More Data & AI, Less Clarity: EMARKETER’s Bill Fisher on Advertising Effectiveness

In this special episode of The MadTech Podcast, Bill Fisher, principal analyst at EMARKETER, joins ExchangeWire COO Lindsay Rowntree to discuss AI, data, and creativity in advertising.

Advertising is becoming more intelligent, but is it becoming more effective? Building on Bill's ATS London panel on trust, standards, and regulation, the conversation explores what mistakes advertisers are making amidst a sea of data and metrics, the challenges of measuring effectiveness, and where the greatest opportunities for efficiency lie.

It also looks at the industry’s appetite for the ‘shiny new thing’. As AI adoption accelerates, the risks of over-optimisation, homogenisation and loss of differentiation are growing, while regulation struggles to keep pace. Where is the advertising landscape heading, and how might it evolve over 2027?

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0:00 Introduction
1:22 Advertising measurement vs. effectiveness
6:04 UK ad spending benchmarks
9:29 The rise of MMM and AI
14:30 How is AI being used in businesses?
19:38 AI in creative, news, and media
26:56 Industry compliance and regulation
30:39 Future of the advertising landscape