Pesach Lattin: bio and fact sheet

Approved biographies in four lengths, the facts that other profiles most often get wrong, and how to credit him. Use any of it without asking.

Biographies

One line

For a byline or a caption.

Pesach Lattin is an investigative journalist and the publisher of ADOTAT.

Short

About 55 words. For an introduction or a speaker listing.

Pesach Lattin is an investigative journalist and the publisher of ADOTAT, a reader-supported publication that investigates ad tech fraud, programmatic economics and advertising holding companies. A former contract special investigator for the U.S. Secret Service, he spent about twenty years building advertising businesses before he started reporting on them. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Medium

About 140 words. For a program, a guest page or a profile.

Pesach Lattin is an investigative journalist and the publisher of ADOTAT, a reader-supported publication that investigates ad tech fraud, programmatic economics, TV measurement and advertising holding companies. He hosts The ADOTAT Show and writes Unmeasured, a newsletter on TV and streaming measurement. He started as an investigator: in the 1990s he was a contract special investigator for the U.S. Secret Service and one of the first members of its New York Electronic Crimes Task Force. He then spent about twenty years in advertising. He built and sold the Future Games Network, helped build an early digital rep firm, ran the ad network Vizi as CEO, co-founded the LeadsCon conference and published Performance Marketing Insider. He is also the principal of ANIA, a privately held intelligence firm. He is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Long

About 280 words.

Pesach Lattin is an investigative journalist and the publisher of ADOTAT, a reader-supported publication that investigates ad tech fraud, programmatic economics, TV measurement and advertising holding companies. ADOTAT's method is simple: quote what a company says about itself, then check it against the filings, contracts and invoices. He hosts The ADOTAT Show, a long-form interview program, and writes Unmeasured, a newsletter on TV and streaming measurement.

He came to reporting from two directions. The first was investigations. In the 1990s he worked for the U.S. Secret Service as a contract special investigator and was one of the first members of the Secret Service-led New York Electronic Crimes Task Force. He wrote a computer forensics manual the Secret Service has used, and in 2001 he worked out of the Secret Service's New York office at 7 World Trade Center.

The second was the advertising business itself. He built and sold the Future Games Network, an advertising game network, in the 1990s. He helped build one of the first digital rep firms, ran the ad network Vizi as CEO in the late 2000s, co-founded the LeadsCon conference, and published Performance Marketing Insider, an affiliate and lead generation trade site, from 2011 to 2020. He has known many of today's ad tech executives for about twenty years, many as competitors, and he discloses those ties when they bear on a story.

He describes himself as not a trained journalist. He has retired three times, and none of them stuck. He is also the principal of ANIA, a privately held, independent intelligence firm that is not a government agency. He went to Brooklyn College and lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Fact sheet

Name: Pesach Lattin
Title: Investigative journalist and publisher, ADOTAT
Publication: ADOTAT, reader-supported, with a paid ADOTAT+ tier. No paid placement in editorial.
Beat: Ad tech fraud, programmatic economics, TV and streaming measurement, advertising holding companies
Also publishes or hosts: The ADOTAT Show, Unmeasured, The Weekly Reckoning podcast
Other role: Principal of ANIA, a privately held intelligence firm. Not a government agency.
Based in: Phoenix, Arizona
Born in: DeKalb, Illinois. Raised in Brooklyn.
Education: Brooklyn College
Before journalism: Contract special investigator, U.S. Secret Service; early member, New York Electronic Crimes Task Force
Founded or co-founded: ADOTAT, ANIA, Future Games Network, LeadsCon, Performance Marketing Insider
Has written for: ClickZ, MediaPost, The Times of Israel, The Jewish Press, The Jewish Week
Contact: pesach@lattin.us, 505-932-9060

What other profiles get wrong

Several directory and wiki pages about him, including some linked on this page, are out of date or disagree with each other, and he does not control them. Where they conflict with this page, this page is correct.

His title is publisher. He is the publisher of ADOTAT and an investigative journalist. Older profiles that say editor-in-chief are out of date.
ADOTAT is not ADOTAS. ADOTAS was an earlier trade publication he founded in the 2000s. ADOTAT is the publication he runs today. They are separate.
He co-founded LeadsCon. Profiles that list him only as a LeadsCon business development director are incomplete.
He ran Vizi as CEO in the late 2000s. He left in 2009.
He is based in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved from New York in 2021. Profiles that list New York are out of date.
ANIA is a private firm. It is privately held and independent. It is not a government agency and does not act under government authority.

Elsewhere

Where to find him and his work outside this site.

The ADOTAT Show on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Muck Rack: his journalist profile, with an index of his ADOTAT articles.
The Times of Israel: his columns.
Crunchbase: his profile.
EverybodyWiki: a wiki biography, with his earlier career in more detail.
about.me: his page there.
Symitri: a guest's account of appearing on The ADOTAT Show, May 2024.
Adweek, October 13, 2008: "I am extremely worried about the industry." Adweek's AgencySpy column ran his warning to colleagues as Vizi's CEO and made fun of it. He left Vizi in 2009.

How to credit him

"Pesach Lattin, publisher of ADOTAT" on first reference, "Lattin" after that. Link to new.adotat.com for the publication and to lattin.us/about for him.

Interviews and comment

He comments on ad fraud, measurement, programmatic fees, ad tech deals and holding companies. Email is the fastest route: pesach@lattin.us. Conflicts and funding are on the disclosures page.