To say the ad tech industry suffers from an overwhelming amount of jargon would be an understatement.
And with all that terminology floating around, some words or phrases are bound to get used incorrectly.
Like the word “panel,” says Joanna Drews, founder and CEO of CTV measurement startup HyphaMetrics.
“I would specifically define it as a group of people that’s been recruited in order to analyze their behaviors, and that group of people is statistically reflective of a larger group of people,” Drews says in the latest episode of AdExchanger Talks. “And then the technology within those panels is what differentiates each panel’s value proposition and what they’re bringing to market.”
But some people use the word “panel” when they’re actually talking about a “footprint,” which refers to the distribution of users across a particular device.
CTV footprint data can be highly valuable and useful for advertisers. But it’s “nearly impossible” to wrangle that data into a statistically representative sample,” says Drews, because it “lacks the stringent analytical needs and quality necessary to call it a panel.”
Not surprisingly, Drews’ team at HyphaMetrics spends a lot of time thinking about panels, as well as how to measure what Drews calls the “unmeasurable” – like unified ad exposure across different personal devices, for starters.
At least, that’s what they’d like to be working on when they aren’t busy defending themselves in court.
Most of HyphaMetrics’ six-year history has been marked by a looming shadow from Nielsen. When the measurement juggernaut lost MRC accreditation in 2021, it originally felt like good news – right up until Nielsen began hitting its competitors with patent infringement lawsuits, HyphaMetrics included.
That narrative began to change when Nielsen dropped one of its lawsuits last year, and then again when a federal jury sided with HyphaMetrics against Nielsen this summer.
Now, says Drews, HyphaMetrics can go back to the important business of growing their panel – it’s currently only at 50 households – and ideating on how best to measure the data they collect.
And if anyone out there wants to follow in her footsteps and build their own competitive startup, Drews has some advice: “Go for it, eyes wide open, and you’ll grow as a person no matter what.”
Also in this episode: Drews recounts how she fell in love with media measurement to begin with, what it was like when the very first lawsuit was filed (spoiler: bad!) and how she became a Phish fan with over 15 concerts under her belt and counting.
For more articles featuring Joanna Drews, click here.
