Data-Driven Thinking Archives - Page 4 of 20

Why Retail Media’s Next Phase Depends On Full-Funnel Measurement

Retail media spending is surging as advertisers explore new formats, channels and environments. With projections suggesting that in-store retail media ad spend alone will surpass $1 billion by 2029, the industry is entering a new phase of growth. However, confidence in measurement has not kept pace with this rapid expansion. Viewing retail media through the […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Ad Tech Says It’s Not In The Surveillance Business. Now Is The Time To Prove It

I’ve been thinking a lot about the RFI issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late January. ICE asked data providers and tech vendors to share information on how their tools and services could be used to “directly support investigations.” The RFI spelled it out: “The Government is seeking to understand the current state […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Why Smart Marketers Look Beyond The Leading Platforms To Deliver Outcomes

Across industries, marketing teams are navigating a brutal equation: shrinking budgets, leaner teams and rising performance pressure. In this environment, platforms like Meta and Google dominate the ecosystem. Their unrivaled scale and AI-powered technology make them safe bets for marketing and user acquisition. But as these leaders push further into automation, they’ve reduced the manual […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

When Conversation Becomes Inventory: How OpenAI Could Reshape Digital Advertising

For decades, digital advertising has relied on proxies for intent: demographics, behaviors, cohorts and fragmented signals inferred from clicks and cookies. As of this week, that model is being tested. OpenAI has begun experimenting with ads in ChatGPT, matching sponsored messages to the topics and prompts within a user’s conversation. In a prompt-driven environment like […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

The Fastest Path To Agentic AI In Advertising Isn’t Reinvention. It’s Using Existing Standards

We are on the brink of an exciting top-to-bottom structural transformation of our industry, with agentic AI reshaping everything from how media is discovered to how it’s planned, bought and measured. But this transformation won’t happen instantly and without effort. Agentic AI needs schemas and standards to work. They provide invaluable, referenceable context, so the […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

What Meta’s Andromeda Update Actually Changes – And What It Doesn’t

The recent Andromeda update, the fastest and most advanced iteration to date of Meta’s ad-retrieval system, has dramatically changed the rhythm of Meta Ads. Delivery cycles are faster, creative gets picked up and exhausted with remarkable speed, and optimization feels more dynamic than ever. But this increased velocity has also introduced confusion. Many advertisers assume […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

The AdCP Hype Problem: Why Standardized AI Workflows Don’t Equal Better Media Outcomes

If you are feeling pressure to “do something” about Ad Context Protocol, you are not alone. Since its launch a few months ago, AdCP has been framed as a foundational step toward an “agentic” future, one where AI systems plan, execute and optimize media buys without human hand-holding. It is a compelling vision, but one […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Privacy Enforcement Crossed A Line In 2025 – And There’s No Going Back

For most of the last decade, privacy compliance lived in a gray zone. Companies could point to a cookie banner, update a policy and reasonably believe they were doing enough. In 2025, that gray zone disappeared. What changed was not the sudden arrival of a sweeping new law, but the scale and seriousness of enforcement. […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Goodbye, Outcomes Era? Nah. In 2026, It’s Picking Up Steam

Since I coined the term “Outcomes Era” in November 2024, it’s drawn both fervent support and sharp criticism. Companies like Viant, tvScientific, Permutive and Chalice have adopted it. Industry figures such as Terry Kawaja have used it to frame the ad tech moment. Others, however, argue the Outcomes Era is already fading. But the evidence […]

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Data-Driven Thinking

Ad Tech Doesn’t Just Have A Transparency Problem. It Has A Courage Problem

What type of leadership and attitude do we need to innovate in digital advertising and ad tech? We work in a highly polarized industry where our methods of tackling fraud and providing transparency are shaped by conflicting and self-interested business models. And the industry leaders who loudly and publicly advocate for their interests seem to […]

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