"In this day and age when we're not sure with AI what's real -- what's fake news, what's real news - we know that real connections are made with people with brands with advertisers in the real world," he told me ahead of this week's DPAA summit in NYC.

"We are creating a synthetic panel," Nielsen's David Kurzynski told a roomful of ad industry researchers earlier this year. He went on to pitch a new methodology synthetically fusing its ratings panel with first-party data from streaming platforms.

Many factors seem to have impelled the massive surge in streaming activity that commenced around 2015 and carries forward today. It must be conceded that for some consumers the quality of TV programming was an issue and they were restless, seeking alternatives. But for many others, economics was the primary driver.

The turnaround in the perception of planning's influence comes as advertisers and agencies grapple with consolidation, turnover and the increasing role of AI in the mix.

Ultimately, trust is not just about fulfilling one's ethical responsibilities, it is about realizing the full potential and value of data as well. Trust and understanding about how data was derived leads to greater confidence in its use and better application of it.

The ANA's "cross-media" measurement service plans to expand beyond linear, CTV and online video to include measurement of any and all other media formats, its partners revealed Tuesday at the ANA's Measurement & Analytics Conference.

When a client asks to see raw campaign data, it can feel like a vote of no confidence. It usually isn't.

"If you think that this is an overly pessimistic view, I want to assure you that it isn't, because in some corners of the industry, this is how we've been operating for years," Omnicom's Ben Hovaness asserted during the opening session of the CIMM Summit in NYC Tuesday morning.

Suppose you planted a tomato plant on Monday and pulled it out on Friday. Finding no tomatoes, you might conclude gardening has a disappointing ROI. Most media buyers would recognize the absurdity immediately, and might nevertheless spend Friday afternoon preparing a budget recommendation, which does something remarkably similar.

There is no greater loss of agency than extinction, but any loss of agency can feel like the end of the world. Particularly things like privacy, surveillance pricing, and inflation