Marketecture Wrapped 2025: Predictions, Year-in-Review, and Shout-Outs

Hosts: Ari Paparo (A) & Eric Franchi (B)
Episode: 154
Date: December 23, 2025

Overview

In this special year-end “Marketecture Wrapped” episode, Ari Paparo and Eric Franchi reflect on the podcast’s growth, recap the biggest news and trends of 2025 in ad tech and marketing, evaluate how last year’s predictions fared, crown their picks for top industry leaders and companies, and, of course, make bold predictions for 2026. With candid banter and deep industry knowledge, the hosts provide a comprehensive snapshot of what mattered this year—and where the space is heading.

Podcast Growth & Stats

• Explosive Audience Growth:
  Marketecture’s audience grew 200% year-over-year on Spotify.
  Ari: “Our audience was up 200% year over year on Spotify, which is great. All the numbers were up, which was great.” (04:06)
• Top Episodes:
  1. Paige Billings from Magnite on the future of CTV (Jan 15th)
  2. Brian O’Kelley (Scope3 AI pivot) live at Marketecture Live 1
• Events & Company Milestones:
  • Two sold-out Marketecture Live conferences; a larger one planned for March 2026.
  • Acquisitions: Serial Marketer and Adland (the largest Super Bowl commercial library online).
  • Leadership Change: Ari stepped down as CEO; Jeremy Bloom took the role.
• Tech Note:
  • Launched MAD DB, an AI-personalized ad industry newsreader.

Reflecting on Last Year’s Predictions

Hits

• Strategic M&A Surge:
  Eric: "This was the year of strategic M&A... it was wild." (07:08-08:15)
  Example deals: T-Mobile/Vistar, Omnicom/IPG, Paramount/Skydance, Pinterest/TV Scientific.
• AI Momentum:
  Both predicted “year of AI” in ad tech, with new use cases and adoption focused on planning and execution. Eric: "We'd see more actual use cases and adoption and with a focus on things like planning." (09:44)

Mixed or Misses

• TikTok Ban:
  Predicted full ban—actual result: legal ownership wrangling, “controlled by a US entity.” (11:15)
• Google Spinning Out Ad Tech:
  Prediction was for a mandate—actual: Still pending, but Google declared a monopolist.
• Rise of AI-First Agencies:
  Some movement, but no breakout stars.
  Ari: “I'm still waiting to hear the story of this two-person company became agency of record for some big, big company. We haven't seen that yet.” (13:01)
• Marketecture Team Size Guess: Eric predicted 6 employees (correct), Ari guessed 11.
  Ari: "We use the word employee pretty loosely... I think we're five. Five or six." (13:23)

Fun Nostradamus Moment

• Ari predicted a Silicon Valley company (like Netflix) would buy TV Scientific. It happened—Pinterest acquired TV Scientific. (14:24)

Year in Review: Biggest News and Trends

Big News Stories

1. The Trade Desk (TTD) Shakeup & Amazon DSP Ascendancy

• TTD missed its Q1 earnings for the first time as a public company, lost Walmart exclusivity, had key executive departures, and faced new competition.

• Amazon DSP surged, gaining share and pushing full-steam on feature releases and price competition.

  Ari: “TTD had a really bad year in terms of its perception and its stock momentum... Amazon DSP... just unrelenting progress.” (15:20-17:10)

• Eric: “Stick around to the end, because I think we both have some thoughts about TTD in 2026.” (17:10)

2. The CTV Duopoly Emerges

• Ari: “The biggest news here is that YouTube and Netflix are effectively creating a duopoly in streaming...” (23:11-24:54)
• Netflix buys Warner Bros. and gains exclusive podcasts; YouTube pulls off exclusive Oscars rights—creating formidable moats.

3. The Agentic AI Explosion

• AEOs, GEOs, and open standards (ADCP) take off.
• New orgs (agenticadvertising.org), fresh Lumascape, and a wave of new “agentic” AI startups appear.
• Eric: “This was the year that really advanced agentic AI, not only on the whole, but as it relates to advertising.” (26:28-26:44)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Podcast Stats & Brand Evolution

• Ari: “My instinct is that we have a solid, loyal fandom that is... probably the largest in ad tech. It's not radically growing, but it's also not shrinking.” (05:50)

TTD & Amazon

• Ari: “...the trade desk had a really bad year in terms of its perception ... while the fundamentals are pretty strong... But perception wise...” (15:20)

M&A Environment

• Eric: “This was the year of strategic M&A and very clearly this is around capabilities, this is around channels, this is around... technology...” (08:05)

Agentic AI Takeover

• Eric: “It’s obviously AI... We got the rise of a new category, right? AEO, GEO... new open standard ADCP... new organization... a new Lumascape. If you take a step back, I mean, this was the year that really advanced agentic AI...” (26:09-26:44)

Prognostication Humility

• Ari: “Is it like the Ad Exchange—something that changes advertising in every way or is it like Excel—something that changes advertising but doesn't produce any companies?” (27:13)

Industry Awards: Top CEOs & Companies

Best Private Company CEO

• Eric: Jason Fairchild (TV Scientific): “Executed flawlessly… built a team… ends the year with a successful acquisition by Pinterest.” (17:24)
• Ari: Arthur Quero (Vibe): “He is a masterclass... how to communicate with the market—both customers, partners, investors, etc.” (18:23)

Best Public Company CEO

• Ari: Sundar Pichai (Google): “Google is the undisputed leader in the AI race. Undisputed.” (19:58)
• Eric: Adam Foroughi (Applovin): “This company… is defying the laws of gravity… At the end of the day, the scorecard for public CEOs is stock price. He drove the highest stock price increase as a class.” (22:14)

Hottest Trends

• CTV Consolidation: YouTube & Netflix go “walled garden,” squeezing independent SSPs/DSPs.
• Agentic AI: Spawned new standards, orgs, companies; becoming foundational to ad tech infrastructure.

Hottest Startups

• Eric: Swivel (“AI for ops” led by Joe Hirsch, rapidly executing on SCP and agentic buzz). (28:06)
• Ari: Branch Labs (neural net-based pharma targeting) and MadConnect (“Snowflake in the cloud for ad tech”). (29:19-29:57)

Hottest Later-Stage Company

• Both: Vibe

Best Podcast Episodes of the Year

• Eric: Terry Kawaja live on stage at ML Live 2 — “Most entertaining, with good learnings and perspective.” (31:20)
• Ari: Kristoff from Analytics — “A really interesting conversation… got a lot of great feedback.” (31:39)

Most Educational Moment

• Both: Adam Epstein (Gigi) on how to build a vertical AI agent — “He goes through and defines everything… fine-tuning vs reinforcement learning vs RAG vs system props.” (32:18-33:28)

Predictions for 2026

1. TTD Comeback & Major Acquisition

   • Both expect Trade Desk to “take back the narrative” and do a major acquisition—possibly a unique data or supply provider.
   • Eric: “Every cycle, they build you up, they tear you down, and then you rise from the ashes.” (33:40-34:27)

2. ADCP Proliferation—Sell-Side Embraces, DSPs Resist

   • Ari predicts every SSP will tout ADCP, while DSPs will be reluctant or hostile. (35:21-36:18)

3. AI Content Marketplaces & Ad Products from LLMs

   • Eric foresees a boom in content marketplaces and that OpenAI and other LLMs will launch their own ad products.

4. Agentic Buying Accelerates, Cracks in Display Market

   • Agentic buying (automated, AI-driven transactions) grows fast.
   • Legacy display ad businesses see pressure or decline.

5. DoJ vs. Google Outcome

   • Ari bets Google wins their antitrust trial—requiring only “behavioral remedies,” not ad tech spinoffs.
   • Ari: “Google’s going to win. Ruling in Feb or March, and it's going to be predominantly behavioral remedies.” (38:59)

6. CTV Wars & Entry of Performance Powerhouses

   • Expect Meta, Google, Applovin, and TikTok to go all-in on Performance CTV (connected TV), through launches or acquisitions.
   • Meta eyed as “most likely big mover.”

7. In-App Ad Market Heats Up

   • Meta vs. Applovin rivalry grows; in-app ad platforms become growth engines and acquisition targets.

8. PE Bargain-Hunting & M&A Roll-ups

   • 2026 sees more PE activity—especially bargain buys and roll-up strategies outside of legacy display.

9. The TikTok Election

   • Influencing young voters through TikTok emerges as a pivotal election tool, especially for Democrats.

Noteworthy Timestamps

• [04:06] – 2025 Marketecture stats, top episodes, company growth
• [08:15] – Strategic M&A: stats, analysis
• [09:44] – AI “year of,” real-world adoption
• [15:20] – TTD vs. Amazon DSP, DSP wars
• [17:21] – Best CEO awards begin
• [22:14] – Applovin’s stock rise & CEO profile
• [23:11] – CTV duopoly (YouTube/Netflix) analysis
• [26:28] – Agentic AI’s massive influence this year
• [32:18] – Adam Epstein (Gigi) episode shout-out (“vertical AI agent” crash course)
• [33:40] – 2026 Predictions: TTD’s future
• [38:59] – Google & DOJ case speculation
• [44:45] – TikTok’s role in the next election

Signature Tone & Banter

• Candid, dry humor and inside-industry references.
• Self-effacing honesty: “I had to listen to the episode this morning, and it's pretty cringy but do what we could do do...” (03:37)
• Frequent gentle ribbing, e.g., on M&A predictions, podcast stats, and each other’s portfolio companies.
• High energy and depth, especially around M&A, AI, and sector-defining news.

Final Shout-Outs & Community

• Ari and Eric close by thanking listeners, the Marketecture team, and previewing more live coverage at CES 2026.
• Ari: “Thanks for hosting this with me, co-hosting it. I couldn't do it without you.” (45:04)
• Encouragement to connect, provide feedback—especially on MAD DB.

Conclusion:
Marketecture Wrapped 2025 covers the changing tides of ad tech—from explosive AI adoption and DSP shake-ups to the ongoing drama of platform consolidation and regulatory scrutiny. Ari and Eric’s insider perspective, accountability for their own predictions, and engaging wit make this an essential listen for anyone serious about the intersection of technology, advertising, and media.