by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, February 12, 2018

Garbage in, garbage out, as the saying goes when talking about data accuracy. So developers at Lotame, a data exchange for third-party data, think they have found a road to make the data more precise using AI. They call the strategy Precision Audiences — and even guarantee performance. Well, sort of.

With television and home hub devices becoming more popular, and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) taking effect in May, the advertising industry will hit many roadblocks in the coming months.

“Bot-based fraud, bad data collection and, unfortunately, volume incentives for vendors all contribute to the issue,” wrote Megan McKenna, vice president of marketing at Lotame, in an email. “Of course, advertisers don’t care so much about these challenges as they do in having solutions that address them.”

McKenna believes GDPR is a game changer for the online advertising industry, but the company doesn’t view it as “the death knell that many fear.” With its emphasis on consumer transparency and consent, GDPR should produce higher quality data assets to increase engaged audiences, McKenna notes. “At the end of the day, that’s a good thing,” she wrote.

Lotame’s platform uses AI to do what humans cannot — continually validate and test audience segments to ensure data accuracy.

Some 80% of marketers say audience data is critical to their digital advertising efforts, and another 53% have increased their annual spend on data-driven advertising, according to the company.

The platform validates demographic segments, “guaranteed to exceed industry benchmarks” in more than 20 countries.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily