Industry consultation launched to evaluate opportunities to support adoption of quality-based media buying

New York, NY May 21, 2026 – The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) today released findings from a new paper, Quality Matters: Navigating Quality in Media Buying and Measurement, advancing the thesis that Media Quality (MQ) signals – the non-user-specific attributes of an ad placement such as attention and situational context – are becoming a critical link for valuing media in an increasingly signal-constrained ecosystem.

Authored by ad tech veteran Erez Levin, strategist Gabriel Dorosz and CIMM MD Jon Watts, the paper contends that quality signals can better distinguish mere delivery from meaningful exposures. At a time when traditional metrics like viewability and completion rates offer only partial insight, particularly in CTV, the paper calls for clearer, industry-aligned definitions and frameworks for Quality in media buying and measurement, and outlines how these signals can be operationalized to better align media cost with true value across outcomes.

Building on these findings, CIMM is launching a structured program of industry consultation to identify practical pathways for applying Quality in real-world media buying and measurement. This initiative will engage advertisers, agencies, publishers, and ad tech companies to surface key barriers, align on priorities, and define actionable next steps for advancing quality-based approaches across the marketplace.

“CIMM’s mission is to illuminate emerging opportunities and challenges within the marketplace and help the industry make more informed decisions,” said Jon Watts, Managing Director, CIMM. “With CTV as the proving ground, this paper is intended as a catalyst for debate and action, providing the industry with the necessary structure and rigor to re-think the role and importance of quality signals in a fast-changing media marketplace. We believe this paper is an important contribution to the ongoing debate about media effectiveness and are excited to explore the opportunities to advance quality-based buying with the industry. 

Key Takeaways from the Paper

• Not all impressions deliver equal value: The attributes of a media placement such as visibility, context, and user experience materially influence outcomes and are currently underutilized in media valuation.
• Media Quality is becoming essential in a signal-constrained world: As identity-based targeting and attribution become less precise, Media Quality provides a scalable, privacy-safe way to assess the likely value of an impression.
• Effectiveness requires balancing short- and long-term outcomes: Over-optimizing for short-term performance can undermine brand growth and profitability. Media decisions must account for both.
• Better signals enable better pricing and allocation: Quality indicators such as attention and contextual factors can allow buyers to differentiate inventory and allocate budgets toward higher-value impressions.
• Quality is measurable and should be treated that way: Defining quality as “predictive efficacy” shifts it from a subjective concept to something that can be tested, validated, and optimized over time.
• Value exists on a spectrum, not a threshold: Moving beyond binary metrics like “viewable or not” can enable more precise alignment between cost and expected performance.
• CTV is the immediate opportunity: With wide variation in inventory quality and high CPMs, Connected TV is the clearest near-term use case for applying quality-based buying and measurement.

“Quality has been a buzzword for too long without a shared understanding,” said Levin, Principal at Emet Advisory. “This paper establishes a methodology for assessing Quality that focuses on the measurable characteristics of an ad placement that actually forecasts success. We are giving marketers the framework to stop overpaying for and/or overspending on low-quality supply and start valuing media based on its actual likelihood to drive business outcomes.”

“Because not all impressions are created equal, we must better align media cost to true value,” said Dorosz, Founder & Principal at Mighty Blackbird. “By adopting shared definitions and a quality-based framework, we can build a more rational marketplace that fairly compensates publishers who are focused on quality user experiences and useful content. This is a path toward an ecosystem where advertisers’ budgets work significantly harder because they are finally paying for actual impact.”

The paper was developed with input from marketing professionals and industry executives focused on attention and other quality metrics, both within and beyond CIMM.

Advancing the Work: Industry Action Agenda

To move Media Quality from theory to operational market practice, CIMM now plans to launch a structured industry initiative focused on practical implementation, validation, and standardization. The initiative will initially focus on Connected TV (CTV), where variation in inventory quality, rising CPMs, and evolving programmatic infrastructure create the clearest near-term opportunity for quality-based buying and measurement.

The program will explore:

• The opportunities for greater alignment around the definitions, taxonomies, and core signals used to assess Media Quality across media buying and measurement workflows.
• The influence of Media Quality signals on campaign outcomes, pricing, allocation efficiency and long-term effectiveness.
• The need for practical guidance and operational frameworks to help stakeholders incorporate Media Quality into planning, buying, optimization, measurement, and reporting processes.

The work will begin with a public industry webinar on June 8 introducing the paper and its findings, with ongoing working sessions facilitated through CIMM’s Innovation in Media Metrics Working Group.

CIMM expects to publish additional findings, implementation recommendations, and proposed industry frameworks later this year.

To download the full paper, visit https://cimm-us.org/quality-matters-navigating-quality-in-media-buying-and-measurement/

About CIMM

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) is a non-partisan, pan-industry association of companies from across the media and advertising ecosystem, focused on cultivating and supporting improvements, innovations and best practices in measurement and currency development, the use and application of new metrics, and data collaboration. CIMM’s role is to convene stakeholders, illuminate emerging issues, and help the marketplace make informed decisions. CIMM embraces the entire media and advertising ecosystem and prioritizes effective collaboration to deliver meaningful change.