A teardown series by Guy Alon
App Stack Teardowns
Each issue takes one real mobile app and walks through its ad stack: mediation, demand partners, SDK versions, supply chain, and (where the publisher files with the SEC) the revenue mix from the 10-K. The goal of each teardown is to land two or three observations an operator can act on.
1
Teardowns published
1
Apps covered
8
Placement screenshots
6
Surfaces analyzed
The latest teardown
BuzzFeed App
Publisher: BuzzFeed, Inc.
AdMob Mediation, three bidding partners, four declared formats, and a full TCF v2 + GPP consent layer. The 10-K shows 76% of ad revenue is programmatic, which is exactly where the partner count finding lands.
Mediation
AdMob
Partners
3 bidding
Programmatic share
76%
Inside the methodology
What is in a teardown
Every issue follows the same six steps. The depth of each step varies with what the build exposes and what the publisher files publicly, but the structure is constant so you can compare issues to each other.
01
Static analysis of the build
SDK detection and configuration audit of the publicly distributed Android Package. Mediation platform, demand-partner SDKs, consent stack, MMP, and analytics.
02
1-hour runtime capture
Real device, US location, screen mirror via scrcpy. The session covers home feed, articles, listicles, and any platform-specific surfaces (Shopping, Quizzes, etc).
03
Supply-chain audit
ads.txt + app-ads.txt cross-checked against each declared SSP's sellers.json file via Beamflow.co. Health score, verified vs. unverified entries, top problem SSPs.
04
Public-filing corroboration
Where the publisher files with the SEC, the 10-K is read against the build. Revenue mix, customer concentration, programmatic share. Numbers that change how the build reads.
05
Peer comparison
Each issue compares the stack to the industry baseline for its app category. As the series grows, direct peer rows fill in.
06
Operator findings
Two to four findings worth surfacing to a team that owns the stack. Ordered by estimated yield impact. Specific enough to act on, anchored in what the build shows.
About the series
The series is editorial. Each issue is an independent technical observation of a publicly distributed build, paired with a crawl of the publisher's public ads.txt / app-ads.txt and, where applicable, public SEC filings. SDK presence, demand-partner detection, and placement screenshots are public observations. Operational commentary is editorial. No assertions are made regarding causality, intent, quantitative revenue impact, or regulatory compliance.
If you represent a publisher featured here and want to add context, correct something, or request a teardown of your own stack, get in touch.
Run a real app?
Want your stack analyzed?
If you run a mobile app at meaningful revenue scale and want a full audit (mediation, demand, floors, supply chain, attribution), the free 30-minute call is the starting point. The best engagements often start with the same kind of teardown you see here.
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