[SmallBets]

Thanks for the links and comment, I'm on the adtech side and largely agree - true measurement of effectiveness is unsolved, and we conflate measuring lift with causing lift.

IMO anyone paying attention in the industry knows the answer is probably less ad spend, aka most inventory is overpriced...but then the incentives take over and the firehose stays on full blast. Publishers, agencies adtech/martech, are not incentivized to right-size ad spend at all, and even for advertisers orgs, the slightest bit of silo/politics incentivizes CMOs to spend & protect their budgets.

It is a select handful of orgs with serious CEO level buy in that are willing to honestly tackle this and spend less, more efficiently. That tends to be a competitive advantage in a sea of waste.

[jackgolding]

Yep also I think there are incentives to look like you are investing in this space ... and for the vendors who are selling these tools, not many marketing managers are going to be happy if you make their placements or creative choices look stupid