When the industry’s top buyers say measurement gaps are locking $32B in investment, it’s time to pay attention to the channels being measured worst
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) just launched Project Eidos—an industry initiative to fix what CEO David Cohen calls “foundational issues” in media measurement. The consortium includes Amazon, Google, Meta, Havas, NFL, Paramount, Pinterest, Publicis, Trade Desk, TikTok, Unilever, and WPP.
The stated problem: “While advanced measurement is widely used across the industry, it’s still falling short of its core promise.”
The business impact: IAB’s State of Data 2026 report reveals that buyers believe AI can unlock $32 billion in media investment within 1-2 years—if measurement improves.
That’s not a rounding error. That’s a third of the digital advertising market sitting on the sidelines because attribution is broken.
And here’s the part that should alarm earned media professionals: of all marketing channels, earned media is the most under-measured.
Project Eidos isn’t about inventing new measurement science. It’s about acknowledging that the current system—cobbled together from channel-specific attribution models, inconsistent tagging, and walled-garden data—doesn’t actually work.
Cohen’s diagnosis is blunt:
“We’re dealing with a patchwork of channel-by-channel measurement, inconsistent attribution, and MMM [marketing mix modeling] gaps.”
Translation: Brands are flying blind.
[Full article continues with deep analysis of attribution gaps, earned media disadvantages, and strategic recommendations]
Christian Lehman is Chief Growth Officer at AuthorityTech, where he leads performance-based earned media programs that guarantee AI visibility for B2B brands. Before AuthorityTech, Christian built growth engines at venture-backed SaaS companies and advised Fortune 500 CMOs on attribution strategy.