Media Tech Talk Ben Pheloung (Mantis) - Media Tech Talk #005
Nov 17, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Ben Pheloung, General Manager at Mantis—an AI-driven brand safety platform—shares insights on how AI is reshaping contextual advertising. He explains how AI enhances brand safety by reading content for relevance, using real-world examples like The Independent. Ben addresses the challenges of keyword misfires and contrasts Mantis's approach with traditional verification methods. He also delves into partnerships, including one with Nine, and discusses the future of AI in democratizing publisher capabilities. An enlightening conversation for anyone interested in the evolving media landscape!
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Transcript
Episode notes
AI Reads Pages To Unlock Inventory
- Mantis uses AI to read pages at publication and provide brand safety and contextual signals for advertisers.
- This lets publishers free up blocked inventory while keeping advertiser confidence without relying on cookies.
The Independent Case: Safe Hard News
- The Independent used Mantis to let advertisers run in culture and lifestyle while avoiding hard news sections.
- Mantis threads tone differences so entertainment true-crime sits as safer than breaking hard-news coverage.
CMS Integration Prevents Keyword Misfires
- Mantis integrates directly into publishers' CMS to stay close to the source and update in real time.
- They layer sentiment and emotion scores to stop keyword misfires like "chicken breast" or "shootout" from over-blocking.