The following additional areas were also probed in late January/early February, including Ad Blocking, Fee Transparency, Legally Compliant Data, Valid Traffic and legitimate Viewability metrics. Over 80% of the sample was equally split between buy-side versus sell-side firms; i.e. agencies/clients on the one hand, publishers/networks/exchanges on the other.
We learned Data Integrity is the top supply chain challenge, followed by Valid Traffic (versus fraud) and Legal Compliance (privacy). Fee Transparency is a top-four concern among the agency/client-side. However, stakeholders differ on who is primarily responsible for specific challenges: Sellers accept primary responsibility for Viewability, Legal Compliance & Brand Safety, while Buyers claim a lead role for agencies on Fee Transparency.
Up to six-in-ten firms, majority Sell-side, are actively addressing many supply chain issues via both strategy/procedures and technical investments, with some Buy-siders focused just on the former.
Sellers tend to cite cost as a leading barrier to achieving trust, while Buyers also cite knowledge/expertise and technical capacity as impediments. Sellers are more bullish than Buyers on the efficacy of measures their firms are taking, however both believe much improvement is needed in Industry tools and standards, optimism being lowest for resolution of key data integrity, valid traffic (fraud) and legal compliance issues.
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