Ep 223: The new era of rewarded traffic

Lenny Rabin, founder of Brown Boots and GoKart, joins Taylor Lobdell to dissect the evolution of rewarded user acquisition, focusing on how direct publisher-advertiser relationships can solve long-standing industry inefficiencies. Rabin, with over a decade in rewarded traffic and ad tech, explains why most publishers dislike third-party monetization platforms, how custom tech stacks like GoKart enable deeper, more transparent deals, and what both advertisers and publishers must do to thrive in an increasingly mainstream and competitive rewards ecosystem. This episode tracks the practical realities of running direct-sold inventory at scale, dives into shifts in audience intent (from GPT sites to fintechs), and breaks down why most campaigns fail. Rabin also shares founder lessons for building in ad tech without an engineering background.

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• What’s the origin story behind Brown Boots and GoKart?
• Why do most publishers dislike monetizing via third-party networks?
• What core problems do direct publisher-advertiser relationships solve that networks can’t?
• What are the unique challenges in building a tech stack for rewarded offers?
• How does GoKart’s programmatic model differ from legacy platforms?
• Who is the ideal client for Brown Boots vs. GoKart?
• What major changes has Rabin seen in rewarded marketing over 15 years?
• How do publisher audiences shape campaign strategy and outcomes?
• What retention and LTV signals matter most for performance marketers?
• What timeline is realistic for testing new rewarded channels?
• Where do most advertisers and publishers fail in UA campaign collaboration?
• What’s Rabin’s advice for ad tech founders without a technical background?

• 0:04 – Intro and Lenny’s background
• 0:27 – Brown Boots & GoKart origin story
• 1:55 – Direct publisher-advertiser relationships explained
• 3:22 – Building custom tech for publishers
• 5:20 – Ideal customer for Brown Boots and GoKart
• 6:30 – Fintech, UA, and why rewarded offers are growing
• 9:00 - What has changed the most in rewarded traffic acquisition
• 11:15 – How intent differs between GPT sites and fintech audiences
• 13:05 - How does that change the value proposition for app marketers
• 13:45 – Advertiser mistakes: not understanding publisher audiences
• 15:06 – How long to test new channels; why 90 days matters
• 16:46 – The retention metric and why it drives value
• 17:46 – GoKart’s programmatic disruption
• 18:18 – Why last-mile delivery in rewarded UA is broken
• 21:00 – The tech stack vision: features, flexibility, and future
• 27:00 – Lessons in building ad tech as a non-engineer
• 35:00 - Rapid fire round

(1:05) "Publishers wanted more transparency in the revenues they were making and also deeper partnerships with the advertisers."

(5:00) "Rewarded traffic is a medium which continues to grow and is becoming more mainstream."

(11:29) "On a 'Get-Paid-To' site, users come specifically to earn rewards, so the quality of your user is inherently low."

(13:55) "Every publisher will have a specific and unique audience, so failing to cater your campaigns to that audience is a big miss."

(21:55) "Let's not be spending our time dealing with data loss and small decisions. Let's spend our time talking about how we create custom campaigns."