A Source of Truth(set)

Meet Truthset CEO Scott McKinley. He joins Media Cartographer Evan Shapiro in the latest episode of Big Data Brains to talk about the importance of data accuracy for the future of the media ecosystem.

Evan Shapiro: What is Truthset, and what do you do?

Scott McKinley: Truthset aims to improve the quality of data in the open ecosystem. Over the past 25 years, I noticed that data quality was declining, which undermined performance. Truthset collaborates with over 20 large-scale data providers to produce accuracy scores for various attributes, helping to raise the overall quality of audience data and allowing the open ecosystem to compete more effectively with walled gardens like Google and Facebook.

Evan Shapiro: How does Truthset enhance data accuracy?

Scott McKinley: We collaborate across multiple data sources, using independent validation sets to assess the likelihood of attributes being correct. This results in highly accurate demographic profiles, enabling better targeting and monetization of audiences for publishers and brands.

Evan Shapiro: What role does data accuracy play in advertising?

Scott McKinley: Accurate data ensures that ads are relevant and engaging for the consumer, leading to better performance for brands. For instance, knowing precise details about an audience can prevent issues like over-frequency or mis-targeting, which are detrimental to both the consumer experience and brand effectiveness.

Evan Shapiro: How does Truthset protect user identities while enhancing data accuracy?

Scott McKinley: We emphasize earning user consent and maintaining the covenant of trust between consumers and brands. By starting with authentication and accurately building user profiles, we respect privacy while still improving data quality and ad relevance.

Evan Shapiro: What is the future vision for Truthset?

Scott McKinley: We aim to make our data validation service widely accessible across marketplaces and platforms, ensuring that data accuracy becomes a standard part of media transactions. Our goal is to lift all boats in the advertising ecosystem by improving the precision and trustworthiness of audience data.

Evan Shapiro: How important is data accuracy for the future of the media ecosystem?

Scott McKinley: It’s crucial. Without achieving high data accuracy, the open ecosystem, including television, risks being overshadowed by dominant walled gardens, which is unhealthy for the market and democracy. We strive to standardize audience definitions to enhance performance across the entire ecosystem.

Transcript edited for brevity and clarity.