3 Transparency Gaps That Are Costing You More Than You Think

The digital media ecosystem is facing a reckoning. For years, ad dollars have flowed through murky supply chains with little clarity, resulting in wasted spend, misaligned placements, and brand equity at risk. Marketers are now demanding transparency as it is a performance imperative. As scrutiny intensifies, a new baseline is being drawn. Not just for media efficiency, but for media integrity.

The industry doesn't need more disruption. It needs reconstruction. A reset.

📊 Performance Pulse

Only 36% of marketers believe they currently have full visibility into their supply chain. (Source: WARC, 2025)

70% of ad campaigns generate less than £2 for every £1 spent. (Source: WARC, 2025)

More than 56% of ad impressions are never seen by consumers, and an estimated 60% of digital marketing spend is wasted. (Source: Hubspot)

$13 billion – the estimated annual wastage in global digital ad spend due to non-transparent practices. (ANA, 2024)

🔍 3 Transparency Gaps That Are Costing You More Than You Think

For too long, digital media has operated on the illusion of efficiency. Programmatic promised faster, smarter, and cheaper advertising. In many ways, it delivered. But in the process, something critical was lost: trust.

The Efficiency Illusion: From Transparency to Accountability

Today, marketers are told they’re buying precision but often receive opacity instead. Budgets flow through tangled supply chains. Ads appear alongside content that contradicts brand values. Performance is measured through proxy metrics that don’t reflect real business outcomes.

It’s no surprise that transparency has re-emerged as a priority. But the version of transparency needed in 2025 isn’t just about revealing what’s behind the curtain. It’s about rethinking the entire stage.

The old model was passive. Brands would ask vendors for proof of value, and vendors would respond with logs, reports, or selective data. That’s no longer sufficient. In today’s fragmented, AI-driven ecosystem, transparency must be proactive, continuous, and built into the system.

What does that look like?

• Clear context: Knowing exactly what content your ads appear next to, not just the platform.
• Economic visibility: Understanding who takes a cut and why.
• Meaningful metrics: Measuring performance against outcomes that matter; not just clicks or completions.

This isn’t just an operational change; it’s a mindset shift. Buyers need to move beyond chasing the cheapest CPM and start demanding value that aligns with long-term business and brand impact.

Signals, Not Just Impressions

Transparency isn’t just a technical fix. It’s a strategic imperative. The brands that will lead this next era are those that see media not just as a line item, but as a reflection of what they stand for.

This is even more urgent in the age of AI. Automation makes decisions at speed and scale but those decisions are only as good as the inputs behind them. When algorithms are trained on flawed data or incentivized by the wrong goals, trust suffers.

We don’t just need smarter systems. We need more responsible ones. That includes interrogating how AI models prioritize content, what assumptions they carry, and whether those align with the values brands are trying to uphold.

A Transparency Standard Worth Upholding

If transparency is going to mean anything, it has to be more than a compliance check. It must be embedded into the very architecture of how media is planned, executed, and measured – from audience targeting to content alignment and campaign reporting.

This moment calls for a new kind of industry standard. One that doesn’t simply avoid risk but actively seeks out suitability. One that prioritizes inclusion, context, and control. Transparency should not be retrofitted into the system. It should be foundational.

Some companies have long championed this approach, building tools and practices that emphasize clarity, accountability, and control. These aren’t niche efforts anymore. They offer a viable blueprint for the future of digital media where ethical alignment and performance go hand in hand.

🧰 Suitably Equipped

4 ways to rebuild trust in your media investments:

1. Audit the actual path: Go beyond DSP dashboards. Understand who is taking a cut, what environments you're funding, and what audiences you're really reaching.
2. Align measurement to meaning: Are your KPIs built for brand lift and ethical lift? Build scorecards that balance performance with placements and platform integrity.
3. Invest in responsible adjacency: Don’t just avoid the bad. Proactively seek out suitable content that aligns with your brand’s values.
4. Interrogate Your Inputs: In the age of AI, your outcomes are only as trustworthy as your data. Make sure the systems optimizing your campaigns understand your brand, not just your budget.

Transparency starts with knowing where your ads run and why it matters. The Ultimate Brand Suitability Guide unpacks the difference between brand safety and true suitability, and offers a practical framework for ensuring your media shows up in the right context, every time. Download the guide to get started.

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