• by Jon Mandel , June 13, 2014

Claudia Perlich, Chief Scientist of Dstillery, shed some light on the right way to look at the digital behavioral data marketers use to target consumers during the "Rewiring" panel at the RTB Insider Summit on Kiawah Island, SC. And she used a light to do it. Noting that raw “clicks” aren’t necessarily the best metric to use for that, Perlich said, “If you want clicks, throw ads on the flashlight app [on smartphones],” she said, adding, “The are a whole lot of people fumbling in the dark.”

Apparently, some of them are digital marketers and agencies, Perlich implied, noting that using such behavioral data creates “artifacts that lead to sub-optimal outcomes.” Even worse, she said, you end up working with “intermediaries that are getting paid” based on less-than-optimal metrics.