"World of DaaS" Gokul Rajaram of Marathon - How AI Will Reinvent Ad Platforms
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Sep 9, 2025 Gokul Rajaram, a founding partner at Marathon Management Partners and a key figure behind Google AdSense and Facebook's ad platform, shares his insights on the future of advertising. He discusses how AI is revolutionizing content recommendations and ad systems, creating a more seamless user experience. The conversation delves into the balancing act between user engagement and effective advertising, along with the challenges advertisers face in a subscription-heavy landscape. Gokul also reflects on leadership dynamics in the evolving tech world, emphasizing the need for adaptability.
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Balance User And Advertiser Value
- Successful ad platforms must balance user value and advertiser value as equal objectives.
- Targeting, placement, format, and campaign goals must align with the platform's core context.
Facebook Copied Google—Then Rebuilt
- Facebook initially copied Google-style keyword ads and discovered the approach didn't fit Facebook's context.
- They rebuilt ad targeting from the ground up to match Facebook's identity-driven inventory.
GenAI Enables Deep Personalization
- Generative AI and embeddings let platforms maintain long user context and dramatically improve recommendations.
- Platforms not using GenAI, deep learning, and RL risk falling behind in content relevance.