IPG Media Lab Vice President-Consumer Research Strategy Kara Manatt presented some counterintuitive -- at least until she explained it -- research findings on "viewability" during a keynote presentation at the Programmatic Insider Summit in Lake Tahoe this morning. The presentation, which covered two recent Lab studies, was intended to put some science behind the industry's current standards for defining a viewable impression. Those standards, created by the Media Rating Council, she said were designed to define a minimum opportunity for people to view and impression, but not necessarily what criteria leads to the most effective and efficient viewable impressions. Among …

No amount of data is going to enable the level of ad personalization that brands are looking for, according to Matheus Barros, Founder & CEO of Brazilian ad agency CUBOCC. It was an unexpected message to hear at MediaPost's Programmatic Insider Summit, on Tuesday, which made it all the more intriguing.

Speaking during a keynote conversation with Real-Time Daily Editor Tobi Elkin this morning at the Programmatic Insider Summit in Lake Tahoe, Assembly Chief Digital Officer Jeff Liang said the big breakthrough in targeting -- and he means all targeting, not just programmatically -- will be in unlocking the data being collected via a multitude of electronic sensors embedded in mobile devices. Liang estimated there are probably "six to 10" sensors, but possibly more that can give brands unparalleled insights about the consumers they are trying to reach, as well as an ability to to give them better experiences when they …

"Brands and agencies that understand the nature of cross-platform audiences will be best positioned to understand the modern consumer," said Aaron Fetters, SVP of marketing solutions at comScore, at MediaPost's Programmatic Insider Summit.

Among all verticals, technology and gadget brands have invested the most heavily in mobile direct response over the past year. As a result, this forward-leaning segment captured 24.3% of all ad dollars spent on performance campaigns during the second quarter, according to the latest findings from Opera Mediaworks.

In their pursuit of an increasingly audience-centric approach, what sort of hurdles are agencies facing? It's a long list, according to the experts at MediaPost's Programmatic Insider Summit on Tuesday.

What's in a name? Turns out, it's a demonstrably better user experience. At least that was the case for the savvy consumer targeters at Ancestry.com, when they decided to make the shift from obligatory forms of programmatic retargeting -- you know, the kind that leads to banner blindness and, how shall we say, less-than-desirable user experiences. After years of using the former model and stalking with a "shopping cart" mentality in order to get them to convert, Ancestry.com realized it needed to "make targeting more personalized," Riddhi Goradia, Director, Display and Content Marketing, Ancestry.com said during an opening keynote conversation …

The problem of advertising fraud has found a thoughtful opponent in the programmatic space. While buying ads programmatically can greatly enhance targeting and measurement, the volume and real-time aspects of programmatic buying leave campaigns open to supply-side fraud.

Believe it or not, ad agencies are actually well positioned to address the rise of ad-blockers. "There's no need to panic," according to Nikin Patel, Director of Digital at MEC. "We're at a good place with it," Patel told attendees of MediaPost's Programmatic Insider Summit, on Monday.

Advertising messaging in driving consumers to a deeper purchase commitment wasn’t completely working for Ancestry.com. “We probably were limiting ourselves in terms of how we speak to people,” said Riddhi Goradia, director, display/content marketing for Ancestry.com, in speaking at MediaPost’s Programmatic Insider Summit. So the company shifted away in part from its advertising messaging about consumers discovering their family history to something a little easier and quicker: Like finding out the meaning of their last name. “We are not driving them to 14-day free trial page, we are driving them to a page where they are …