's in Meta's interest to clean this up.”
• Discussed scale: 15B ads per day on Meta platforms; only AI/ML can filter at this level.

Agentic AI Campaigns: Sell Side and Buy Side Innovations

• Relevant Segment: [45:18–49:47]

• PubMatic: First agentic campaign run entirely by AI, with no DSP.
• Buy Side: Fyllion's “Agent Connector” enables AI-driven campaign planning/optimization.
• AI in ad tech: Hosts skeptical about “AI washing” but see genuine change.

YouTube vs. Netflix: The Podcast and Video Wars

• Relevant Segment: [50:43–54:43]

• Netflix signs iHeart and Barstool for exclusive video podcasts, challenging YouTube’s pole position in podcast video.
• The Oscars will leave ABC for YouTube in 2029—a major indicator of media ecosystem changes.

Overall Takeaways

• Scott Spencer remains a transformative thinker, shifting from display ad-tech innovation (RTB) to solving the consumer privacy/consent problem at its root.
• Industry privacy/compliance is in flux: Laws are changing, cookie banners are ineffective, and there’s room for innovation both technically and in user experience.
• Web identity and privacy management: The future is likely multi-device, centralized, and user-controlled, with opportunity for solutions beyond what browsers or publishers offer natively.
• Innovation and Regulation: Industry changes are often reactive; the window for proactive, user-centric solutions remains open for bold operators.

Resources & Links

• Rewarded Interest: rewardedinterest.com
• Marketecture Podcast: marketecture.tv

This summary captures the episode’s core debates, innovations, and news, highlighting Scott Spencer’s unique insights and the show’s fast-paced, expert tone.