When Stephen Yap started at DoubleClick in 2001 as an account director, the world was a very different and perhaps a more innocent place.
Who could have predicted that, a little over 20 years later, Google would be on trial for allegedly anticompetitive behavior in the online advertising market, with its 2008 acquisition of DoubleClick sitting at the heart of the DOJ’s case?
Yap joined Google as part of the DoubleClick deal and worked his way up the ranks from head of platform sales and account management to overseeing all of Google’s buy-side technology platforms business in the Americas, including DV360.
Ever since the DOJ first brought its ad tech antitrust case against Google in early 2023, Yap has gotten rather adept in the art of deflecting awkward questions from journalists, as have most Google folks.
But now, after more than 17 years at Google, Yap is an avid spectator like the rest of us. Earlier this week, he took a job as CRO of Perion Network, a public ad tech company that owns Undertone, Hivestack, CodeFuel and Vidazoo.
Part of Yap’s job will be to help steer a project to unify these various pieces into a single platform under one umbrella called Perion One.
“I do think that there’s a better future out there, one that’s a lot more efficient,” Yap said. “And that’s what we want to do here – eliminate waste and make it easier for advertisers and agencies to reach consumers.”
Yap spoke with AdExchanger roughly 36 hours into his new job.
AdExchanger: In an open letter published by Perion CEO Tal Jacobson, he refers to Perion One as “the next phase of AdTech.” Putting aside that “ad tech” should be two words, what does that actually mean?
STEPHEN YAP: Ad tech used to be between 3% and 5% of a media dollar. Now, just programmatic alone is somewhere around 40%, and that’s not sustainable nor is it good for the industry.
It’s like we’re in a bloat phase of ad tech with so many tools, all of which are priced differently, taking large swathes of every working media dollar. There needs to be a more efficient way of doing things, and the next evolution of ad tech will be in service of that mission.
Will you be going after some of that walled garden money?
Walled gardens? Don’t know what you’re talking about, ha.
But what I think is interesting about Perion One is that it reminds me of the early days of ad tech, taking multiple solutions that are effective in their own right and combining them into a single platform to give marketers a clearer view and the ability to execute across the entire ecosystem.
We have the opportunity to build an ecosystem that actually makes sense rather than funneling buyers into workflows that just don’t make sense for their businesses.
Well, what’s your first order of business in the new job?
No. 1 is to get to know the sales team and then meet with our clients to understand the value they’re getting and what they’d like to see from us. It’s going to be a lot of observing and listening and then, from there, working really closely with our product chief, our CTO and our chief privacy officer.
What’s the main difference between commercializing a company like Perion and commercializing a behemoth like Google’s demand-side ad stack?
It’s hard to compare, but if you look back to how I commercialized Google Analytics when we first brought it to market around 2005, we didn’t have a single paying customer on it. But being able to use Google’s brand to take something to market makes it relatively easy.
Here, we’re starting fresh. We’re educating the market, evangelizing the value of a new solution and making sure the market understands our evolution and where and how we want to grow.
I know this predates you, but last year Perion shut down Content IQ, which was basically a portfolio of low-quality MFA sites. They did so after Sincera published research about Content IQ arbitraging resold clickbait subdomains using content from the portfolio on behalf of brand-name publishers. Is that type of business practice a thing of the past?
That’s 100% right. Since my earliest conversations here, including with Tal, the CEO, I’ve seen the leadership’s commitment to building trust and maintaining transparency with all of Perion’s partners.
I believe in the vision, and we will not be contributing to anything that doesn’t make the digital marketing ecosystem better.
Now that you’ve left Google, are you excited that people will stop asking you about the ad tech antitrust trial all the time?
Allison, would it even be an interview if you didn’t ask me about that? But yes, I have to admit that there are several distractions that I won’t be missing as part of my new job.
Sorry, I can’t help it: What do you think the outcome of the trial is gonna be?
I’m going to hold the line on what I always say, which is, “I don’t know,” and that’s the honest truth. I was successful at not letting it distract me in my previous day job, and it’s not germane to anything I’m doing today.
I still have some close friends over there, but now I’m just like the rest of the world. I’m on the sidelines eagerly awaiting what might happen.
Back to “AdTech” vs. “ad tech:” Can we please agree that “ad tech” is the correct spelling?
I’ve seen it spelled both ways and I’ve often wondered which one is right.
It’s two words. This is a hill I’m willing to die on.
If we can’t even agree on how to spell ad tech, what hope do we have?
(We’re doomed. 😂)
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed.
For more articles featuring Stephen Yap, click here.
