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Niels Meersschaert

Member since April 2015Contact Niels

As Chief Technology Officer, Niels Meersschaert leads all aspects of Qualia’s technology strategy, research and product development as well as external technology partnerships. He also plays a key leadership role in the overall strategy and direction of the company. He is an accomplished leader in the digital technology industry with more than 20 years' experience. Before joining Qualia, Niels was the founding employee and Principal Architect at Magnetic, one of the early innovators in search retargeting. At Magnetic, he pioneered many cross-company initiatives that drove innovative new products and improved user experiences for consumers and advertising partners. He also contributed to the growth of the company from 2 to 40 employees and to $20 million in revenue. Prior to Magnetic, Niels held various senior technologist roles with Gucci, Business Week, and PixelJump. Niels holds a B.S. in Television & Film Production from Hofstra University and resides in Brooklyn with his wife.

Articles by Niels All articles by Niels

  • How Bots Really Impact CTR in Metrics Insider on 05/26/2015

    In a recent column, we discussed the impact of bots on CPMs. But where bots really become problematic is in their impact on CTRs. Even though our industry has matured beyond our focus on the CTR to measure performance, and we generally apply more advanced metrics, the CTR remains a key factor in our success equation. So, the CTR must remain pure.

  • Bots Change The Rules For CPMs More Than You Think in Metrics Insider on 04/28/2015

    The CPM has long been our default currency, within both the direct sale of yesteryear and today's programmatic marketplace. As a marketer, you habitually evaluate the base value of your media by the CPM. But you want to ensure your media spend is as efficient as possible, because you are spending dollars and impressions to actually reach your audience. Unfortunately, thanks to bots, the long-favored CPM is a polluted measure that keeps you from doing so. So, what's the wiser alternative? Let us consider the human CPM (hCPM): effectively, how much you spend to reach humans.

  • The Smart Marketer's Alternative To Super-Sized Segments in Metrics Insider on 04/01/2015

    Even as marketers and agencies get comfortable with the necessity of data-driven marketing, there are lingering issues tied to our "bigness" obsession. On the ad tech supply side, we must decide continually how to solve large data engineering problems. At the same time, marketers must embrace the possibility of rich data without fixating on its complexity, obsessing over its bigness, or wandering into common mistakes that can steer one astray. For all of us, it comes down to simplifying the way we regard data in the first place and how we gauge consumer intent.

Comments by Niels All comments by Niels

  • Bots Change The Rules For CPMs More Than You Think by Niels Meersschaert (Metrics Insider on 04/28/2015)

    Greg, retargeting is technically very easy to manipulate.  All that is required is to have the bot load the segment pixel and then appear on the target publisher's site to gain impressions and command a higher CPM.  Look at what happened to AdRoll last year http://www.thesempost.com/adroll-retargeting-bot-attack-behind-ie7-traffic-surges/.  Or even the article on Mediapost late last year about retailers and retargeting http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/240542/retailers-waste-more-than-half-of-digital-budgets.html. Generally speaking, the lower the threshold to the data (like implied intent), the easier it is to manipulate.  That doesn't mean that all content or retargeting impressions are to bots, but marketers should understand the risks.

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