The Pub Way: A Podcast for Publishers Ep. 30: The Agentic Evolution of Contextual Advertising
Sep 22, 2025
Brendan Norman, Co-founder and CEO of Classify, dives into the transformative world of contextual advertising and AI. He discusses the decline of traditional taxonomies and the rise of agentic experiences that enhance targeting for publishers. Brendan shares insights on the importance of sustainability and accessibility in adtech, while offering actionable strategies for publishers to prepare for Q4. Discover how new AI tools are redefining the industry and empowering publishers to optimize their workflows.
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Embeddings Unlock Deep Context
- Modern embeddings and vector databases let machines understand nuance and similarity across content at scale.
- This moves contextual beyond coarse taxonomies like 'sports' into sentiment and semantic similarity searches.
Prioritize Accessibility For Adoption
- Make tools accessible and easy to use so publishers actually adopt them.
- Build around prompt-based interfaces and MCP-style connectors to lower friction for non-technical users.
Governance Is Catching Up Slowly
- Governance and policy are emerging as necessary responses to fast-moving adtech changes.
- Industry groups like the IAB are forming working groups to address privacy, monetization, and content protocols.
