LAS VEGAS — The open internet has become increasingly fragmented over the last decade. In this video interview with Beet.TV, Katie Secret, EVP of marketing at Teads (formerly Outbrain), described how the proliferation of channels, content types, and platforms has created a need for more holistic ad solutions that can show value across the entire media mix.
Outbrain combined with Teads on February 3, 2025, uniting two pioneers of native advertising. The combined team of 1,800 staff serves more than 20,000 advertisers and 10,000 publishers.
Secret told Julian Zilberbrand, CEO at Ivey Milton Consultants, that Outbrain’s algorithmic expertise can “level the playing field” on the open internet by using contextual and interest data to fuel an algorithm that can help advertisers predict and understand what people are likely to engage with across diverse channels.
Teads is amongst the ad-tech players aiming to bring the same level of predictive capability and value measurement to the open internet as that seen on walled gardens and social platforms.
Teads: an algorithm for the open internet
“If we think about what has made the walled gardens and the social platforms so successful, it really is that deterministic understanding of the user,” Secret said.
Teads has cultivated something similar with contextual data and interest data, which fuels an algorithm that can help advertisers predict and understand what people are likely to engage with across all of the diverse channels of the open internet at large.
Secret sees algorithmic approach as critical for navigating the fragmented landscape of the open internet, where attention spans are limited and competition for audience engagement is fierce.
Turning attention into outcomes
Secret highlighted the importance of turning attention into meaningful outcomes for brands.
“I think that traditionally advertising on the open internet has been very focused on metrics, so attention is a great metric but it’s ultimately just a signal,” Secret said. “It needs to mean something. It needs to exhibit what ultimate concrete value that’s delivering for the brand.”
Teads views attention as the starting point for any ad campaign, emphasizing the need to translate that initial attention into considerations, value, and ultimately, sales for the advertiser. With the launch of its product Onyx, Teads has sought to integrate this attention-driven approach into its core offering.
You’re watching “Rethinking the Open Internet”, a Beet.TV Leadership Series at CES 2025, presented by Teads. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can view all of our CES 2025 content here.
