June 3, 2026 | SIGN UP
PRESENTED BY
Michael Bürgi
SENIOR EDITOR, MEDIA BUYING AND PLANNING
It's clear that many in the transaction circle among marketer, agency and media (with a hefty dose of ad tech sprinkled along the way) feel the issue of non-transparency has only gotten worse since media agencies first started to stand alone.
And for the most part, that's true. This week's revisiting of the K2 Report issued by the ANA kicked up even more dust on the topic, as principal media continues to get debated across the marketplace.
But as I pointed out in a question during a webinar the ANA hosted to discuss the issues 10 years later, sometimes all the sturm und drang sometimes feels like a bit of kabuki theater — not only over principal media but the lack of clarity on how each dollar of a programmatic investment gets whittled down by the time it reaches the desired consumer. Heads of marketing wail about the problem at ANA Masters of Marketing events, the press writes stories quoting impassioned voices decrying the evils — and then nothing changes. Why? Because it seems everyone gets their little piece of the pie.
You know who ends up paying the price? The consumer, who gets bombarded with repetitive ad messages everywhere he or she wants to digest content, even on platforms where they pay a monthly fee for access.
Final thought: AI is going to make it all worse.
(Final final thought: Knicks in six!)
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