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The long-held advertising adage that "all media isn’t created equal" is being forcefully reintroduced into the programmatic advertising discourse, challenging the industry’s prevailing focus on audience targeting at the expense of media quality. A forthcoming paper from the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) aims to dismantle the notion that ad formats and creative can be standardized and commoditized, particularly within the burgeoning Connected TV (CTV) landscape. The organization, which teased its findings during its CIMM East event in New York City on Tuesday, argues that programmatic ad tech has largely overlooked the critical nuances of media quality and content, leading to inefficiencies and perpetuating long-standing industry challenges.
A pre-release review of the paper by AdExchanger reveals a comprehensive argument that extends beyond merely demonstrating the measurability of media quality differences. It posits that the industry’s unwavering fixation on short-term outcomes has inadvertently fostered an environment where made-for-advertising (MFA) sites can exploit the programmatic ecosystem, brands may be overspending on low-quality CTV ads that are indistinguishable from premium placements, and ad tech vendors often prioritize audience value over the intrinsic quality of the media itself.
Erez Levin, founder of ad tech consultancy Emet Advisory and a co-author of the paper, highlighted the current ambiguity surrounding media quality. "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 objective in publishing this guidance, he explained, is to establish an "objective, industry-wide shared consensus and framework" to move discussions about media quality measurement out of their current "limbo." The paper is not intended to introduce new measurement standards but rather to catalyze a holistic industry conversation, compelling agencies, tech platforms, and publishers to articulate a coherent approach to defining and measuring media quality.
The Imperative for Consensus in a Fragmented Ecosystem
The impetus for the CIMM paper is rooted in the rapid proliferation of media quality, curation, and programmatic verification services. The landscape now features a vibrant ecosystem of startups, including Jounce Media, DeepSee, Sincera, Adalytics, and Gamera, each approaching similar challenges from distinct angles. This surge in specialized solutions is further amplified by the renewed prominence of established players like DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, which have revitalized the media quality measurement category. Recent trends in attention measurement and deal curation have also introduced novel methods for transacting on quality signals, further underscoring the need for a unified understanding.
The groundwork for the CIMM paper was laid during the organization’s 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 fundamental lack of consensus on how to accurately measure the quality of ad impressions. This realization spurred CIMM to address the broader issue of media quality measurement.
The paper aims to illuminate the advancements in measurement tools available to advertisers and highlight the progress being made in this domain. Levin has been a vocal advocate for improved quality and attention measurement since at least 2017, during his tenure as a product specialist for Google Marketing Platform, where he engaged with both buy-side and sell-side stakeholders. 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 initiative.
Dorosz articulated his motivation for contributing to the paper: "In the premium news publisher space, there’s a belief that the market is not serving those kinds of publishers well. 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 Realigning Value
Beyond advocating for publishers to better demonstrate their media’s quality, Dorosz emphasized that the paper also seeks to equip buyers with the knowledge to avoid squandering budgets on ineffective advertising. The authors endeavor to debunk entrenched myths that have arisen from what Dorosz described as buyers being "oversold on the value of certainty."
A prime example cited 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 an inventory’s perceived value over that of an impression lacking such an identifier, with factors like time of day, contextual data, and device type frequently relegated to secondary importance.
However, the CIMM paper contends that probabilistic modeling, rather than solely deterministic data, offers a more accurate assessment of the true value of a diverse range of ad impressions. The paper provides actionable guidance for incorporating probabilistic metrics, such as attention scoring and contextual relevance, to gauge an impression’s potential to advance stated campaign goals. It also details how these metrics can fluctuate significantly based on temporal and contextual factors.
Similarly, the paper addresses the persistent high price points associated with premium CTV inventory. Levin pointed out that major streaming platforms often command premium rates even for ad placements during overnight hours, when audience receptivity is generally lower. This suggests that advertisers should critically examine why their streaming campaigns might allocate a substantial portion of their budget to overnight slots and be wary of such practices.
A New Paradigm for Media Quality: The Quality Trifecta
To reorient the industry’s focus toward media quality, the CIMM paper introduces a novel model that the authors believe harks back to the foundational principles of marketing. This new model is largely built upon "The Quality Trifecta," a concept championed by Levin since the previous year. The core tenet of this trifecta is the independent measurement of media quality, creative quality, and audience quality.
Media quality itself is further segmented into two key components: "attention," referring to the prominence of the ad placement, and "situational context," which assesses the likelihood that the surrounding media environment fosters a receptive mood in the viewer. The paper advocates for a move away from binary quality assessment methods—such as the mere presence of an ID in a bid request or meeting minimum viewability standards. Instead, it recommends the adoption of "non-binary, relative, and probabilistic" measurements, like attention scoring, which evaluate media quality on a spectrum of effectiveness.
Levin explained that these non-binary approaches facilitate more effective comparisons across different media types and are better equipped to capture the variations influenced by audience characteristics and other factors, such as time of day. The paper also underscores the importance of considering both short-term performance and long-term brand-building opportunities, while acknowledging that brands heavily reliant on immediate returns should continue to prioritize them.
CTV as the Proving Ground and the Buy-Side Imperative
While the CIMM paper is designed as a guide for the entire open web, the authors pinpoint streaming media and CTV supply as the critical proving ground. This segment represents the highest-stakes market, characterized by elevated CPMs, intense demand, and expansive creative canvases.
Dorosz further elaborated that CTV’s relative newness and its liberation from the decades-long dependency on third-party cookies mean that players are not as entrenched in existing industry paradigms. Moreover, many traditional, pixel-based measurement approaches that are effective on other platforms are not well-suited for CTV. For instance, the paper proposes a complete reevaluation of viewability measurement for CTV, arguing that given CTV ads typically autoplay with sound and occupy the full screen, the traditional definition of viewability becomes less relevant.
Despite the overarching goal of industry-wide adoption, the authors concur that the buy side must spearhead this shift. Dorosz concluded, "These theories only matter if the buy side demonstrates success and drives repeatability." The implications of this shift are profound: a more nuanced understanding of media value could lead to a more equitable distribution of ad spend, rewarding publishers that invest in quality environments and enabling advertisers to achieve more impactful and efficient campaign outcomes, particularly in the rapidly evolving CTV space. The paper’s forthcoming release is poised to ignite crucial conversations and potentially reshape the very fabric of programmatic advertising.
