Scott Siegler

With over $200 billion in programmatic spending on the table next year, maximizing yield is the name of the game for publishers in 2026. Capturing that opportunity demands maximum optionality across demand paths and signals. And with AI reshaping the landscape (referrals from ChatGPT to news publishers saw a 25x increase from the first half of 2024 to the first half of 2025, while traditional search traffic heads in the other direction) it is more important than ever for publishers to optimize their monetizable inventory.

For years, the pervasive uncertainty surrounding cookies pained publishers.

DSPs used cookies to reach defined audiences without meaningful involvement from publishers. This dynamic disintermediated publishers, disconnecting them from their ability to drive better results for advertisers through their robust understanding of their site’s experiences, contexts and audiences.

“Data-Driven Thinking” is written by members of the media community and contains fresh ideas on the digital revolution in media. Today’s column is written by Scott Siegler, vice president of engineering and West Coast operations at Gamut. Publishers face an uphill battle in today’s evolving media landscape. The emergence of new channels for media consumption, […]