Topic: Programmatic Advertising

Mike Dell, VP of Operations at Blueberry, joins the boardroom to discuss ad monetization and the recent closure of the BIPOC Podcast Creators group. He expresses support for the idea of app developers receiving a cut of ad spend if they provide valuable data. The conversation also touches on the decline of DEI-funded initiatives in the podcasting space as corporate "virtue signaling" budgets dry up.

Blueberry's internal efforts to combat ad fraud involve sophisticated filtering systems to block bots and illegitimate traffic, particularly from programmatic ad networks. Mike Dell reveals that Blueberry discontinued its credit-card-free trial because bad actors were using it to spin up fake podcasts and hit them with bot farms to collect ad revenue. The company now requires a credit card upfront to deter these fraudulent activities.