The vast majority of digital budgets go to walled gardens because they deliver performance at scale and provide accessible self-serve buying and measurement capabilities at any budget. But social ad platforms are built on a mostly unregulated flow of user-generated content that creates a contextual environment that is unfit for many brands.

Retailers, for instance, are heavily reliant on install advertising—65% of shopping apps were paid installs in 2019, according to research published in April 2020 from mobile measurement company Adjust. Some of this advertising may now shift to direct product advertising or downloadable coupons redeemable within App Clips. More in-store calls to action via QR codes are also likely.

Snap, for instance, has introduced Minimum Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) bidding for user and App Purchase bidding for mobile app re-engagement, which are both compatible with mobile measurement partners. And Facebook recently announced a partnership with AppsFlyer for an ROAS tool in Facebook Audience Network. Another longer-term winner from the pandemic may be TikTok.

In addition to specific ROAS metrics, brand lift studies in social media also play a part, and the platforms offer them in partnership with measurement firms like Nielsen. Brand lift campaigns have traditionally been important for awareness aims where direct conversions weren’t the primary objective.

Apple, which controls one of the most popular platforms for podcasts, has been reluctant to share listener-level data with advertisers, making targeting and measurement more difficult. Brand awareness, which is influenced more by overall reach than hypertargeting specific segments, has become a more common podcast campaign goal.

Like with mobile apps, the environment doesn’t allow for traditional JavaScript-based measurement and verification. In 2019, Pixalate found a 22.3% invalid traffic rate in programmatic over-the-top (OTT) and CTV advertising.

Enhanced store analytics, including in-store traffic measurement and inventory management, will also be boosted by 5G’s improved connection density and edge computing capabilities. Some potential applications for 5G have a greater perceived gap between retailers’ ability to implement the needed technology and business value.

Any serious alternative channel must provide competitive audience scale, precise targeting, brand-safe inventory, and measurement against performance outcomes, all within an engaging environment that compels the consumer toward action and is sticky enough to keep those users coming back. The goal of finding engaged consumers is core to this quest.

We'll work with you to put in place a really thoughtful measurement plan that is built upon the best practices from a creative and media standpoint,” Snap’s Miller said. Don’t measure stories in a vacuum. “We're usually integrating measurement of stories within our overall effectiveness metrics for campaigns.

“Social acceptance of subscriptions has clearly increased,” said Paul Müller, co-founder and chief technical officer at mobile measurement company Adjust. “For many people, it’s just a much more normal concept. And, of course, you could also say there are suddenly many more offerings to buy subscriptions for.”.

Unfortunately for advertisers, no universal video measurement will emerge anytime soon. For better or worse, Nielsen has long been the standard TV measurement provider. No equivalent for digital media and cross-channel campaigns has yet emerged, and that won’t change in 2020. Some progress is being made.

Of course, the shift to digital and programmatic OOH has the potential to address this issue, but that transition is far from complete, and measurement standards are still lacking in the industry.

In January 2018, the Media Rating Council (MRC) proposed digital audio measurement standards that specified podcast ads must be counted on the client side, not the server side. In simple terms, this means measurement should begin only when the ad is actually being played, not when it is sent or downloaded via an individual’s browser or app.

KEY STAT: Almost half of US marketers still say the inability to track reach and frequency is one of their biggest problems with cross-platform ad measurement, according to Origami Logic and Advertiser Perceptions. The Frequency Problem.

While the descriptions of that journey varied slightly, many of the necessary steps corresponded with the four stages of our measurement hierarchy. As marketers and their organizations embrace more sophisticated forms of attribution, existing measurement methods don’t fall by the wayside.