Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

We discuss the transition of AI-native applications toward ad-supported monetization models. Among other things, we cover:
Whether AI-native apps will follow the mobile gaming trajectory by adopting hybrid monetization models to reach massive global audiences
How the high operational costs of AI inference necessitate a move toward ad-supported tiers to maintain sustainable profit margins
Why the granular intent signals captured in LLM conversations offer a superior alternative to traditional search-based advertising targeting mechanisms
What new native ad formats will emerge to integrate seamlessly into AI workflows without disrupting the core user experience
When the venture capital funding environment will demand more disciplined monetization strategies from AI startups over pure user growth
How established ad-tech infrastructure from the mobile gaming era can be adapted to serve the unique needs of AI developers

Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back

Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

The Prosperous Society is a three-hour, four-part series by Eric Seufert of Mobile Dev Memo that explores the political economy of artificial intelligence, grounded in the liberal tradition of the Western canon.
Framed as an extended response to John Kenneth Galbraith's The Affluent Society, which serves as the intellectual foil for the series, The Prosperous Society makes the case that AI is not principally a story about intelligence, but about economics: it represents a progressive technological revolution that shifts the binding constraint on economic growth from production to distribution. In doing so, it redefines the role of digital advertising as the coordination infrastructure of an increasingly personalized economy.
Last summer, when I began outlining The Prosperous Society, I set out to write an economic defense of artificial intelligence to serve as ballast for more pessimistic narratives. It was originally intended to be a short book.
I pivoted to the podcast format when those narratives reached fever pitch earlier this year because I wanted to respond quickly and release new episodes on a regular cadence. But The Prosperous Society evolved into something broader: a defense of liberal political economy in the age of artificial intelligence.
Over the course of three hours, I develop that thesis through four linked but distinct arguments:
Part 1: Why AI makes distribution more important than production.

Part 2: Why autonomous commerce is a false ideal.

Part 3: Why personalization changes the economics of the long tail—and of identity itself.

Part 4: Where the moral boundary lies between AI that expands freedom and AI that robs us of it.

If the series succeeds, I hope it provides a rigorous intellectual case for why AI, if properly constrained and thoughtfully applied, can reaffirm the liberal tradition of Western political economy while helping to usher in one of the great periods of economic expansion in human history.

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Garrett Johnson and Shunto Kobayashi, professors at Boston University who have co-authored a paper titled "Can privacy technologies replace cookies? Ad revenue in a field experiment." The paper quantifies the impact of Google's Privacy Sandbox on publisher revenue, user experience, and market competition through a field experiment conducted in collaboration with Raptive, a digital advertising management platform.
Our conversation highlights the specific challenges faced by the digital advertising ecosystem as it moves away from traditional identifiers and toward a new, more restrictive privacy regime. Among other things, we discuss:
How the loss of third-party cookies specifically affects regional markets with stricter privacy regulations like the European Union
If the adoption of privacy-enhancing technologies like the Privacy Sandbox could truly bridge the revenue gap created by the deprecation of cookies
What role browser vendors should play in establishing technical guarantees that satisfy both regulators and advertising stakeholders
Why the industry tends to respond to identity restrictions by developing more complex identifiers instead of contextual alternatives
When the concentration of traffic toward larger platforms will reach a tipping point for small-scale content creators
How the removal of personalization features on platforms like YouTube serves as a blueprint for future privacy-driven market shifts
We also cover another paper by Garrett Johnson, "COPPAcalypse? The Youtube Settlement's Impact on Kids Content."
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Olivia Kory, the CMO of Haus, to discuss the recent $1BN investment in AppsFlyer by Meta, Google, Unity, and Moloco, and the shifting landscape of mobile measurement it portends. We explore the strategic motivations behind major ad platforms banding together to ensure measurement neutrality and how the industry is moving toward more sophisticated incrementality models. Among other things, we discuss:
Why a consortium of major ad platforms decided to invest in a major mobile measurement partner at this time
How the tension between platform-owned measurement tools and independent third-party services will influence advertiser trust moving forward
Whether the failure of Apple’s SKAdNetwork to provide actionable insights has forced the industry back toward traditional attribution
If the entry of private equity into the measurement space changes the long-term incentives for data neutrality and transparency
What the rise of connected television as a performance channel reveals about the limitations of current mobile measurement frameworks
When advertisers should prioritize long-term incrementality testing over the immediate gratification of last-click attribution data in their dashboards
Whether the consolidation of ad tech assets under single entities creates a conflict of interest that ultimately hurts performance
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts

On this week's episode of the podcast, I am joined by Venkat Prabhu, Director of Product for Shop Campaigns at Shopify, to discuss the platform's evolution into a comprehensive marketing operating system for eCommerce merchants. We explore the major announcements from Shopify's Spring Editions, specifically focusing on how the platform leverages commerce data and AI to simplify advertising for businesses of all sizes. Among other things, we discuss:
How AI-driven automation empowers small businesses to participate in the digital marketing ecosystem
Whether centralized platforms like Shopify can solve the persistent problem of cross-channel attribution
If risk-free advertising models will become the standard for merchants entering the digital economy
Why the integration of commerce data into advertising algorithms creates a unique competitive moat
What happens when a commerce platform evolves into a holistic marketing operating system
How deep integration with AI agents like ChatGPT will redefine discovery for online shoppers
Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:
⁠⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.
Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.
⁠Branch⁠. Branch is an AI-powered MMP, connecting every paid, owned, and organic touchpoint so growth teams can see exactly where to put their dollars to bring users in the door and keep them coming back
Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact Mobile Dev Memo advertising.
The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts