This report highlights five best practices for marketers and advertisers as they evaluate the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in their operations.

Half of marketers surveyed by The Relevancy Group worked with a customer data platform vendor in mid-2018. One trend for 2019: The adoption of customer data platforms will continue, along with the focus on customer data.

As use of AI grows (27% of executives in a PwC study have already implemented AI), so do calls for ways to interpret how AI models make decisions. This has given rise to a new buzzword: explainable AI, which refers to algorithms that make decisions humans can explain. PwC, for example, says it “integrates risk mitigation and ethical concerns into algorithms and data sets from the start.”

There's a lot of potential for programmatic advertising in account-based marketing, but a foundation must be put in place first.

Some media companies are finding that they can create new revenue lines by selling their data.

According to a new study of US publishing executives, programmatic is leading people to worry more about downward pressures on CPMs than tech taxes or latency.

About two-thirds of brand marketers surveyed by Sizmek prioritize reducing the number of middlemen they do business with.

Research shows that last-click attribution remains popular, multichannel attribution is gaining popularity and content marketing attribution is difficult to analyze.

For many companies, it is necessary to regularly update their digital strategies in order to stay competitive. But old tech systems can make this an onerous task.

While adoption of multichannel attribution models is increasing, the growth rate has slowed. eMarketer lowered its 2018 multichannel attribution adoption estimates from 62.0% to 54.0%.

In the latest episode of "Behind the Numbers," analyst Nicole Perrin digs into the marketing technology tech stack, and looks ahead to the privacy challenges that marketers will face in 2019.

The inaccuracies of last-click attribution are well-documented, yet many marketers still rely on it.

For blockchain to have an impact on ad fraud, all parties to a programmatic transaction must agree to use it—and use the same system. Thus, adoption has been limited.

With spend on marketing technology increasing, many marketers are investing more dollars into data management products.

One of the biggest trends in advertising this year will be consumer privacy and security concerns, which has forced marketers to get their data houses in order.

New strategies are needed for programmatic bidding

One of the most crucial aspects of setting up artificial intelligence products is making sure that a clear strategy is driving its adoption.

Today about 40% of US marketers said their company’s strategy is driven by a mix of both creativity and technology, according to recent research. The Shipyard identifies a new approach to marketing that intertwines data science with creative insights.

The data generated by programmatic bidding can be used to target audiences, map out users’ customer journeys and optimize campaigns.

The multilayered approach that scammers use to siphon money highlights the cat-and-mouse problem of policing ad fraud.

Privacy laws and data scandals have thrust third-party data in the spotlight. In the meantime, most marketers continue to rely on data they obtain from other firms.

Marketers rely heavily on third parties for analytics and technology building. Many are looking to trim their overall vendor counts when it comes to demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms, but are looking for new partners for customer data platforms, while others are building their own tech in-house.

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a buzzword, and hefty investments signal that stakeholders are planning to ramp up efforts in 2019.

To satisfy their most loyal advertisers, some media companies are creating new data-driven ad products and services.

Some marketers turn to data scientists as they look to improve their ad measurement and digital attribution capabilities.