The global advertising industry is going through a great reset. This change is driven by awareness of data privacy implications by consumers which have led to regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Key among this awareness is that their behavior data along with big data platforms have been the fuel that has driven multi-billion-dollar valuations for tech companies and their shareholders. Advertising today is a two trillion-dollar business, and the digital portion is directly affected by regulations that impact third-party data exchange systems built aroud bits of tracking code called cookies.

On March 5, 2020, The 4A’s in partnership with The 614 Group launched The Future of Programmatic and Automation Think Tank. The formation of the Think Tank and creation of its intellectual property mark the second stage of a large-scale 4A’s initiative that seeks to understand and influence the current and future state of programmatic and marketing automation. Ultimately, the purpose of the initiative is to foster a better future for marketing automation. Marketing automation must have a foundation of respect for both consumers and practitioners.

On March 5, 2020, The 4A’s in partnership with The 614 Group launched The Future of Programmatic and Automation Think Tank. The formation of the Think Tank and creation of its intellectual property mark the second stage of a large-scale 4A’s initiative that seeks to understand and influence the current and future state of programmatic and marketing automation. Ultimately, the purpose of the initiative is to foster a better future for marketing automation. Marketing automation must have a foundation of respect for both consumers and practitioners.

In June 2020, The 614 Group published the first report in a series entitled, The Future of the “In-Person” Business Economy: Summary of Wave 1 Findings. In the second wave of the research, conducted June 11th-July 9th, 2020 among marketing and advertising executives, we found that as the months of dealing with COVID-19 continue, the absence of in-person contact with business associates is impacting business practices around teamwork, relationships with colleagues, event formats and business development.

On March 5, 2020, The 4A’s in partnership with The 614 Group launched The Future of Programmatic and Automation Think Tank. The formation of the Think Tank and creation of its intellectual property mark the second stage of a large-scale 4A’s initiative that seeks to understand and influence the current and future state of programmatic and marketing automation. Ultimately, the purpose of the initiative is to foster a better future for marketing automation. Marketing automation must have a foundation of respect for both consumers and practitioners.

On March 5, 2020, The 4A’s in partnership with The 614 Group launched The Future of Programmatic and Automation Think Tank. The formation of the Think Tank and creation of its intellectual property mark the second stage of a large-scale 4A’s initiative that seeks to understand and influence the current and future state of programmatic and marketing automation. Ultimately, the purpose of the initiative is to foster a better future for marketing automation. Marketing automation must have a foundation of respect for both consumers and practitioners.

In mid-April, 2020, as the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and accompanying restrictions became abundantly clear, The 614 Group launched the first wave of a new tracking study entitled, The Future of the “In-Person” Business Economy. The goal of the research is to examine how digital marketing and advertising professionals are experiencing their work environments as they go through the changes wrought by the pandemic in and how they envision post-Covid 19 “in person” events, conferences and broader business environments.

The Future of Programmatic and Automation report, based on a research initiative commissioned by The 4A’s and conducted by The 614 Group, shows that a lack of automation hinders the future of programmatic. The report is based on extensive one-on-one interviews and survey responses from representatives of agencies, marketers, publishers, and platforms.

In conjunction with The 614 Group, TAG issues an annual Fraud Benchmark Report to measure the effectiveness of working with TAG Certified partners in fighting fraud. As part of our ongoing research, TAG has analyzed over 4 billion impressions in the German marketplace during the first half of 2019, of which 2 billion flowed through TAG Certified Channels.

This report is the first of its kind in Europe that establishes a traffic quality benchmark for Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) Certified Channels. What impact does TAG Certification have in reducing ad fraud in the five largest markets in Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands)?

Digital transformation has reached a tipping point in the advertising industry, and the relationship between brands and agencies has become more important than ever. We explore how they navigate common challenges like greater content need, attribution difficulty, organizational team structures, and creating greater transparency.

As mobile continues to soar, how can publishers understand how to best monetize mobile content and maintain the most premium brand experience? What technology vendors make the best partners? What are the criteria that should drive the mobile decision-making process?

What’s the state of innovation in the mobile advertising channel? How can advertisers better measure engagement and effective innovation? How can issues like accidental clicks and limited banner options be addressed by the digital advertising ecosystem?

Mobile app developers have always depended on consumers to download their apps. But how can mobile advertisers and publishers move beyond installs to expanding mobile advertising as a source of revenue? And how do they determine which ad-tech partner is right for them?

What impact does Trustworthy Accountability Group certification have in reducing advertising fraud? Our research found a staggering 84% reduction in fraud through TAG Certified Channels vs. industry averages. But what perception does the industry have the fight against fraud?

Many advertisers expect to transact media based on viewability under the 3MS and MRC standards. But is viewability ready for primetime? The lack of forecasting preparedness and discrepancies in counts have stymied adoption among publishers.

With payment terms reaching Net 90+, the timeframe between service and when a publisher is paid is becoming a challenge for publishers. We dug into the payment concerns and motivations of both publishers and advertisers.

What do digital publishers believe 2015 will bring for the digital advertising and AdTech industries? Native advertising, programmatic buying, and others represent exciting new forms of media monetization and signal a dramatic shift away from standard ad units.

What's the relationship between viewability and native advertising? If some percentage of their inventory can no longer be monetized as it’s out of view, and advertisers aren’t willing to pay substantially higher prices for viewable inventory, how will publishers make up that revenue?

Content marketing has taken the industry by storm. This report, based on responses from 400+ professionals, seeks to understand where we are in the transformational journey to content-centric marketing. Is content marketing performing and driving business outcomes?

How can publishers implement the viewability metric on their digital properties and choose a vendor that's right for them and their business model? This actionable implementation plan will help set key criteria, establish benchmarks, and guide viewability vendor identification, selection, and testing.

As digital advertising grows to $93.75 billion in 2018, is it time for the industry to adopt more financially sophisticated models? Do the transactions between advertisers, agencies, and publishers offer the appropriate level of sophistication to support prolonged sustainability?

Is it time for the digital advertising industry to adopt more financially sophisticated models for its transactions? Our research has uncovered that the online advertising industry may be at an important inflection point, specifically regarding financial models that gird the ecosystem for publishers, advertisers and brands.

Digital fraud costs advertisers $8.2 billion annually. In fact, 78% of publishers are victims of non-human traffic (NHT), though only 38.4% purchase traffic. To date, the dominant approach to addressing fraud has been largely reactive, though, this accepts fraud as inevitable. But is it?