Marketecture: Get Smart. Fast.

Episode: Luke Schoenberger on Simplifying Publisher Ad Tech with Playwire’s Wrapper
Host: Ari Paparo
Guest: Luke Schoenberger, EVP of Product Engineering, Playwire
Date: November 3, 2025

Overview

This episode centers on the rapidly evolving landscape of publisher ad tech, with a focus on how Playwire is aiming to simplify ad monetization for publishers through its proprietary Prebid wrapper. Ari Paparo interviews Luke Schoenberger, exploring why so many companies are building their own wrappers, how Playwire positions itself within a crowded field, and what unique challenges and opportunities exist for both web and app publishers. The conversation digs deep into the technical motivations, industry trends, and strategic differentiators in the management of ad inventory and monetization.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Playwire’s Business Model & Market Positioning

• What is Playwire?

  • Playwire is a "sales house," one of the four largest in the industry alongside Mediavine, Raptive, and Freestar ([01:08]).
  • They handle end-to-end ad monetization for publishers, especially those with less technical expertise or resources.
  • Playwire provides a simple integration (just add script tags), manages auctions with Prebid, Amazon, Google Ad Manager (GAM), and consolidates analytics and payments for publishers.
  • Recently expanding aggressively into the app business as well ([01:08–01:57]).

  Quote:
  "If you are a publisher who has a website and you want to be able to monetize that website with ads and not have to worry about how to do it, you would come to us and we would do it for you."
  — Luke Schoenberger [01:13]

2. Not an SSP, but an Integration & Monetization Platform

• Playwire isn’t an SSP; instead, it integrates with multiple SSPs via JavaScript and manages auctions for the publisher ([02:03]).
• Main value: consolidates operational complexity into a single-source solution, especially beneficial for smaller teams ([02:03–03:15]).

3. Why Build Another Wrapper? Industry Trends & Differentiators

• Many big players are releasing their own wrappers (e.g., Playwire, Freestar, Mediavine, Raptive, Trade Desk, Hashtag Labs).

• Motivation:

  • Leverage Playwire's deep experience to address gaps and build something more robust and adaptable than existing market solutions ([03:31–05:29]).

  Quote:
  "We just thought we could do it better than a lot of other people were doing it ... We saw a bunch of different gaps that we felt like we could kind of build something really robust that solves a lot of problems."
  — Luke Schoenberger [04:39]

4. Technical Foundation: Built on Prebid, with Custom Flexibility

• Playwire's wrapper is based on Prebid, but allows publishers to select specific Prebid versions, a feature that's becoming increasingly important ([05:29–06:01]).

5. Key Advantages Over Plain Prebid or Other Wrappers

• Core Benefits:

  • Control and easy configuration (including rules-based approaches).
  • A/B Testing & Experimentation deeply integrated for continuous optimization.
  • Enables highly granular experimentation—different ad densities, behavior for different types of users (social vs. organic), etc.
  • Unlimited split tests on virtually any parameter ([06:10–07:37]).
  • Simplifies real-time analytics and reporting, reducing the complexity once handled with convoluted GAM ad hierarchies ([16:35–17:58]).

  Quote:
  "A/B testing is the fundamental layer. So at any given time you can have kind of like an unlimited number of experiments that you wish to run off of pretty much anything that can go into Prebid."
  — Luke Schoenberger [06:26]

6. Reducing Ad Tech Complexity for Publishers

• Playwire acts as a "wrapper on top of the wrapper," further streamlining set-up ([07:37–07:42]).
• Debate over whether publishers need multiple wrappers (Prebid, Amazon TAM) or can operate with just one advanced solution. Playwire aims for unified management ([07:44–08:39]).

7. Use Cases: When Not to Use Google Ad Manager (GAM)

• Commonly, publishers only go to GAM for AdX demand but this can be unprofitable for certain inventory (e.g., refresh). Playwire can instead auction some traffic directly via Prebid for faster, more profitable results ([08:39–10:49]).

  Quote:
  "For a regular publisher...going to GAM on refresh opportunities when they don't necessarily need to, you know, there's definitely some opportunities there for a lot of publishers."
  — Luke Schoenberger [09:41]

8. In-App Monetization: A Distinct Challenge

• Playwire is investing heavily in supporting app publishers ([11:29–14:54]).

• App monetization is distinct from web, even down to basics like impression counting.

• Playwire offers an SDK, supports multiple ad servers, and customizes setups based on app type (gaming, content, utility).

• Many app developers are small teams with basic monetization setups; Playwire streamlines and optimizes this ([15:15]).

  Quote:
  "There isn't a one size fits all best ad server for app, that's not really a thing. It definitely kind of depends on what your app is."
  — Luke Schoenberger [13:58]

9. Lightning Round: Competitive Advantages & Challenges

• Top Competitive Advantage:

  • Integrated, real-time analytics with dashboard customization ([16:35]).
  • Simplifies both analytics and ad unit setup, reducing the need for convoluted GAM hierarchies.

  Quote:
  "...Publishers will be able to kind of like create their own dashboards and reports and be able to share those to users at their company...analytics is a big gap in the industry for people that have their own wrappers."
  — Luke Schoenberger [17:16]

• Biggest Challenge:

  • Heavy competition; many are offering wrappers, but Playwire believes the appetite for solutions that reduce complexity continues to grow ([18:03–18:42]).

10. Industry Trends: The “Death” of the Open Web & Impact of Generative AI

• Display market is under pressure; traffic and revenue for many publishers are declining due to generative AI reducing search-originated traffic ([19:08]).
• Playwire's publishers are insulated somewhat by their focus on gaming and high-engagement content ([20:12]).

11. Playwire’s Company Ethos

• If Playwire were an animal, it would be a fox: smart, adaptable, pragmatic, focused on experimentation and results ([21:00]).

  Quote:
  "...We're definitely very smart. Right. Like, we don't necessarily believe in one big thing. We definitely think very probabilistically and we believe in, like, a bunch of a lot of different things...we're going to try it out. That's all we can do. And we kind of let the results speak for themselves."
  — Luke Schoenberger [21:00]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why publishers need less complexity:
  "The last thing you want to do is try and figure out how to hunt down money from 10 to 15 different vendors."
  — Luke Schoenberger [02:57]

• On the proliferation of wrappers in the industry:
  "Never put it past ad tech to make things more complicated in the effort to standardize."
  — Ari Paparo [04:26]

• On market realities:
  "The open web is dead and display advertising is on decline ... we've definitely seen a significant drop with some publishers as far as their traffic goes, just with generative AI."
  — Luke Schoenberger [19:01 & 19:08]

• On adaptability:
  "If it's the best idea, we're going to try it out. That's all we can do. And we kind of let the results speak for themselves."
  — Luke Schoenberger [21:00]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Playwire’s publisher-focused business model – [01:08]
• Integration approach, not an SSP – [02:03–03:15]
• Rationale for building a proprietary wrapper – [03:31–05:29]
• Playwire’s wrapper technical foundation – [05:29–06:01]
• Key features: control, testing, rules – [06:10–07:37]
• Unified vs. multiple wrappers debate – [07:44–08:39]
• Avoiding GAM for certain inventory – [08:39–10:49]
• Expanding to in-app monetization – [11:29–14:54]
• SDK & cross-server approach for apps – [13:49]
• Small teams, big impact in app monetization – [15:15]
• Competitive advantage: analytics – [16:35–17:58]
• Biggest challenge: competition – [18:03–18:42]
• Industry headwinds: generative AI, open web – [19:08–20:12]
• Lightning round & company ethos (the fox) – [21:00]

Summary

This episode offers an insider’s view into how Playwire is evolving to help publishers—both web and app—navigate an increasingly complex ad tech landscape. The discussion highlights the industry’s rush towards proprietary wrappers, Playwire’s distinctive blend of customization, analytics, and managed services, and the new challenges posed by generative AI and declining open web traffic. Luke Schoenberger’s insights make clear that the future of publisher monetization is about offering powerfully simple, flexible solutions—backed by deep expertise and relentless experimentation.