The Programmatic Playbook

Every dollar you don't spend programmatically is a dollar your competitor just took.

The two decisions that matter most.

Ad formats

What your ad actually looks like.

Banner, video, native, popunder. Each one shows up differently, costs differently, and converts differently. Picking the wrong format is the most common reason campaigns underperform — and the easiest to fix.

When banners outperform video (and when they don't)
Why native ads convert 3-5x better on mobile
The popunder myth, and what to actually use it for
Explore formats →
Targeting

Who actually sees your ad.

The difference between a $500 campaign that converts and a $5,000 campaign that doesn't is almost always targeting. Here's how to think about who you're trying to reach — and how to reach them without wasting half your budget.

Why retargeting is the highest-ROI starting point
How to use location targeting beyond just zip codes
When demographic targeting is a trap
Explore targeting →
Estimator

See what programmatic actually costs you.

Plug in what you're spending now and where, and we'll show you the equivalent on Adlo. Designed to send up the chain — your finance lead can open the link and check the math themselves.

Campaign budget$5,000
Channels you runDisplay, video
Run the numbers →

The vocabulary, decoded.

See all 80+ terms →
CPMCost per mille
What you pay for every thousand times your ad shows up. The standard pricing unit in display advertising.
DSPDemand-side platform
The software that buys ad space on your behalf in real time, across millions of websites and apps.
Retargeting
Showing ads to people who already visited your website. The highest-performing targeting strategy for most businesses.
Programmatic
Buying ads through software instead of through people. Replaces phone calls, insertion orders, and three-week setup times.

Articles worth your time.

All articles →
Agency economics

The agency fee structure costing you 56¢ on every dollar.

A breakdown of where your media budget actually goes when an agency is in the middle, and what it would look like if they weren't.

7 min read
Strategy

Why programmatic isn't just for Fortune 500s anymore.

A decade ago programmatic required $50K minimums and an agency. Today you can run a campaign for $15 a day, on your own. Here's what changed.

6 min read
Fundamentals

Programmatic advertising, explained without the jargon.

If you've ever nodded along to "DSP" and "CPM" without being sure what either meant, this is the article that fixes that.

9 min read

Ready to stop reading and start running?

Launch your first campaign in under ten minutes. No agency contracts, no minimum commitments, daily spend starts at $15.

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