Who can disagree, Dave? But what do we--or  you---do about it? If the people who are being robbed don't seem to care---or are so ignorant or disinterested that they remain oblivious to what is happening? It's the same problem that honest cops have faced for generations, when they know who the crooks are but the crooks have the politicians in their pockets and no penalty is paid.

 Many years ago, the magazine industry began selling ads and some publishers were found to be claiming circulations that weren't true. In some cases the only copies that were printed were those sent to the advertisers as proof of performance. So the ad industry demanded something be done and the Audit Bureau Of Circulations was set up to make sure that the publishers' circulation claims were verified. Problem solved. Much later, after a congressional investigation into TV ratings, the MRC was set up to make certain that the researchers who served  TV, radio and print media were doing what they said they were doing. Again, problem solved and, again, with the industry acting in unison.

But now, we have the sellers taking over---as evidenced by the TV seller-orchestrated "JIC", which seems to be  circumventing the MRC----and nobody is concerned. So why are we surprised that there is no outcry about digital media fraud and all of the  related issues that you and a few others have been calling out? In my book, the answer is evident---the "victims"---the advertisers---and their agencies----have other things on their minds.

I suspect that you are not going to get many media sellers, or agency media buyers to agree with you in a public forum---even if they agree, privately---as this would probably end their careers. So the only solution I can come up with is to work with selected, major advertisers to try to get their vocal and tangible support. If a few begin to demand  that their media buys be denied to those that cheat and insist on third party verification, etc.,maybe others will follow. But only if these efforts are widely publicized.

Your enthusiasm for the product is duly noted however LUME works by killing foul smelling bacteria. Like anti-bacterial soaps is it not possible that "whole body deodorants" like LUME may have a similar effect in creating reistant bacteria just like the anti-bacterial soaps proved to do in the 1990's ?  
A daily scrubbing with hot water and soap should do the trick. 

I'm a huge fan of Lume. A friend who's a research nurse turned me on to it a couple of years ago and it truly delivers on its promises. I ordered a "Mando" set (related to "Commando?") for my nephew and have given Lume sets as gifts to friends with various odor complaints. Positive feedback from all. Klingman's DTC approach is memorable and effective, her "earthiness" is inoffensive to me (I believe she's who she appears to be), and I wish her continued success. The fact that Dove and other brands are jumping on the whole-body-deodorant bandwagon is proof that Klingman's creation was (and continues to be) a good one. And yes, Barbara, we absolutely stink. It's not just my acute olfactory system -- humans are smelly creatures.

I guess the future of Digital Media is going to be dominated by the progressive left.....WOW, what a surprise that this has happened.  I wonder if anyone will have the guts to ask "where should one go to find unbiased, actualy news?".

Yes we all know that free speech is protected for Americans, however TikTok is not American owned company, they are owned by the Chinese government at the end of the day. The only people objecting to the ban are users of TikTok and TikTok themselves. Non-users like myself agree with the ban unless the company is sold to a U.S. organization. 

Should prove scinctillating coversation among the walking dead for sure: "Should we move the deck chairs here? Or perhaps over there?"

NBC, the Times, the Guardian, BBC, NPR .. viewpoint diversity wasn't a goal in assembling that panel

Wayne, the advent of FASTs on CTV, which have little choice but to specialize in lower cost "non-premium" fare, has been driving CPMs down at a fairly heady pace. While CPMs for "premium" content sellers like Netflix---despite its very small coverage base---and some others--- remain fairly high---they, too, have had to lower their CPMs to compete with linear TV and with eachother.

When all of the options from the top 10 or 15 sellers who account for most of the national GRPs available via streaming are combined we expect to see a fairly substantial CPM reduction in the impending upfront compared to last year. This will  diminish the value of anticipated higher CTV ad spending---but that's what we have expected all along. There are too many sellers and not enough  premium content GRPs to justify charging so much more than linear TV per viewer. This is especially so as the average CTV viewer does not pay more attention to CTV commercials than his/her linear TV counterpart and CTV viewers, while somewhat younger are not so heavily concentrated in the light viewing upper income groups to justify higher CPMs for some advertisers.

The solution, of course, will be for CTV sellers to increase their commercial clutter----to compoensate for CPM reductions. But that will be a major part of next year's story.

NFL Playoff game was clearly a flop and should be on lear TV than on streaming which was spin from Peacock & the NFL. And the NBA Finals should always be on lear TV as well. TNF has been a flop on Prime as well.

Agreed and done.

The other reason you might not see higher percentages associated with AI use for media planning, aside from the machine-learning-driven aspects of it that are already foundational, is that the data sets necessary for output akin to what LLMs produce have to be enormous. Literally billions of data points. Schedule data, buy data, delivery data, MRI/Simmon-esque survey data, across every demo and geography. Oodles and oodles of it. Can an AI bot be used as an interface to process data more quickly than a planner or buyer has on hand? Sure. But pre facto planning and buy de-risking through AI is still some ways off. Unless MediaOcean and Nielsen want to open up their databanks for all to use?!

Thanks Barbara, I always look forward to your columns, "earthy" as they are :)

Consumer Reports: 4 of 5 least expensive car brands to maintain are American
Tesla costs the least, Land Rover and German brands the most, in CR's exclusive analysis.
April 22, 2024

https://www.autonews.com/retail/consumer-reports-these-car-brands-cost-least-maintain

thanks for commenting, Michael. Interesting question. Like the "Balance of Nature" fruits and vegetables supplements, Lume ads are constant. I'll start looking into it.

The amount of TV advertising for Lume has piqued my interest. I wonder who is financing Dr. Klingman?  You can't escape her if you watch any amount of daytime television, and now she has added Mando for men.  

Again, who is financing Dr Klingman?  Perhaps her "earthy" presence is as authentic as Empire Carpets "today" ads or Bob from Bob's furniture

Always have to go through hoops with the government I was glad my former congressman Fred Upton helped me and my family more than once to get through the red tape for the government program. Shouldn't be that way why it's so hard to get into a government program than you Fred Upton for helping me and my family. Fred Upton was in congress for 36 years was pretty good congressman for MI4/6 now MI4 once again. No many know who Fred Upton is his niece is more famous Upton in the family SI Swimsuit Issue Cover Model Kate Upton married to former Tiger ace Justin Verlander 2 time World Series Champion for the Astro he'll always be a Tiger.

I hope you get through the red tape of the government Gord and they approve the project you're working on.

Ray:  Are you sure that far more Republicans support protections of press freedom than Democrats?  The text suggests otherwise.  Plus, Republicans' suspicions of the press date back to Watergate, and they have been amplified by Trump.
   The same applies to men and white peiple supporting press freedom over women and minorities.  The former two groups tend to support Republicans more than the latter two.

Adam, you have a standing invitation to my upfront.  It will be held at Backyard Barbecue in Jackson TN.  You will receive a free 30-minute parking place at the supermarket of your choice, along with a home version of Steve Beverly's TV Classics.  Please come!

Exactly, Joe. In all areas ---OOH and "TV" being the current examples----the sellers are in charge of how their "audiences" are measured and reported---and there doesn't seem to be any sign of a real push back by ad agencies as their clients don't seem to care all that much. Sad.

This is the end of car companies building new plants in this country. Say goodbye to many thousands of well paid jobs. The unions ruined all the US manufacturers so why not ruin what is left of the other plants.  The quality will go down and VW who is already having problems will have even more that will affect all their customers and dealers......VW has now lost control over running its own factories, cannot even promote the best workers, have the entire line shut down because the screwdriver guy is not there....the work rules are ridiculous but no one ever talks about those, only how much money they make and also not many want to talk about their pensions and health care....most Americans would all love to have the same plans.  The list could go on but not going to make any difference.  VW should just shut down this plant and move to Mexico.

My feeling is that streaming options aren't going to get easier to navigate.  Those choices consumers make are important, they know where to go on their remote control input.  But for those who need help, the remote control needs to be improved, where the input needs to be more emphasized.  A level up to this is for the TV remote to be screen based, have several of your subscription services pop up and all you hit is the service you want to go to.  Whether it's Hulu or Xfinity, it's easy for you to go to.

Another idea is either your TV or your cable service control all your TV input directs through an app, without needing a physical remote control.

I'm not in disagreement but the overall idea is a bit Pollyanna since social is only the pipeline from the world's corrupt ideas around to be communicated and regurgitated (in or out). Parents should be in charge. But they are not, whether because their kids badger them into it, they want to be "good" parents, etc.; and are getting their rights taken away by the courts anyway.

I'd suggest that your statement to "abandon the hate-for-profit business model that chews at our democracy"plays equally if not more so to our media. Even NPR, BBC and other supposed trustworthy sources have long since lost their credibility as their bias toward one side gains.

In the end good doesn't sell, divisiveness does - banning kids from social is not the answer, and banning social from targeting kids will just open the door to other platforms that will rinse and repeat the winning formula.

There will always be a dark side to social media going to be fines lawsuits that will be settled when section 230 gets updated or goes bye bye bye. I don't ever see the dark side of social media going away in my opinion someone will say something hateful social media will always be a loaded gun. Parents are the ones to decide if their teens can have social media or not which they should set limits and also personal responsiblty. There isn't going to be a ban for teens not to be on social media since that will be unenforceable to begin with which is the parents job not the government to ever say teens can't be on social media that would be censorship which would be wrong.

I don't see anything changing in the short term in a few years down the road maybe but I doubt it I'm a senic when it comes to social media and the government which I don't trust at all.