Meet Bogdan Yurov: Business Development Manager at GothamAds

We’re thrilled to introduce Bogdan, a Business Development Manager at GothamAds with nearly six years of experience in programmatic advertising. Originally from eastern Ukraine and now based in Kyiv, Bogdan’s journey into adtech began unexpectedly but has since become his passion.

Outside of work, he’s a football enthusiast, music lover, and film aficionado who also dedicates time to volunteer efforts supporting his country. In this interview, Bogdan shares his career path, industry insights, and advice for aspiring business development professionals.

- Thank you for joining us, Bogdan! Could you share a bit about yourself?

- Thank you for giving me a chance to join GothamAds! I’m an active person who is always looking for ways to self-develop. I’m originally from the eastern part of Ukraine and have been living in Kyiv for more than 10 years. Almost 6 years in adtech and programmatic, working as a Business Development Manager. 

- What did your journey to the programmatic industry look like? 

- After my first professional experience, I joined an adtech company as an AdOps manager. My mom found the vacancy for this position on Facebook, actually:) Starting from a nutshell, I understand, first of all for myself, how the advertising we see in every digital channel appears, how it launches, and that there are settings we can use to make advertising smart and many more things. I also realized that adtech is the direction in which I would like to continue to work. Having worked in several companies and changed after this professional direction as bizdev, I understand that I do not regret the decision.

- What brought you to GothamAds?

- Communicated with the company many times while working on other projects, and I always have a friendly and good attitude from people who work and worked at GothamAds. Having discussed in more detail and learned about the company at the interview, its goals, focus, and prospects, this would be a suitable place for further work and experience. I am confident that I have made a good step and that the company and I can help each other in development.

- What do you do outside of work? Do you have any hobbies?

- I like most people, like to spend time with close ones. In difficult times for the country, I try to be as useful as possible and help with raising donations for volunteers and militaries to protect our country.

I'm a big football fan, European, of course. Also, I’m really in love with music. In my free time, I try to play on decks, make music sets, collect vinyl, and more. Films are my passion. I never miss new releases and always rewatch masterpieces, films that I like. 

- What is one of the current programmatic trends you find most interesting?

- I would underline five trends that I see the most in programmatic:

• AI-driven ad campaigns - this trend will be used by many companies in 2025 and the coming years. AI can help to analyze consumer behavior in real-time, allowing brands, platforms to deliver tailored messages at just the right moment, react and change their strategies effectively. This level of personalization accelerates engagement and enhances the overall consumers’ ad experience.
• Strengthening focus and budgets on retail media - there has been the dominance of e-commerce platforms in campaigns for the last few years. It looks like we'll see further growth in 2025 with dozens of billions of dollars for programmatic ads.
• Growth of CTV presence - CTV ad spending grows, especially in the Western world, and this type of advertising will take on a larger role in the industry than other types. Interactive CTV ads and short-form video ads on CTV will help with this. 
• In-game advertising - many sources are confident that the gaming industry continues its upward trajectory, and in-game advertising will become a key part of the programmatic mix. Brands that advertise on gaming content sees high brand recall and awareness in that target group, as they are highly engaged with content creators.
• Privacy-first advertising - we must adapt to a world without third-party cookies by investing in first-party data solutions. Building trust with audiences and offering value in exchange for data becomes crucial.

- What is the number one thing you’d recommend to someone who is interested in being a business developer manager?

- I would recommend paying great attention for everything, developing a skill for focusing on any details you work with. From my job experience, I see that it’s a crucial thing every business development manager must have.