AdTechGod Pod Ep. 110 From Spin off to Smart Auctions: Tal Shaked on Building Rise and the Future of Agentic Ad Tech
Dec 2, 2025
Tal Shaked, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Rise, brings a wealth of ad tech experience and insights. He shares his unconventional journey from toolbar monetization to founding Rise, focusing on optimizing web auctions through Smart Auction Management. Tal discusses how AI-driven search is reshaping publisher traffic, driving the need for adaptability. He emphasizes the importance of traffic shaping and dynamic pricing for revenue gains and explores the future of agentic advertising, highlighting the blend of automation and human relationships.
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Early Tel Aviv Leap Into Ad Tech
- Tal Shaked moved from the U.S. to Tel Aviv at the start of the internet boom and interviewed with a dozen companies before landing roles in ad tech.
- His bilingual background and early countryside choices shaped an unconventional entry into advertising technology.
Hotbar Toolbar Fueled Adtech Education
- Tal joined Hotbar, which built an ad-supported toolbar that monetized browsing with contextual buttons and paid search pages.
- That early experience taught him online ad mechanics and led to mentorships and later exits in the space.
From Consultancy To Exit With IronSource
- Tal ran Revenize as a consultant and helped After Download grow, then invested $100,000 to join the company.
- That business scaled into a thank-you page monetization product and was acquired by IronSource for nearly $30M.