Bill Wise

With principle-based buying returning to the forefront, Brian Chap's recipe for agency accountability takes me back to Jon Mandel's explosive rebate disclosures back in March 2015. Jon's kimono-opening moment was undoubtedly the catalyst that woke us all up to the billions leaking from media budgets by way of non-transparent kickbacks and fees. The can of worms has yet to be closed. That's why principle-based buying doesn't sit well with me. It feels like we're rewinding the tape after making so much progress over the last decade. BUT ... if you're a client-side media buyer that chooses to engage with a principle-based agency, there are three of Brian's "BENCH" framework activities that I think should be prioritized to the top. These three are relatively simple to do and can dramatically increase transparency and accountability. 1 - Secure platform access to your ad server, your DSP and the major SSPs through whom you are buying. Ensure you know how to compare media costs at each step in the supply-chain. 2 - Conduct audits. Whether as Brian recommends or simply by contacting a handful of publishers where you buy media, you should be able to reconcile your cost input to your media value output. And while you're at it, you'll be strengthening your direct publisher relationships, which has many longer-term benefits both in terms of media cost and priority. 3 - Most definitely hold your agency accountable. This applies also to every adtech vendor in your media supply-chain. I am not a fan of principle-based media buying. But if you're going to try it out, you need to remember that this is far from a set-it-and-forget-it approach to advertising. https://lnkd.in/eDw-Z3w8

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If you are a Performance/Growth Marketer testing or looking to test CTV, this article is a must read. CTV inventory is primarily non-clickable so the industry relies on Cross Device to connect the device visiting the website to the TV in which the ad was served (and vice versa). Here's the problem - most CTV vendors use IP Address (Wifi) as the sole source of truth for cross device tracking. This is both antiquated and heavily flawed, but they do it anyway and hey, it certainly doesn't hurt in-platform performance. Data validation provider Truthset conducted this study on behalf of CIMM (Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement) and Go Addressable to definitively understand the accuracy of IP Address for Cross Device tracking applications (CTV). "Truthset analyzed records from six major data vendors, including 1 billion email addresses, nearly 250 million IP addresses and 164 million postal addresses." Here are some key findings: > IP-to-Email matches: 16% accurate >IP-to-Postal matches: 13% accurate If you are a brand allocating ad dollars to a CTV campaign leveraging IP Address for cross device tracking/targeting, is this accuracy acceptable? “There’s this promise in the industry of completely accurate, deterministic data that matches sophisticated and vast advertising targets and attributes onto individuals and households,” Jon Watts, Managjng Director of Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) said. “This leads marketers to believe that when they buy against a particular target, they’re reaching that target – and, unsurprisingly, the truth is much more complicated than that.” IP Address Match Rates Are a Joke – And It’s No Laughing Matter https://lnkd.in/gwGa_iBt Keynes Digital #crossdevice #CTV #connectedtv

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Attention is the new currency. Get the playbook behind how top agencies are cashing in on conversions: https://lnkd.in/e98CiTyw High-performing teams are breaking down silos, integrating stacks, and aligning brand with performance to drive consistency across the funnel. Download our latest research report to see how top marketers are shaping their conversion strategies: https://lnkd.in/e98CiTyw

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New Tow Center report highlights growing tension in AI-era search: “We’re the providers of information…but Google now wants to be the distributor.” As zero-click answers rise, publishers face renewed pressure to prioritize direct audience relationships. https://lnkd.in/gzxcsgtY

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Excited to share that Aperiam has invested in Bedrock Platform. Obvious statement of the century: programmatic advertising has a complexity problem. The infrastructure that was built to give media buyers control has, over time, done the opposite. Burying teams under layers of operational overhead, legacy tooling, and opaque supply chains. Bedrock is built on a simple but powerful thesis: what if you stripped away the bloat and rebuilt the stack around what actually matters... precision, transparency, and speed to execution. Their platform combines AI-driven campaign automation with curated, premium inventory across video, CTV, DOOH, and audio, and aims to be flexible and get smarter over time. Plus, the team (Shane, Austin, Ryan, James) has deep roots in the infrastructure layer of ad tech and understands the plumbing better than almost anyone. We believe the next generation of programmatic will be leaner, faster and AI-first. Bedrock is building that.

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We're continuing to increase Ora's COGs in order to prioritize the most recent and relevant data to facilitate hyper-personalized emails. Ora combines data from numerous third party vendors, including the most recent news and events, with your first-party CRM data and Lavender 💜🔮 www.ora.im's email intelligence derived from analyzing billions of sales emails. The result? Dynamic emails and sequences that are specifically crafted for the individual, not just the company or the persona. No templates, no fluff, but all based on best practices from top performers. We closed self-service signups to focus on onboarding new users, but will reopen the waitlist soon. www.ora.im

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🚨 Google's new AI-driven search isn’t just a headline: it’s changing the rules of SEO *right now*. Traditional keyword rankings? Old news. Today, Google’s AI generates answers and cites sources instead of showing the typical top 10 links, and that means your content strategy needs a MAJOR upgrade. Why does this matter for your business? 👉 The AI summarizes answers from across the web: if your site isn’t cited, you’re invisible. 👉 Click-through rates from #1 positions dropped by 30-60% virtually overnight. 👉 Authority, expertise & in-depth content are MORE IMPORTANT than ever. It’s time to future-proof your site. Want to stay ahead? Get a FREE consult with our SEO experts to boost your visibility in the new AI search era! Let’s grow your online presence together! 🚀 #SEO #GoogleAI #DigitalMarketing #GrowthHacking #BusinessGrowth #MarketingTips #SEOStrategy #SmallBusiness #DigitalTrafficFactory

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Excited to announce our direct integration and partnership with Stack Adapt DSP to make Infolinks Curated Propriety Placement inventory accessible to StackAdapt advertisers. “Partnering with Infolinks gives our advertisers a unique edge,” said Gregory Joseph, VP of Inventory Development at StackAdapt. “We’re able to offer not only their premium proprietary placements but most importantly true curation at its core without any added fees being absorbed by our advertisers.” Read our press release: https://lnkd.in/euKEWUSC

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Performance advertisers have been trained to accept a bad trade. If you want scale and efficiency, you give up visibility. If you want outcomes, you don’t get to ask how they happened. Over time, that tradeoff has been normalized, and black boxes became the default. In this week’s newsletter, I dig into why that bargain is starting to break down, and why opacity is becoming one of the biggest structural risks in performance marketing. Performance should compound understanding, but black boxes obstruct learning.  If you care about accountability, control, and where performance advertising is actually headed, check it out at the link in comments.

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Too often, agencies + publishers spread their sales reps thin across verticals. The result? Shallow co-op conversations. But a smarter approach is emerging: specialize in a vertical, know the co-op funds inside-out, and own the pitch. 🚀 👉Read how one agency flipped its co-op strategy and drove national results: https://hubs.la/Q03Hh-l50 #CoopAdvertising #AgencyLeadership #MediaSales #AdvertisingStrategy #MULO #CoopConnect #VerticalFocus

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we've posted a couple of reports in the past - but I think that this one is the BEST and most interesting one we published (...so far...) this is a true comparison of "attribution" vs. incrementality - comparing the actual aggregated, weighted, and indexed results based for the clients who share attribution data with INCRMNTAL Super interesting - get it below!

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🎯 Your clients want results. Programmatic DOOH delivers. This isn’t about billboards anymore — it’s about: ✅ Contextual delivery ✅ Centralized access to premium inventory ✅ Clear performance data 📘 Our new guide shows why leading agencies are going all-in on pDOOH — and how you can too. 👉 Get the insights here:  https://lnkd.in/et2quXvE #ProgrammaticDOOH #DigitalOutOfHome #MediaBuying #AdTech #MarketingInnovation

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Sooo... how can the same product, from the same company, with the same experience; suddenly grab market share from the market leader. No flashy launch, no innovation, no nothing. Change your brand positioning. How about if you are Anthropic (Claude), and you go up against a powerful government department like the DoW? Your intent was not brand position change; that'd be too pedestrian. There is of course, a lot of nuances in what happened; but the market does not care about the nuance - most of which I am most likely missing. The market cares about what they see and hear and feel. The Brand Positioning Deck on Amodei's laptop on never changed. Perceptions of the market changed of what Anthropic was. What it stood for, how far it will go for something as abstract, yet important as principles. As an aside: Amodei has re-engaged DoW and opened negotiations again as of late last week. Anthropic is still a business; and sometimes the market make a lot of assumptions, so you never know what is going on behind the scenes. But the users have made up their minds of what OpenAI and Anthropic stands for - rightly or wrongly. Both CEOs played a big role in this evolution. Speaking of CEOs and big companies and their 'products,'.... Nah, that'd be too easy. https://lnkd.in/gyfapkyF

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ivee and OOH Connect, LLC Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Premium In-Vehicle Advertising New York, NY — August 4, 2025 Ivee, a leading provider of connected in-vehicle media and experiences, today announced a strategic partnership with OOH Connect to scale national advertising opportunities across Ivee’s rapidly growing rideshare media network. Under this partnership, OOH Connect will serve as the sales representative for Ivee’s in-vehicle media inventory, connecting national brands and agencies with riders through contextually relevant, data-driven campaigns. This collaboration enables scalable, high-impact advertising at moments of high consumer intent—while in transit. “We’re excited to partner with OOH Connect to accelerate the monetization of our platform,” said Alex Giannikoulis, CEO of Ivee. “Their deep expertise in DOOH, corporate strategy and media sales makes them the ideal partner to help us bring premium, in-ride experiences to advertisers at scale.” OOH Connect will integrate Ivee’s rideshare inventory into its broader portfolio, leveraging its market expertise to drive campaign performance and cross-channel visibility. “Ivee is redefining what in-car engagement looks like—blending content, utility, and brand messaging in a way that’s both impactful and brand-safe,” said Hector Gonzalez, Founder and CEO of OOH Connect. “We’re proud to help expand their reach while unlocking new revenue channels and targeting opportunities for advertisers.” The partnership is effective immediately. About Ivee Ivee delivers personalized content and advertising experiences in rideshare vehicles, transforming travel time into immersive engagement. Using real-time data and contextual intelligence, Ivee helps brands connect with passengers at meaningful, high-attention moments. About OOH Connect OOH Connect is a full-service media and technology company specializing in out-of-home and digital out-of-home innovation. With deep experience in corporate strategy, sales, and programmatic infrastructure, OOH Connect empowers media owners and advertisers to unlock value and scale across the OOH ecosystem. Jon Safier, Zack Danielson, Jeff Powers

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AIO Lawsuit from a big publisher -> Penske Media sues Google, says ~20% of Google search results linking to its sites now include AI Overviews, and affiliate link revenue fell 33%+ since late 2024 “Siphoning and discouraging user traffic to PMC’s and other publishers’ websites in this manner will have profoundly harmful effects on the overall quality and quantity of the information accessible on the internet,” the complaint alleges, using the acronym for Penske Media Corp." https://lnkd.in/emDqVEFs

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As brands and agencies brace for economic volatility, proactive steps are essential for ensuring media investments remain effective. From scenario planning and prioritizing transparency to competitive intelligence, it’s vital to prepare for varying economic conditions. Historical insights show that brands maintaining advertising spending fare better and recover faster. Marketing leaders must keep tone sensitivity in mind as consumers become more deliberate about spending. Adaptation is key. #MarketingStrategy #EconomicUncertainty #Advertising #BrandGrowth #MediaInvestments #Leadership #ScenarioPlanning

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Another example of where b2b marketers need to continue to evolve. Buyer behavior is shifting rapidly and will likely accelerate. This is a solid post about how AI is impacting SEO. The amount of time that can be saved and the quality of research that can be achieved with AI tools is mind blowing today and improving fast. There is no question that search and SEO are undergoing a transformation that will impact us all. https://lnkd.in/djJnuspC

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