Ciaran O'Kane

Editorial Writer and Publisher at ExchangeWire

WireCorp. FirstPartyCapital.

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Articles

MadTech Sketch: How Data, AI & Custom Algos Are Redefining Programmatic Media Buying

2 weeks ago | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

In his latest MadTech Sketch, Ciaran O'Kane fires up his trusted crayons to detail how custom algorithms and AI are revolutionising programmatic media buying. It’s been quite the week for media-related AI platform announcements. WPP Media launched Open Intelligence, its LLM that builds custom algos for clients. First- and third-party sources train the OI LLM. It's a smart strategy. MiQ is also unveiling its AI platform at Cannes.
Data Distribution: Plumbing For Programmatic Activation

2 months ago | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

Data Distribution: Plumbing For Programmatic ActivationIn our latest MadTech Sketch, Ciaran O'Kane draws out the pipes for data distribution... The recent acquisition of Lotame by Publicis raised a few eyebrows in ad tech circles. I'm not sure why, as it was a perfectly logical piece of M&A. Publicis was getting increasing pushback on the effectiveness of Epsilon outside the US and UK. With Lotame’s global footprint, Publicis' data story becomes an even stronger selling point for brands.
The MadTech Sketch: How to Break Up Google

2 months ago | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

After the latest antitrust ruling against Google, it seems like a good time to resurface Ciarán O’Kane's MadTech Sketch on how the Google ad tech business could look if it is broken up. First published July 2022Ever since the WSJ broke the story about Google potentially hiving off its ad tech business to placate regulators, there has been wild speculation about what they might do next.
MadTech Sketch: The Rise of the Super Signal Aggregator

Mar 13, 2025 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

MadTech Sketch: The Rise of the Super Signal AggregatorCiaran O'Kane turns his trusty pen to Scope3's new agentic advertising platform, and why it's all about signal and scaled sell-side curation... Many will be chatting about the Scope3 “pivot” after its announcement today. But I see it as an evolution, more than a pivot. Scope3 is a Super Signal Aggregator (SSA), and has been heading in that direction for some time. The company started in sustainability - a vital signal in itself.
MadTech Sketch: The Retail Media Stack

Oct 23, 2024 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

Retail media continues to be the hottest category in ad tech right now. A new RMN (retail media network) is coming to market almost daily, driven by endemic advertising demand. PayPal, for instance, announced its plans recently to launch an ad business. The tech stack powering these solutions is critical to making RMNs work for onsite advertising and audience extension (retail data). But what does a retail media stack (RMS) look like, and what are its core components?
MadTech Sketch: The Mechanics of Curation

May 16, 2024 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

Curation; everyone in ad tech is talking about it, but what does it actually mean for the industry? In this Sketch, Ciaran O’Kane looks at the mechanics of curation. Curation can be split into two parts - demand generation and activation, let’s look at the each part:In the ad tech landscape, direct demand is the cornerstone of effective curation, driving significant value for Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs).
The MadTech Sketch - The Revolut Ad Model: Everything is NOT an Ad Net

Apr 25, 2024 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

In ExchangeWire's latest MadTech Sketch, following the news that Revolut is planning to monetise its transactional data through advertising, Ciarán O’Kane sheds light on their likely ad model, and how it's less ad net, more mini walled garden.
Making Retail Media at Scale Possible

Mar 20, 2024 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

In the ever-evolving landscape of retail and ecommerce, one thing is quite clear: to compete with Amazon, the industry must embrace programmatic retail media (PRM). PRM holds the key to unlocking these unprecedented opportunities. In association with KevelAt the heart of this shift lies the need for the adoption of retail media open real-time bidding (RTB). As well as greater transparency and efficiency, it also opens up new possibilities on the supply side.
The MadTech Sketch: Curation vs the Open Marketplace

Nov 2, 2023 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

In his latest MadTech Sketch, Ciaran O'Kane turns his attention to curation - an ad tech model that is gaining momentum and turning heads across the industry. Curation is one of ad tech's hottest topics. It has been around for some time in the form of private marketplaces (PMPs), but over the past 12-24 months it’s started to evolve into the go-to programmatic activation tactic. PMPs can often be an inefficient way of putting data-driven media spend to word.
The Ad Tech Optimist

Oct 25, 2023 | exchangewire.com | Ciaran O'Kane

Ciaran O'Kane looks on the bright side, and dives into the eight areas of focus that give adland reasons to be cheerful. The title of this post might suggest I am looking to ape Marc Anderseen’s verbose libertarian essay on why tech is great. Even ChatGPT struggled to summarise the piece in less than 150 words - a testament to one man’s long-winded way of saying, “let’s build more great stuff like - ahem - Web3”. In fairness to Marc, he is a perma-optimist.