We had the amazing opportunity to sit down with Jay, the CEO and founder of the JuicyAds Advertising Network, for an exclusive interview! Huge thanks to Jay for taking the time to not only talk about business but also answer some personal questions. It was a great chance to get to know the man behind the brand a little better!
Professional Questions
What are the biggest technical challenges when optimizing ad placements, especially in such a dynamic market like the adult industry?
The main struggle of running an advertising network and the associated optimization for ads is the amount of data. We are currently rebuilding our entire ad optimization system from scratch using more advanced data science and statistical analysis than we’ve ever had before. It’s really exciting to run iterations over and over and seeing the improved results.
Can you break down how your ad-matching algorithm works? How do you analyze and target audiences in real time?
Our proprietary ad-matching algorithm evaluates billions of impressions to deliver what we think is the best ad for the impression based on all of our targeting factors. It focuses entirely on the highest revenue for the Publisher, constantly testing and comparing results, but accomplishing that is a lot harder than it sounds and requires a lot of advanced code. We are more privacy-focused than some networks, as we do not engage in any behavioural targeting or “personalization” to the user. Everything we do is related to the website they are on at the time which respects the End User’s privacy and sexual preferences.
How are you incorporating new technologies like artificial intelligence or machine learning into your platform to enhance ad campaigns?
We see AI and machine learning as important to our future growth. We have been using these technologies in different ways, everything from improving and debugging code, to improving our optimization. The possibilities are endless, and clients will be able to see to see the results of some of our larger efforts soon.
What role does programmatic advertising play at JuicyAds? Are you leveraging real-time bidding, and how do you optimize these processes?
All advertising and placements in the JuicyAds network are exclusive to our network. While programmatic advertising and real-time bidding (RTB) are key components of the adult advertising ecosystem, we don’t use them. Today, adult networks seem to keep popping up and they all have billions of ads available on their first day, but that’s because these networks’ inventory are just the reselling and bouncing around of the same traffic and ad placements that everyone else is. That is why JuicyAds stands alone as one of the few networks that isn’t a reseller.
JuicyAds offers many different ad solutions. What technical considerations go into designing and optimizing these formats?
How does your reporting system for advertisers and publishers work? Are there unique features that set it apart from other networks?
The dashboard allows for a quick view of advertiser and publisher spend and earnings, the underlying breakdowns and campaign statistics allow breakdowns beyond this. Advertisers have a lot of power to access detailed performance metrics, including CTR, impressions, and ROI data if they are using our S2S postback system. Our Adsistant tool allows any advertiser to setup rules-based auto optimization that works when you’re asleep, blocking and whitelisting sources based on rules you can built yourself – and an unlimited number of rules per campaign. Once you create a rule, you can use it for any of your other campaigns too without recreating it. All you have to do is enable it.
What areas of your platform have you recently upgraded, and what technologies played a key role in those improvements?
Most of our largest improvements are in the backend rather than front-end. After rolling out our new UX a few years ago, we’ve been constantly working on our new ad delivery engine. We’re getting ready to launch new ad types later in 2025 based on this technology, then rolling older ad types into it for better performance and efficiency. Most of the upgrades we do are invisible or subtle to our clients. Improved ad optimization (better results for advertisers, better earnings for publishers) is a current focus and ad templates are currently getting a facelift.
How do you collaborate with publishers and advertisers to improve ad load times and performance? Are there any technical hacks that work especially well?
We work with Publishers to try to improve placements and traffic quality. For example, sometimes publishers will have their pops setup so that they are running multiple layers of popunders on their website. This is counter-productive. For the short-term gain in revenues, the profits will slide over time as the quality suffers from those multiple pops. No publisher should run more than one popunder on their website, everything after the first pop is increasingly quality and leads to advertisers blocking the source. The same goes for too many banner ads, less is more. Cramming more ads doesn’t make more money long-term and we do our best to advise Publishers whenever possible of how to be better.
Personal Questions
If your life were an ad banner, what would the headline say—and what image would you choose to go with it?
The last thing I want to do is envision my life as an ad banner and headline, so with only a minute or so to think about this I think after my 25 years in this industry and all the twists and turns of my personal life, I’d have to say “Life’s too short to be afraid to fail” because its a bit inspiring and on the path to success there’s always a lot of failures first. Its being afraid to start or to fail that holds people back. I have a photo from a mountain bike ride last year that I really like — sitting casually on a bench overlooking the valley at sunrise.
What inspires you more: a spontaneous road trip with no set destination or a carefully planned vacation? And why?
Definitely a spontaneous road trip, which I do almost every summer (usually up the Pacific coast). My favorite thing to do is to have a destination and just go without anything booked. Last summer, a pilot friend and I flew his plane to New Orleans (just the two of us) and we that was a blast! Road trips have taken to the sky!
Do you have a quirky or unusual talent that most people don’t know about?
I read and learn ferociously, everything from business to life hacking, and I’m constantly testing different things with my businesses and lifestyle. The talent part of this is that I can rattle off interesting facts about most random topics.
If you could live an entirely different life for one day, what would it be – and why?
My life is pretty good, but I’m very ambitious and constantly feel like I’m meant to be working on something. The one thing I want more than anything is to be able to sit, relax, and do nothing. I’m not very good at it yet but I’m practising.
You can only listen to one type of music for the rest of your life. What would it be, and what does that say about you?
This is an impossible question because it relates so much to mood and what I’m doing. I love EDM so it would have to be that.
Do you have a ritual or special item that gives you energy or comfort during stressful times?
I write a lot. I find the only way to keep my mind clear is to write everything down. I usually have a notebook with me at all times as I’m very analog and like the feeling of pen and paper. My handwriting is so abstract and messy that it acts as encryption for my notes.
If you could visit any historical era, which one would it be—and what would be the first thing you’d do?
This is tough and I can’t pick just one. I love Italy so ancient Rome would be amazing. The food, the innovation, architecture, and go see Caesar, I guess? Alternatively, I think every kid dreams of dinosaurs so pre-historic times would be awesome to visit but I think I’d probably spend most of my time running away from things trying to kill me.
What technical gadget or tool has completely changed your life, and what could you never live without again?
My smartphone has been on mute since my first daughter was born (phones wake babies) so I wear a Fitbit all the time to know when I’m getting calls or texts. This way, I’m able to ignore everything else and it keeps me distraction-free until I want to take a break. I was an endurance athlete for most of my young life so having all the sleep and activity data combined with keeping me connected makes a Fitbit really valuable to me.
If you could develop an app or software from scratch, what would it do, and what would you name it?
I’m a self-taught programmer and wrote the entire original JuicyAds platform, and I’m constantly building software and scripts. I’m currently building the next-generation Broker.xxx deal-making platform.
If you could sum up your life in a single sentence for a book title, what would it be?
“Build by Ambition: Life, Love, and Hustle”
