The Skeptical Marketer

Ad fraud isn’t a niche problem, it’s the business model. In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, host Jake Surrey sits down with Dr. Augustine Fou, one of the original investigators of digital ad fraud and the founder of Fou Analytics, to unpack just how deep and normalized the problem has become. From fake websites and cloned mobile apps to legacy fraud verification firms that look the other w...

Ad fraud isn’t a bug in the system. It is the system. In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, host Jake Surrey sits down with Nasser Ouijdane, CEO of Tapper AI, to dig into the hidden mechanics of fraudulent traffic, botnets, and the black-box incentives that make digital advertising feel more Wild West than regulated marketplace. With experience as an entrepreneur and founder in the SaaS space...

What happens when the world’s biggest ad platform in the world starts hiding the receipts? In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, Jake sits down with Ed Leake, founder of God Tier Ads and one of the world’s leading Google Ad’s experts and trainers, to get under the hood of how Google Ads is working in the wild. Ed’s seen it all: the wins, the faceplants, and the dashboards that look brilliant...

If you think analytics is just about dashboards and attribution models, Stéphane Hamel is here to ruin your day—in the best possible way. In this episode of The Skeptical Marketer, Jake sits down with Stéphane Hamel, a digital analytics veteran, ethics advocate, and lecturer at Université Laval. With decades of experience and a sharp outsider’s lens, Stéphane isn’t afraid to ask the tough question...

If you’ve ever wondered whether Google’s ad products are helping your business—or bleeding it dry—this episode of The Skeptical Marketer with guest Arielle Garcia is essential listening. Arielle is the Chief Operating Officer of Check My Ads Institute, an independent nonprofit watchdog advocating for transparency in digital advertising. A former Chief Privacy & Responsibility Officer at a glob...

If you’re wondering where digital marketing is heading and how seismic shifts at Google and across the internet are impacting brands, then this episode of the Skeptical Marketer with guest Charlie Grinnell is a must-listen.  Charlie is the co-CEO and co-founder of Right Metric, a strategic insights partner specializing in analyzing huge digital datasets across web, search, social, and advertising...

Big Tech is under the microscope — and we’re not looking away. The Skeptical Marketer is your guide to the digital world we’ve built, featuring sharp, unfiltered conversations about antitrust trials, ad fraud, platform accountability, and the truth behind your media spend. Hosted by Jake Surrey, this show brings together legal experts, watchdogs, and insiders to unpack the forces shaping tech, tru...