Team Spotlight: Meet Daniel Nelson, our Customer Success Co-Director at Limelight! 

At Limelight, Customer Success isn’t just a department—it’s a mindset. Andrew, our Co-Director of Customer Success , oversees a global team of Customer Success Managers who act as strategic partners to our clients. From onboarding and platform training to high-level campaign optimisation and technical troubleshooting, Andrew ensures we’re not just supporting our clients—we’re helping them win. “One thing that sets us apart is that we’re fully SaaS,” Andy explains. “We don’t run an ad trading business—so when our platform partners succeed, we succeed. Our incentives are completely aligned.” A standout moment this year? The launch of the Adaptive Rules Center (ARC), a feature that lets partners build their own algorithms and optimise campaigns in real-time, directly in the platform UI. “In an industry obsessed with AI, we’ve built something genuinely useful that puts control back in the partner’s hands,” Andrew says. Managing expectations is part of the job—especially when it comes to technical investigations or feature rollouts. Andrew’s secret? “Be honest, communicate often, and never make promises you can’t keep.” From helping partners navigate a constantly evolving landscape to championing new tools like our Self-Serve DSP, Andy’s team makes it look effortless—even though we know it’s anything but. And behind it all is a strong sense of culture, even in a remote-first world. “People always ask if we miss the office. But we make up for it with our annual World Tour—past trips include Marrakesh, Rio and Cyprus!” Favourite part of the job? “Getting to know our partners, watching them grow, and smashing the goals they set. There’s no better feeling than helping them exceed their own expectations.” Andy calls it “Technology with a heartbeat.” We call it Customer Success, the Limelight way.

In the ever-evolving world of programmatic, QPS (Queries Per Second) is a fundamental metric that underpins the entire ecosystem. But what exactly does QPS mean, and why is it so critical?

Ad networks face a broad range of challenges in 2025 as they grapple with privacy concerns, regulatory issues and a $50bn ad fraud threat. But the opportunities presented by new technology, contextual targeting and growth potential in emerging markets offer the promise of a bright future for those with the ability to evolve.

Today’s MarTech Top Voice features the Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Limelight Inc., James Macdonald. Join us as we explore James’ insights on his AdTec journey and the prospects of partnerships in the digital advertising markets.

Driven by data, programmatic advertising exploded in popularity thanks to its ability to drive performance. Subsequently, the programmatic ecosystem has grown at pace - both in size and complexity. For ad networks (or any other part of the programmatic ecosystem) that has led to certain problems: how to provide a fantastic service to clients at a decent price; how to develop the necessary technology; how to stay ahead of regulatory developments; how to provide incremental revenue for customers. These are important concerns, and the truth is that for many ad networks out there, the barriers to success on many of these fronts are very high.

Ad networks are the great survivors of the digital marketing industry. In the late ‘90s, when the digital advertising landscape was fragmented, with countless websites offering ad space but no efficient way for advertisers to reach them at scale, ad networks plugged the gap by aggregating inventory from multiple publishers and selling it to advertisers, often at discounted rates.

Publishers, are you looking to maximise your revenue from web and app audiences? If so, programmatic advertising via Limelight could be the answer. This automated process connects advertisers to your inventory in real-time, making it a win-win for everyone involved. Let's explore how it works and why you should hop on board.

When it comes to buying advertising digitally, demand-side platforms (DSPs) have emerged as game-changers for driving strong returns on ad spend (ROAS). Powerful platforms like Limelight combine automation, data-driven insights and human expertise to help advertisers maximise their campaign effectiveness and ROI. What is a DSP? Let us break it down.

Publishers face a rapidly changing ad tech ecosystem. InPublishing grabs five minutes with James MacDonald, co-founder and CRO at Limelight Inc, to see what advice he would give them.

Programmatic advertising allows publishers to sell their ad inventory through real-time auctions using advanced algorithms and data insights. At the heart of this process lies the oRTB (open real-time bidding) protocol, which facilitates seamless and efficient ad transactions.

The world of programmatic advertising can seem daunting, with an overabundance of three-letter acronyms and a vast array of companies involved in matching advertiser demand with publisher supply. However, understanding the key players and how they fit together is crucial for unlocking the power of a sector that is projected to account for nearly $221 billion of global ad spend in 2024.

The world of programmatic advertising can seem daunting with its complex technology stack and abundance of acronyms. DSPs, SSPs, RTB - it's enough to make your head spin. Let's break it down piece by piece.