As part of our Data for Drummies guide, the IAB’s Angelina Eng argues that privacy isn’t a barrier but a catalyst for reimagining marketing measurement through new tools, standards and consent-driven data.
Every year at IAB, marketers tell us the same thing: measurement remains one of the industry’s biggest challenges and top priorities. But the landscape is changing fast and privacy has emerged as a major disruptor. It’s fundamentally reshaping how we approach measurement. It’s not just creating new hurdles but also sparking creative solutions across the industry.
As marketing evolves, privacy is forcing a portfolio shift from user-level attribution toward causal and aggregate methods – opening the door to a new era of measurement that must be smarter, more responsible and designed to enable smarter decisions that drive real outcomes.
For example, NBCUniversal has designed a publisher-led data clean room model that allows advertisers to bring in their first-party data and measure attribution across TV and streaming – without exposing raw customer information. The result is the ability to connect ad exposures directly to site visits and purchases, all while keeping strict privacy guardrails in place.
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Measurement has always revolved around some form of identity – from cookies to mobile ad IDs to hashed email addresses. Over the years, our toolbox has expanded to include multiple identity markers across channels and devices, all aimed at connecting impressions to real business outcomes. Today, the range is increasingly diverse: device graphs, CTV identifiers, first-party data and even emerging decentralized identity frameworks all have roles to play.
With consumers engaging with brands across multiple devices – smartphones, laptops, connected TVs, gaming platforms, out-of-home, and in-store experiences – each brings its own quirks that complicate measurement.
With privacy regulations and platform restrictions like GDPR, CCPA, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and Google’s Privacy Sandbox, the measurement landscape keeps shifting. Nearly every year brings new policies or technical changes that impact how marketers and platforms can operate. One truth is clear to me: collecting and using identity data must be grounded in consumer consent. While these rules limit some familiar methods, they’re also pushing us to design measurement that respects people and delivers clearer, more actionable insights.
As new devices and channels emerge, measurement will become even more complex, making it harder to connect outcomes across platforms and compare metrics like ROAS with confidence. The multi-touchpoint reality has led marketers to look beyond traditional attribution and push for more holistic solutions, whether for omnichannel campaigns or retail media activations.
Yet this complexity isn’t just creating roadblocks; it’s fueling innovation. Privacy‑enhancing tech like data clean rooms, server‑to‑server integrations and frameworks such as IAB Tech Lab’s ACIF and Conversions API are enabling secure, privacy‑conscious data collaboration. Various industry initiatives, such as ANA’s Aquila, are part of the broader push toward more harmonized cross‑channel measurement approaches.
At the same time, I’m seeing a new wave of solutions – many powered by advanced AI algorithms or driven by nimble startups – challenging the big players with fresh approaches to cross‑channel measurement, incrementality testing and marketing mix modeling. These emerging tools, such as new incrementality measurement methodologies, next-gen MMM platforms and synthetic conversion modeling, have significant potential to reimagine how we connect the dots between investment and outcomes.
Such as Analytic Partners advancing MMM with models built for privacy compliance and scale; Rockerbox offering a unified measurement platform that combines MTA, MMM, and incrementality testing without relying on third-party cookies; and InfoSum using clean room infrastructure to support cross-channel collaboration without exposing identities. Taken together, these approaches reflect how measurement is being re-engineered to link investment to outcomes under new privacy constraints.
Progress doesn’t happen in isolation. Industry standards – whether for impressions, clicks, audiences, attention or retail media outcomes – are only possible because of the ongoing commitment and input of industry members. Organizations such as IAB, the Media Rating Council (MRC) and IAB Tech Lab depend on active participation from member companies to develop and refine these shared foundations. These marketers, platforms, agencies, and technology providers are actively shaping how standards are defined, audited, and updated.
It’s through a collective effort and real-world expertise that standards stay relevant and continue to evolve alongside new channels, metrics, and privacy expectations. Ultimately, real progress in measurement will require ongoing collaboration, flexibility and a willingness for all of us to adapt and help shape what comes next.
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From my perspective, the companies that will lead the next era of measurement will:
Center measurement on consented identities and privacy-enhancing technologies that enable secure, compliant, and scalable data connections.
Adopt and champion shared measurement frameworks to bring clarity, comparability and trust across platforms and partners.
Build and/or adapt privacy‑first measurement systems that stay effective as regulations, technology, and signal availability rapidly change – so we can always connect investment to outcomes with confidence.
Artificial intelligence will be a major accelerant – but only if it’s fueled by clean, consented and well‑structured data. Used responsibly, AI can reveal deeper insights, detect patterns humans can’t and help us optimize campaigns in near real time. In my view, the combination of privacy‑first principles, AI innovation and evolving industry standards is laying the groundwork for a measurement ecosystem that’s not only more advanced but also more transparent and trustworthy. Those that get this right will set the pace for industry progress.
In my opinion, privacy isn’t a speed bump – it’s a launchpad. It’s forcing all of us to rethink old habits, experiment with new tools and spark innovations that will shape measurement’s future. The next wave isn’t about doing less; it’s about doing better – finding more creative ways to blend compliance, transparency and performance insight.
I’m truly excited to see what the future brings, and I hope you are too. Let’s embrace the change, be vocal and involved and approach these shifts with both optimism and caution. When privacy and performance move hand in hand, outcomes become clearer, trust builds, and everyone – from marketers to consumers – wins.
Privacy is no longer negotiable. Measurement’s future depends on how quickly we adapt.
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