It’s no secret that wasted ad spending in digital media is a huge problem. New data from global media consultant and analytics firm ID Comms suggests that clients and their siloed and “chaotic” data environments may be at the root of the problem. 

At least that’s the way many media agencies see it, according to new research from the company, which just released some headline findings from its forthcoming State Of Digital Media Benchmark report. The full report will be released next month.  

The report is based on a survey taken in December and early January of 143 marketing directors, procurement leaders and agency heads across North America and Europe. The respondents represent categories including CPG, Automotive, Luxury and Financial Services with combined estimated media oversight of $35 billion. 

According to ID Comms, advertisers across sectors blamed waste on opaque pricing models which prevents optimal evaluation of channels and tactics. 

But agencies cite “client data silos as the number one driver of media waste.” Asked to identify the single biggest driver of media waste agencies in the study were 50% more likely than advertisers (46% vs 32%) to cite advertisers internal data silos as “primary culprit of waste in digital media.” 

Scores for data governance varied by category, the study found, with Financial Services, for example, lagging behind the industry average while Luxury & Travel brands emerged as the new leaders “likely driven by stricter brand safety protocols,” per the findings. 

Even most big advertisers—71% of those spending $1 billion or more annually on media—reported their data environments as “chaotic.” 

The report also looked at performance reporting trends, finding that “laggards” lacked real-time access to media performance and ROI data, while 64% of “leaders” have better access to consolidated media performance data. 

“The data tells a stark story for 2026,” stated Tom Denford, CEO, ID Comms. “The era of the annual audit is over. We are seeing a market where ‘leaders’ have moved to continuous monitoring, while ‘laggards’ are still waiting months for spreadsheets that often don’t match.” 

Perhaps most telling, added Denford, “is the feedback from agencies. They are clearly struggling to navigate their clients’ internal data silos, yet clients seem to underestimate how much waste these silos are creating.” 

ID Comms will present the full findings of the report during a webinar on February 5, releasing the full report at its conclusion.