During a recent business trip to San Francisco, I struck up a conversation with my Uber driver: sports, weather and the standard "how's business?" He said it fluctuates greatly, a problem he shares with his wife, who owns a company that produces and sells umbrellas. He then shares that he and his wife are typically both either busy or slow at the same times, in large part due to rainy weather causing people to stay dry in a car or under an umbrella. Hearing this, my inner analyst couldn't resist a follow-up question: "So, can you predict your ride sales …

On Dec. 16, 2014, IAB released "State of Viewability Transactions 2015,"a position paper that put forth seven principles for viewability transactions in 2015. Since then, the press and the ecosystem at large have engaged in worthy debate and discussion about the meaning of the paper for viewability, measurement, and ongoing deal-making. Still, with some stakeholders jockeying for position and disparate perspectives aplenty, misleading chatter erupted -- and even more than a month out, misconceptions persist. In order to put everyone back onto the same page, the following is a guide to the basics.

Two of the hottest issues in digital measurement right now are viewability and non-human traffic (NHT), which includes but is not limited to fraud. It shouldn't be surprising, then, to discover that these two issues converge. By my count, 16 services are currently accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for viewability measurement, and there has been a marketplace expectation that MRC-accredited viewability measurement providers should report converging metrics for viewability if two or more such solutions are deployed on the same campaign. As you probably know, this has not been the case.

How many times have you declared on Jan. 1 to lose weight and never followed through? After stepping on the scale and seeing the number, you immediately set a weight loss goal, plan your meals, and even create a fitness plan - but then never hit the gym. This same philosophy is also applicable to marketing measurement. After recognizing the inaccuracies of last-click measurements, you resolve to transition from traditional "siloed" measurement to a more advanced, holistic approach.But unless you activate your plans by putting the optimization recommendations into market, you'll never achieve your ultimate goal of improving marketing results …