IAB launches project to modernize media measurement

Interactive Advertising Bureau, IAB, has unveiled Project Eidos, an industry-wide initiative designed to modernize advertising and marketing measurement. The announcement was made by David Cohen at the 2026 IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, positioning the programme as a coordinated, multi-year effort to address structural issues across media measurement.

The initiative brings together leaders from across IAB’s centers of excellence and broader membership, with the aim of creating a more consistent and interoperable measurement framework across channels.

Addressing confidence gaps in advanced measurement

David Cohen, CEO, IAB: "While advanced measurement is widely used across the industry, it's still falling short of its core promise. The time for a single-channel fix or a one-off framework has passed. It's time to address the foundational issues that have quietly undermined measurement for years."

Named after the Greek verb meaning to see, Project Eidos is intended to bring greater clarity, consistency and confidence to modern media measurement, replacing fragmented approaches with shared standards.

Research highlights urgency for change

The launch is underpinned by findings from IAB State of Data 2026: The AI-Powered Measurement Transformation, based on a survey of more than 400 senior brand and agency decision-makers conducted with BWG Global.

The research shows that while advanced measurement is broadly adopted on the buy side, between 60 and 75 percent of users believe it falls short on rigor, timeliness, trust and efficiency. Respondents also report that paid channels are not fully represented within current marketing mix models.

AI adoption and structural challenges

The study indicates growing expectations for AI to improve measurement outcomes within one to two years, with potential to unlock significant media investment and productivity gains. At the same time, many organisations report concerns around legal and security risks, accuracy and data quality, with relatively few having mitigation strategies in place.

Angelina Eng, vice president, Measurement Center, IAB: "One of the most important things the report reveals is AI's potential for improving measurement. But there are major concerns related to legal and security risks, accuracy, and data quality. We need to tackle problems that are systemic and foundational. Past workarounds have allowed the underlying issues to become worse over time."

A unified, cross-channel framework

Project Eidos is designed to replace channel-by-channel measurement with an interoperable approach based on shared constructs, consistent language and privacy-resilient systems. A key focus is establishing clearer standards for marketing mix modeling that support comparable and actionable outcomes across channels.

Maggie Zak, EVP, Analytics and Engineering, Havas Media Network North America: "There's no single methodology that can answer every measurement question. As media has become more complex, the lack of alignment across those approaches has become a real constraint. Project Eidos addresses this at the foundation, creating shared constructs that allow measurement approaches to work together in a more flexible and scalable way."

Industry collaboration and governance

In January 2026, IAB convened a Measurement Advisory Committee made up of senior leaders from brands, agencies, publishers, platforms and measurement companies. Participants will contribute to emerging standards, taxonomies and specifications intended to shape measurement practices over the coming decade.

Shenan Reed, Global Chief Media Officer, General Motors: "To create great consumer advertising experiences that deliver business outcomes and drive sustainable growth, we must deliver interoperability, transparency and accountability. Project Eidos is the kind of coordinated industry effort needed to rebuild confidence in how advertising performance is measured."

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