Seamus McAteer

The IAB Tech Lab has released a major update to the Open Measurement SDK (OMSDK) that introduces device attestation, a transformative step forward in protecting digital advertising integrity, especially across CTV environments. At its core, this new capability helps the ecosystem verify that an ad was served on a legitimate, unmodified device, rather than an emulator or spoofed environment often used in fraud schemes. By doing so, it closes one of the most exploited gaps in measurement and verification. What makes this update so powerful is its integration of Privacy Pass, an emerging open standard developed through the IETF to enable trust without sacrificing user privacy. Privacy Pass allows a device to prove its authenticity cryptographically, that it is a genuine, attested device, without revealing personally identifiable information or creating a traceable identifier. Here’s how it works: 1. A trusted attester, typically a device manufacturer or operating system provider, issues a privacy-preserving token confirming the legitimacy of the device. 2. The OMSDK integrates these attestation tokens into ad measurement workflows, allowing verification vendors and ad servers to confirm that impressions originate from verified devices. 3. Because the tokens are cryptographically blinded, they cannot be used for tracking, maintaining alignment with global privacy expectations while ensuring trust in the underlying hardware environment. This represents a long-overdue fusion of security and privacy-by-design in advertising measurement, a model that makes fraud far harder to execute while maintaining user trust. However, its success hinges on industry-wide adoption. Device manufacturers, CTV platforms, and OEMs must implement the latest release of OMSDK within their environments. Brands and agencies should demand this capability as a prerequisite for CTV and mobile measurement. Without broad participation, the industry risks leaving the door open to continued fraud. If we want to combat fraud meaningfully, this is the path forward. There is ZERO reason not to adopt the latest OMSDK update. To ignore it would be to signal that we are comfortable with the status quo, and with the billions of wasted ad dollars that come with it. This is exemplary work by the OMSDK Working and Commit Groups for their continued technical leadership, and to Amazon, especially Vinod Panicker, for its stalwart support in architecting and developing this essential update. This is open standards at their best: privacy-preserving, security-enhancing, and built to protect both the consumer and the advertiser. Learn more: Press Release: https://lnkd.in/eTGCeADR Implementation Guide: https://lnkd.in/e3yZhviY

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Dashboards don’t create accountability. They create meetings. Charts get shared. Everyone nods. Action items get “noted”. Same problems. Next quarter. Accountability doesn’t come from visibility. It comes from systems — where ownership is clear and decisions can’t be ignored. I wrote a short note on why dashboards feel productive but rarely change behaviour — and what actually does. If your org has great dashboards but the same issues every review… this will sound familiar. Dashboards Don’t Create Accountability — Systems Do: https://lnkd.in/gCGpm-VU

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🚨 (Adweek) LLM disruption also played a role in adtech's Q2 downward trend, "...the complexities of navigating the AI boom—which is causing upheaval in how people search and stifling publisher traffic—and adtech companies are finding themselves in a new kind of pressure cooker." 💡 I think a lot about the turbulence B2B tech marketing pros are navigating: ➡️ If traffic from Search to brand.com is collapsing, pipeline and revenue metrics are at risk due to far fewer high-quality lead volumes ➡️ If publisher traffic from Search is collapsing, content consumption signal is diminished making Intent data less reliable for TALs and ABM tactics. 🦺 Immediate solve: direct prospect engagement through high-quality demand gen - back to basics with tried and true, predictable pipeline will steady the ship during this uncertain time. #b2bmarketing #growthmarketing #revenuemarketing https://lnkd.in/dHQAA8bh

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The Coca Cola/Refrigeration parallel in the clip below is a good analogy for the AI marketplace Proprietary, on-tap access to quality-assured data assets will be fundamental to AI company product differentiation, user experience and associated monetization Kindred is fast-becoming the invisible backbone of AI infrastructure as we facilitate and transform shopper journeys for the most forward-thinking technology companies Kindred's Promotional Offers API is specifically designed for LLM integration and available now #AI #commerce #AIshopping Aaron Simpson David Zarzecki

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In this episode of The Yield Doctor, I sit down with Alanna Laforet—CEO of Laforet Productions and former head of the IAB Tech Lab—to unpack where AI is actually transforming digital advertising today, and where it's headed next. With experience spanning DoubleClick, Google, Omnicom, and Conde Nast, Alanna brings deep insight into how AI is reshaping media planning, creative optimization, and the ad tech stack itself. We explore: * What’s real vs. hype in current AI implementations * How startups and holding companies are approaching AI differently * Whether AI will democratize the industry or entrench the big players * The potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to act as publishers * The risks of fraud, fake content, and over-optimization in a post-AI world https://lnkd.in/dJMDzTHX

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‘We found five recurring themes in their forecasts: *Audiences will increasingly access news through AI *There will be increased demand for verification work *Automation and agents will reshape newsrooms *Newsrooms will upskill and build AI infrastructure *AI will further empower data journalists.’

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Here is an article by Bonnie Halper which discusses the limitations of a machine centric view of AI and the much greater potential of focusing on the human. #HRI https://lnkd.in/eD_hb-cy

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Proud that Sierra has partnered with Cedar to build Kora, an AI voice agent purpose-built for patient billing. Catch Cedar's Sumayah Rahman and Sierra's Miranda Zhao at ViVE later this month to hear how they built Kora and what they've learned from real patient interactions https://lnkd.in/gh2et3ss

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Even the most skeptical voices are starting to acknowledge the value of LLM generated code. Not as a replacement for deep expertise, but as a practical tool for acceleration, exploration, and iteration. When someone as famously disciplined about code quality as Linus Torvalds publicly acknowledges that AI generated code can be useful, it signals a shift worth paying attention to. The takeaway is not that AI writes better software than humans, but that good engineers are learning where and how these tools create leverage. https://lnkd.in/eFbNFqYN

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We recently did a live podcast with Rob White from Samsung Wallet to discuss the rollout of mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) in the U.S. Here are 3 ideas that stood out to me about their strategy: 1) Samsung’s Vision for Digital ID Samsung Electronics isn’t just trying to digitize what’s already in your wallet. Their goal is to replace the physical wallet entirely, uniting payments, ID, keys, loyalty cards and tickets in one seamless, secure experience tied closely to the phone’s hardware. Rob emphasized that identity needs to evolve in tandem with the technologies we use to interact with businesses and services. As fraud becomes easier to commit (think deepfakes, fake documents, and social engineering), Samsung sees the shift to digital identity anchored in cryptography and digital signatures as essential. And it’s not just about convenience. It’s about giving people control over their personal data, helping organizations reduce fraud, and enabling faster and safer ways to verify identity in everyday situations. The Samsung Wallet leverages the phone’s embedded Secure Element (a tamper-resistant hardware chip), combined with biometric authentication and user consent, to ensure credentials are only ever shared by the rightful owner and only when the user approves it. 2) Why Partnerships Are Essential to mDL Adoption Rob was clear about the ecosystem challenge: there’s a real chicken-and-egg problem at play. State governments are hesitant to roll out digital IDs until there’s a proven demand for them. Businesses and relying parties don’t want to integrate mDLs unless a significant number of people are already using them. To break that cycle, Samsung is working on both sides of the equation. They’re partnering with state issuers (currently live in six states) while simultaneously building out real-world use cases with companies like Amazon and several KYC providers. Rob also gave credit to early-mover states and standards bodies, such as AAMVA and the TSA, which are helping to set the foundation for secure, interoperable mDL adoption.  ‍ 3) What Will Drive Adoption? When it comes to getting users to adopt mobile IDs, habit-changing use cases are critical. It’s not enough to digitize your license if you only use it twice a year. Rob pointed to several use cases where mDLs can provide immediate value: > Age-restricted purchases, like buying alcohol. > Online identity verification during high-risk financial transactions. > Account recovery for services like Amazon. > Check-ins for state government services or benefits. > Car rentals, where verifying your ID is essential and often a hassle. In each case, the traditional ID verification process is slow, manual, and frustrating. A mobile ID stored securely in your digital wallet can transform a 5-minute process (uploading documents and taking a selfie) into a 5-second interaction, offering better privacy and a lower risk of fraud. – Image: Joe Hindy / Android Authority

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Project Vend reads less like a capability story and more like a governability story. Phase two improved because institutional scaffolding (tools, procedures, role separation) reduced predictable judgment failures—persuasion, compliance blind spots, boundary confusion, values drift. The board-level question isn’t “can an agent run a business?” but “what governance primitives must exist before we delegate authority.” Until incentives, escalation rights, and refusal boundaries are structurally enforced—not merely prompted—agents remain high-performing managers, not autonomous executives.

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