Craig Brooksby

IAB ANNUAL LEADERSHIP MEETING CRITIQUE: I've been in this industry for 31 years. I was a founding member of the IAB in 1996—back when it was ONLY for publishers. Today, I'm looking at the agenda for the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting (Feb 1-3, Palm Desert), and I'm deeply concerned. Here's what I see: Sessions on AI agents Sessions on measurement frameworks Sessions on attribution Sessions on marketing outcomes Here's what I DON'T see - A SINGLE session on helping publishers generate NEW revenue! Let me be clear about why this matters: Publishers are in crisis. Ad impressions, in some cases, are down by 40%. Google AI Overviews have reduced referral traffic. AI is scraping content to answer queries, bypassing publisher sites entirely. Revenue models that sustained journalism and quality content for decades are collapsing. The IAB—an organization that was originally created to JUST serve publishers—is now dedicating ZERO sessions to solving this existential threat. I've been building ad tech solutions for publishers for over three decades. I've seen a lot of industry changes. But I've never seen the publishing community completely abandoned at a time when they need the most help. Here's my challenge to ad tech companies with REAL solutions: Let’s show up at ALM. Let’s not wait for the IAB to give REAL solution providers a stage—Let’s create our own. Publishers are desperate for answers, and the brands in attendance need to understand what happens when the content ecosystem fails. If you have a real incremental revenue solution that publishers can use right now, DM me. I want to put together a few of us and find a venue to let publishers know we have solutions for them that can help mitigate their revenue losses, especially in Q1. Let’s also create a webinar series that provides a few actionable ideas that publishers can use right now. DM me on this idea too! To my fellow publishers: Comment below if you're experiencing this revenue crisis. Let's make sure our voices are heard, even if we're not on the official agenda. I'll be at ALM. Let's connect. #IAB #PublisherRevenue #AdTech #DigitalPublishing #Sustainability #MediaIndustry #Programmatic #DigitalAds

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⚡ Is SSDI the New ACA? Markets evolve, but patterns repeat. A decade ago, ACA reshaped the lead world — new compliance rules, explosive demand, and a gold rush of publishers who learned to adapt or vanish. Now the same energy is pulsing through SSDI. Intent-based data. Compliance frameworks. Real-time tracking. Suddenly, the quiet niche is becoming the next frontier. The question isn’t if SSDI will mirror ACA — it’s who will recognize the shift early enough to lead it. Because in every transition, there are only two kinds of players: those who wait for the market to settle… and those who build it. SSDI isn’t just another campaign. It’s a test of precision, compliance, and persistence — the same values that once defined the rise of ACA. History doesn’t repeat itself — but in our industry, it sure loves to rhyme. #SSDI #ACA #LeadGeneration #HealthInsurance #PerformanceMarketing #Compliance #CallCenters #MarketingStrategy #DigitalTransformation #publishers

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STATEMENT REGARDING MISLEADING MEDIA REPORTS Media reports that Kodak is ceasing operations, going out of business, or filing for bankruptcy are inaccurate and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of a recent technical disclosure the Company made to the SEC in its recently filed second quarter earnings report. These articles are misleading and missing critical context, and we'd like to set the record straight. The most important things to know are: Kodak has no plans to cease operations, go out of business, or file for bankruptcy protection. To the contrary, Kodak is confident it will repay, extend, or refinance its debt and preferred stock on, or before, its due date. When the transactions we have planned are completed, which is expected to be early next year, Kodak will have a stronger balance sheet than we have had in years and will be virtually net debt free. The "going concern disclosure" is a technical report that is required by accounting rules. We will continue to meet our obligations to all pension fund participants. Pension Fund Transaction Kodak has been preparing for the pension plan termination for some time and expects to receive approximately $500 million of assets – after meeting our obligations to all pension fund participants – in December 2025 when the transaction closes. Approximately $300 million of the funds are expected to be cash, and approximately $200 million are expected to be investment assets that will be converted into cash. Kodak's Debt Position To provide context, Kodak currently has $477 million of term debt and $100 million of preferred stock outstanding. Kodak is required by its loan documents to use the $300 million of cash expected to be received in December to repay term debt. Kodak can then address the remaining $177 million of term debt and $100 million of preferred stock. Kodak's Ongoing Operations In addition to our focus on reducing debt and interest payments, we believe our business is stable and self-sustaining. In Q2 2025 we used only $3 million in cash, primarily to invest in growth initiatives, a significant improvement compared with Q1, and we do not plan to rely on cash from the pension fund transaction to fund our operations. In short, Kodak is confident in its plan to meet all its obligations and optimistic about its future. For more detailed information about this topic, please review Kodak's Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 11, 2025, including the cautionary language about forward looking statements in such filing which are incorporated by reference herein.

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𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝟐/𝟖: 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 🔑 Publishers: 𝐎𝐰𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Publishers can lose up to 𝟒𝟎% of revenue potential due to poor first-party signal alignment. Many legacy DMPs and rev-ops tools are held back by inefficient data processes, clunky integrations, workflow gaps, and opaque or high fees. 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐌𝐒 sets new benchmarks for monetization:⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ • 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐲 every first-party touchpoint in real time — no latency, no middlemen⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ • 𝐀𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 audience segments with AI to drive >95% addressability and high-quality, scalable targeting⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ • 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 workflows, optimization, and insights with AI-powered automation⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ • 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫 brand-safe contextual, intent-based, and behavioral audiences to meet high-value demand⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ • 𝐎𝐰𝐧 your signal end-to-end with full transparency and zero hidden costs⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Built for next-gen publishers, ArcSpan AMS accelerates planning-to-activation by 𝟓𝟎%, unlocks 𝟑𝟓% larger audiences, and delivers 𝟏𝟎𝟎% control over your signal.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ What’s your #𝟏 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 in managing and activating first-party data? Drop it below 👇⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ 👉 Read our blog on pre-integrated Behavioral, B2B, Sports & Retail audiences⁣⁣ [Link in comments]⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ #ModernMonetization #OwnYourSignal #OwnYourData #ArcSpan #PublisherSuccess Garret Vreeland Christopher Guenther Balaji Rao Peter Rooney James Dempsey Artemio Rimando Jose Cabal-Ugaz Taylor Smolik

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Big news... eager to see how this goes. Perplexity is open to pay publishers based on usage. Could launch in weeks -> News Publishers Shift AI Licensing Focus to Usage-Based Deals "It’s not clear what OpenAI’s attitude would be, and the company didn’t have a comment. AI search firm Perplexity is, however, developing a new model for paying publishers, which will be partly based on usage, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, in a sign that at least some AI firms are open to the idea." So how would this work? Not sure yet, but could be pay per crawl, could be based on revenue from answers that include those publishers. E.g. they already pay publishers based on ad revenue. The problem? Ad revenue is tiny so far... :) See below. "Last year, after Forbes threatened to sue AI search firm Perplexity for copyright infringement, Perplexity started a program to pay publishers a cut of advertising. If a search result mentioned a publisher’s content, that publisher would get a share of the revenue from the advertisement that ran next to that content. But so far, this has generated little money for publishers. Perplexity only collected $20,000 in ads in the fourth quarter of last year, The Information reported." https://lnkd.in/evgzTjBP

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SEO is at a crossroads. Tinuiti's Jen Cornwell recently joined 8 other SEO experts in Miami for an AI SEO roundtable to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping search optimization. "It’s more important than ever that we’re not siloed as a channel because we need the buy-in and resources to create a complete brand strategy that helps feed our SEO campaigns on these other platforms," said Jen. Head over to Search Engine Land to read more: https://lnkd.in/gkne6wVT

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If you think GEO makes SEO obsolete, think again. As our SVP of marketing operations, John Fairley, told PYMNTS: “GEO doesn’t replace SEO — rather, it builds on it.” Search rankings don’t directly dictate AI citations, but SEO best practices heavily influence whether your content is pulled, read and referenced by GenAI tools. The playbook may have evolved, but the fundamentals still matter. Get the full insights at the link in our comments.

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Crisis in CTV part 2: the robots will eat the publishers. Follow my logic: 1. Streamers block data signals from publishers and charge premiums for access to data and buyback/backfill supply. 2. In order to grow revenue, publishers have to move from the open to private markets & direct deals. 3. In order to scale these deals, many publishers turn to "CURATION" (2025 is the Year of Curation). 4. Curation is manual and inefficient. 5. Manual and inefficient jobs will be replaced by AI in the next 36 months. 6. Brands will replace that curation work by leveraging AI, which will cause the acceleration of AI replacing their jobs. Therefore, SOME streamers (they're not all bad) are going to erode their own ecosystem by indirectly forcing publishers and brands to do the work that will inevitably be done by robots who are going to take their jobs. Conclusion: to save CTV publishers, we need to empower them. #FixTheFoundation #FrameworkforPublisherEmpowerment https://tviq.io/fpe/

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📣 Calling all publishers and advertisers 📣 One of the biggest challenges facing publishers is how to get the most relevant content from editorial, partners and advertisers to the right audience on the right channel. Adobe Real-Time CDP combines audience data from multiple sources and channels in a privacy-safe environment, so publishers can act in-the-moment to connect their audience with the content they crave. Find out how Adobe Real-Time CDP can grow audience engagement and partner value in our latest guide: https://adobe.ly/44YVw4y #AEP #CDP #Publishing #Content #Data

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We joined industry leaders in Scottsdale for Local Media Consortium’s 2025 Digital Connections Summit to dig into the future of local media. Over lunch, EX.CO’s Michael Myslinski shared practical ways publishers are using video to grow revenue—without expanding teams or budgets: 1️⃣ Source hyper-local, licensed video content that resonates with your audience. 2️⃣ Use AI to automate playlist creation and match video to content contextually. 3️⃣ Maximize yield with tech that understands demand and optimizes every impression. We're grateful to the LMC for creating space for real conversations about what’s next for local media. #DigitalConnections2025 #localmedia #localnews #digitalmedia #onlinevideo

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🔥Hot new CTV research from eMarketer. https://lnkd.in/g2efkVvX 📺58% of US media agency professionals plan to increase their connected TV (CTV) investments, while almost a third (32%) plan to decrease linear TV investments, according to November 2024 data from Pixability. 📈CTV ad spending will grow by 15.8% this year to reach $33.4 billion and 70% (69.2%) of the US population will be a CTV user in 2025. At AdOmni, we are at the forefront of this trend. With Smart Video Everywhere, combine your DOOH + CTV + OLV for optimized reach, frequency and performance results! #ctv #programmaticvideo #smartvideoeverywhere

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Hayward Turnstiles, an innovative manufacturer of frictionless turnstile security solutions, needed a partner who could turn their falling rankings around and grow their online visibility. Before partnering with WebFX: 🚫 Decline in SEO performance and website traffic 🚫 High CPC for Google Ads 🚫 Decreasing PPC effectiveness 🚫 Low conversions on paid advertising campaigns After partnering with WebFX: ✅ Reduced CPC for ad campaigns ✅ Higher PPC conversions across platforms ✅ Improved SEO control and management ✅ Higher year-on-year (YoY) traffic and conversions ✅ Impressive return on investment (ROI) from PPC Learn more about how we helped Hayward Turnstiles achieve their goals: https://buff.ly/zTODWmx

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Bangkok Debrief: The Good, The Bad, and The "Wild West" of Traffic Monetization Just wrapped up another Affiliate World Asia in Bangkok. As always, it was a whirlwind of insights, deals, and a few eye-opening moments. Here’s the download on what's actually happening in traffic monetization right now: 🤠 The LLM Monetization Mystery: Everyone is asking the same question: "How will LLMs change the game?" We're all trying to figure out the ad model for chat interfaces. Will it disrupt search? Shopping? Everything? There are some fascinating ideas brewing, but honestly, we're staring down the barrel of a "Wild West" scenario for 2026. Buckle up. 🤖 Fraudsters vs. The Machine: The whispers were loud this year. "Blended traffic is dying." "It's not worth the risk anymore." It seems the crackdown on transparency is actually working. Bad actors are getting squeezed out of premium ecosystems like Yahoo and RSoC, forcing them to look for easier targets. This is a huge win for legitimate players, but… ⚠️ …Don't Get Complacent: Fraud is still a massive business. I saw dubious networks with flashy booths and heard pitches about "undetectable" traffic. The industry is cleaning up, but the predators are still lurking. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. 📈 The Yahoo Renaissance (For the Legit Few): The rumors are true: Yahoo RPCs are climbing. But getting in is harder than ever. Feeds are demanding total transparency – account access, traffic verification, the works. If you can prove your quality, the rewards are there. Stability and higher payouts are the new norm for the transparent crowd. 📉 RSoC Shakeout: RSoC RPCs have seen a dip, likely due to a mix of cleaning house and new smart pricing algorithms. My take? The "stuffing" tactics are finally catching up with people. The good news is that providers are aware and actively scrubbing the network. Short-term pain for long-term health. 🌍 Traffic is King: Beyond search, I'm seeing a surge in Affiliate, Programmatic, and all areas of traffic monetization. The demand for traffic is insatiable, and while some of it requires careful vetting, the overall growth signals a vibrant market. The opportunities are everywhere for those who can deliver quality at scale. Key Takeaway: The era of opaque arbitrage is fading. The era of verified, high-quality performance is here. Are you ready?

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So much commentary on LLM visibility is nonsense. Do yourself a favor. Export all the pages on your site and their a) ai referral traffic and b) organic traffic. Compare. For example, one section of our site where we focus on search is like 10% of our total organic traffic. And like 35% of our AI referral traffic. So, as a % of traffic, we know the work we do in SEO is even more important in ai referral traffic. Do you know how long this analysis took? Like an hour. To understand traffic patterns across our entire website. Before you spend too much time listening to anyone online, at conferences. Before you let the Thought Leaders operate your brain for you. Just go look at your data.

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Transparency is only one piece of the puzzle. Many platforms and vendors talk about transparency; dashboards, reports, delayed payment data. It looks good on paper. It makes you feel like you understand what is happening. But for publishers, it does very little to fix cash flow challenges. What really makes the difference are operational improvements that connect insight to action. Faster payment cycles, automated workflows, better forecasting, and systems that flag revenue timing risks. These are the things that help publishers manage working capital, anticipate delays, and optimize revenue. The publishers who are thriving are not just chasing reports. They are fixing the day-to-day processes that actually keep money moving and the business growing. Transparency is necessary, but it is never sufficient. Operational clarity is what turns insight into outcomes.

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