The long-held adage that "all media isn’t created equal" is being reignited in the digital advertising industry, challenging the prevailing programmatic approach that prioritizes audience targeting above all else. A forthcoming paper from the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) aims to systematically dismantle the notion that ad formats and creative can be standardized and commoditized, arguing instead for a renewed focus on the inherent quality of the media itself, particularly within the rapidly growing Connected TV (CTV) landscape. The paper, a pre-release copy of which was reviewed by AdExchanger, asserts that the industry’s relentless pursuit of short-term outcomes has exacerbated persistent challenges, including the proliferation of made-for-advertising (MFA) sites that exploit the programmatic ecosystem, brands inadvertently overspending on subpar CTV ad placements, and ad tech vendors who disproportionately emphasize audience value over media integrity.
The research, teased during CIMM’s recent East event in New York City on Tuesday, is set to provide an objective, industry-wide framework for understanding and measuring media quality. Erez Levin, founder of ad tech consultancy Emet Advisory and a co-author of the paper, highlighted the nebulous definition of "quality" within the industry. "Quality has been a buzzword for a while in this industry, and no one’s really defined it, except, for the most part, in self-serving ways," Levin stated. CIMM’s initiative seeks to move beyond this ambiguity, aiming to foster a cohesive conversation among agencies, tech platforms, and publishers, compelling them to articulate clear methodologies for assessing media quality.
The Imperative for Consensus in a Fragmented Ecosystem
The impetus for CIMM’s paper is deeply rooted in the increasingly complex and fragmented nature of media quality, curation, and programmatic verification services. The market has witnessed an explosion of specialized startups, including Jounce Media, DeepSee, Sincera, Adalytics, and Gamera, each approaching the challenges of media quality from distinct angles. Furthermore, the resurgence of established players like DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, alongside the emergence of new transaction models driven by attention measurement and deal curation, has created a dynamic but often confusing landscape.
The genesis of CIMM’s work can be traced back to its collaboration with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) on the Attention Measurement Playbook for Marketers, released late last year. During the development of attention standards, the working group repeatedly encountered a significant lack of consensus regarding how to effectively measure the quality of ad impressions. This realization underscored the urgent need for a unified approach.
Levin, who has been a vocal advocate for improved quality and attention measurement since at least 2017 when he served as a product specialist for Google Marketing Platform, emphasized the progress being made and the availability of new tools for advertisers. Co-author Gabriel Dorosz, global advertising initiative lead at the International News Media Association and former head of audience strategy for The New York Times, brought a crucial publisher-side perspective to the research. "In the premium news publisher space, there’s a belief that the market is not serving those kinds of publishers well," Dorosz explained. "My passion is that quality publishers ought to be getting more of their fair share of ad spend, and this paper is a way to advance that."
Dispelling Myths and Reimagining Value
Beyond advocating for publishers, Dorosz emphasized that the paper aims to equip buyers with the knowledge to prevent the wasteful allocation of budgets on ineffective advertising. The authors endeavor to debunk persistent myths that have taken root due to what Dorosz describes as buyers being "oversold on the value of certainty."
A prime example is the industry’s heavy reliance on deterministic attribution as a proxy for audience value. The presence of a deterministic identifier in a bid request often elevates its perceived value, overshadowing factors like time of day, contextual data, and device type. However, CIMM’s paper posits that probabilistic modeling, rather than deterministic data alone, offers a more accurate assessment of the true value across a broader spectrum of ad impressions.
The paper advocates for the integration of probabilistic metrics such as attention scoring and contextual relevance to gauge an impression’s potential to advance a brand’s stated campaign objectives. It details how these metrics can fluctuate significantly based on temporal and contextual factors. For instance, Levin pointed out that premium CTV inventory often commands high price points irrespective of the time of day, even during periods with lower audience receptivity. He argues that advertisers should be critically examining why campaigns might allocate substantial budgets overnight and be wary of such practices.
A New Model for Media Quality: The Quality Trifecta
To champion a renewed emphasis on media quality, CIMM introduces a novel model designed to reconnect with fundamental marketing principles. This model is largely built upon "The Quality Trifecta," a concept championed by Levin, which advocates for the independent measurement of media quality, creative quality, and audience quality.
Within this framework, media quality is further delineated into two key components: "attention," referring to the prominence and visibility of an ad placement, and "situational context," which assesses the likelihood that the surrounding media environment fosters a receptive mood in the viewer.
The paper strongly advises marketers to move beyond binary quality assessment methods, such as the mere presence of an ID in a bid request or meeting minimum viewability thresholds. Instead, it promotes the adoption of "non-binary, relative, and probabilistic" measurements, like attention scoring, that evaluate media quality on a spectrum of effectiveness. Levin asserts that these nuanced approaches facilitate more accurate comparisons across diverse media types and are better equipped to capture variations influenced by audience demographics and time of day. Furthermore, the paper underscores the importance of balancing short-term performance metrics with long-term brand-building objectives, while acknowledging that brands heavily reliant on immediate returns may need to maintain a primary focus on short-term outcomes.
CTV as the Proving Ground and the Buy-Side Mandate
While CIMM’s paper offers guidance for the entire open web, the authors identify streaming media and CTV inventory as the critical proving ground. This is due to CTV’s high stakes, characterized by elevated CPMs, intense demand, and expansive creative canvases. Dorosz further notes that CTV’s relative freedom from decades of third-party cookie dependency and the limitations of traditional pixel-based measurement methods present a unique opportunity for innovation.
For example, the paper challenges traditional viewability measurement for CTV. Given that CTV ads typically auto-play with sound and occupy the full screen, the conventional definition of viewability becomes less relevant.
Ultimately, while industry-wide adoption is the desired outcome, the authors agree that the buy side must take the lead in driving change. "These theories only matter if the buy side demonstrates success and drives repeatability," Dorosz concluded, emphasizing that the practical application and proven efficacy of these new approaches will be the catalyst for broader industry transformation. The implications of this shift are profound, potentially leading to a more equitable distribution of ad spend, greater accountability from ad tech vendors, and ultimately, more effective advertising for brands.
