A powerful new DMP providing "second-party" data from thousands of retailers and brands revealing the journey of how, what, when, where and why consumers make their purchases online has just rolled out. And best of all, it's completely free to use.

A startling new analysis from third-party ad server Flashtalking confirms what many have long suspected: that click-throughs are a poor digital campaign performance metric. The analysis, which is published in a Creative Analytics Report that Flashtalking began circulated last week, uses a proprietary metric -- the Creative Performance Index (CPI) -- which measures the relative effectiveness of each campaign's delivery of its campaign objectives.

Two big studies being released this week indicate programmatic is having a profound effect on media planning and buying.

Programmatic is projected to expand 26.3% to $46.55 billion, according to updated estimates released by eMarketer on the eve of Advertising Week in New York City this week. That's a slightly faster rate of expansion than the overall digital display market, which eMarketer projects will grow 25.4% to $57.42 billion. The only digital segment growing faster this year, is essentially a form of programmatic advertising -- search -- which will expand 27.7% to $48.49 billion.