Data-Driven Thinking Archives

Who Eats The Spending Gap When Agentic Spend Outpaces Proof Of Impact?

An AI agent can stay inside its budget and still spend too much. It can buy on signals from known sources. It can act within the authority it was given. It can log every decision. But the evidence can still arrive after the money is committed. In three previous pieces, I argued that agents need […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

The Podcast Impression Is Breaking Down: What Display’s Viewability Crisis Can Teach Buyers

Buyer beware: The sins of digital display and the reckoning of impression viewability are coming back to haunt the podcast advertising industry. I stopped buying display advertising in 2016, and viewability was a big part of why. Advertisers had spent years buying impressions before it became evident that an ad being served didn’t mean a […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Apple’s Latest Privacy Move In iOS 27 Hits Different Than ATT

Editor’s note: After this column published, AdExchanger reported that Apple’s WebKit blocklist has expanded well beyond the initial handful of companies — potentially to hundreds of ad tech, martech and data vendors. Read more. When Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework took effect in April 2021 with the release of iOS 14.5, the ad industry treated it like […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Take A Break, Compliance Nerds. Privacy Is A Research Problem Now

The California legislature has passed the compromise version of SB-690, leaving most of the private right of action provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) in place. Thanks to massive lobbying efforts by Big Tech, other states have lost out on their own opportunities for privacy laws enforceable by individuals via civil lawsuits. […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

The Hybrid Advantage: Getting Value Out Of Agentic AI Means Knowing When Not To Use It

Everybody wants to make the most of agentic AI in advertising. The winners will do it with purpose. Here’s how to make a plan, step by step. Get specific Pick a clear goal. A media buying agency might aim to reduce the cost of producing an approved campaign plan by 25% within 90 days, while […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

The Meta Settlement Defined Which Online Experiences Are ‘Appropriate’ For Teens. Here’s What Advertisers Need To Know

Meta’s recent settlement with almost every US state – in which the company will pay between $17 billion and $18 billion over the next 10 years to settle claims its platforms are harmful to kids and teens – puts the ecosystem on notice: determine who among your audience is under 18 and design your engagement […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Everything Is An Ad Network, Even Cars. But All Ad Networks Need Measurement

BMW recently placed a promotion for the new Spider-Man film on its vehicles’ dashboards. When drivers started the car, a banner appeared on the control display. Tapping it launched a 19-second animation with music and a light show delivered through the car’s ambient lighting system. Many owners were not amused. Some objected to receiving promotional […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

The Amazon Ads Lawsuit Raises Questions About Auction Disclosure DSP Buyers Need To Ask

For 22 years, I have worked on the buy side – across agencies, brands and now at their intersection – helping buyers navigate ad tech and helping ad tech understand buyers. This past year, I have found a clear common cause: Buyers are exhausted. They spend too much time tracking changes, managing campaign and budget […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Google’s Bidding Change Proves Agentic Advertising Has An Agency Problem

Google Ads recently changed how target-based bidding behaves on budget-limited campaigns. The algorithm now bids more aggressively to track closer to whatever target ROAS or CPA you’ve set, regardless of historical performance. Google flagged the change in advance and was transparent about the expected outcome: a campaign with a $10 target CPA that has been […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Marketers, The Free Token Lunch Is Over. Is Your Stack Ready?

Anthropic just dropped Claude Sonnet 5, reigniting a broader debate about how AI should be priced. Some argue that published token rates no longer tell the full economic story because changes in token consumption and model behavior, such as the use of reasoning tokens, can materially affect real-world costs. Meanwhile, other alternatives like Fable 5 […]

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