Guide to Solving Data Fragmentation in Programmatic Advertising

Breaking down silos with cross-media ad effectiveness insights from DISQO and AdExchanger

In the first article of this two-part series, “How Advertisers Can Rethink Programmatic Ads: Measurement Beyond the Click", DISQO’s SVP of Ad Measurement Sean Adams spoke to a widespread gap in programmatic: advertisers measuring success by the easiest metrics—clicks, impressions, and cost-per-whatever—rather than the ones that truly reflect performance. But there’s another gap, just as urgent and even more foundational: fragmentation.

You can’t measure what you can’t see. And right now, most advertisers are looking through a broken lens.

Measurement is still heavily platform-dependent, riddled with blind spots, and weighed down by conflicting methodologies. Data is siloed across social, CTV, and digital. Attribution is inconsistent, and integrations are incomplete. The result? Even the most sophisticated marketers are stuck making decisions with partial truths—and hoping for the best.

Nearly four in ten advertisers say data fragmentation is their top measurement challenge​. And the issue is only intensifying as privacy restrictions mount, third-party signals disappear, and platforms tighten their grip on audience data. Fixing measurement isn’t just about improving metrics—it’s about removing the friction that prevents you from seeing across the full media plan.

In this article, we’ll unpack why fragmentation persists, what it’s costing brands, and how unified, cross-platform measurement is the only way forward because solving for ROI starts with solving for visibility.

1. Why data fragmentation isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a liability
2. First-party data alone isn’t the answer
3. You can’t rely on platforms to grade their own homework
4. Real-world use case: driving impact with CTV for a wellness-oriented energy drink
5. Final takeaway: eliminate the blind spots

Data fragmentation isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a liability

Data fragmentation isn’t a new challenge—but it’s getting worse. As platforms evolve into closed ecosystems and identifiers like cookies and device IDs continue to fade, advertisers are left navigating a shrinking field of visibility. Even with access to large volumes of data, most can’t unify it meaningfully across channels or partners. And that’s not just inefficient—it’s risky. 

During DISQO’s recent State of Programmatic Advertising webinar, SVP of Ad Measurement Sean Adams expanded on this idea: “Cross-platform measurement is still disconnected… there’s also a trust issue. The reported data isn’t always transparent or unbiased.” When brands rely on siloed reporting from media sellers, they’re not just managing different data formats—they’re managing misaligned incentives. And that introduces bias into business-critical decisions.

The cost of this fragmentation shows up in campaign underperformance, inflated reporting, and missed optimization opportunities. If you can’t see how an ad performs across environments—TV, social, display—you can’t understand its real impact. You can’t reallocate spend with confidence, and you can’t connect exposure to outcome in a way that drives accountability.

The result is a complex measurement system whose functionality is compromised. While some advertisers have built workarounds, those stopgaps don’t scale. 

As the media ecosystem continues to shift, the only sustainable solution for brands and advertisers looking to stay at the forefront is to reframe the measurement from a single, consistent foundation—one that operates independently of platforms and sees across the entire consumer journey.

First-party data alone isn’t the answer

While first-party data has been hailed as the industry’s silver bullet against cookie deprecation and signal loss, it’s far from a complete solution. Collecting first-party data is only part of the equation—the harder part is activating it across fragmented platforms and aligning it with meaningful, cross-funnel measurement.

In the State of Programmatic Measurement report with DISQO and AdExchanger, 39% of advertisers identified first-party data as a top priority. Still, only a fraction felt confident in their ability to integrate that data across environments​. Without cross-platform visibility, even the highest-quality data remains underleveraged. You might know who your customer is—but not how they’re responding to media, or where conversions are lost.

This is why a broader shift is happening. Advertisers aren’t just investing in identity graphs and clean rooms—they’re looking beyond them. The real priority isn’t just collecting more data—it’s closing the loop between exposure and outcome. That has traditionally meant stitching together behavior across siloed platforms, media types, and devices with a single, consistent methodology.

For leading brands and agencies, a unified, identity-based measurement solution provides that foundation, connecting their first-party insights to real-world performance—without relying on cookies, probabilistic models, or self-reported platform data. And critically, it ensures that measurement isn’t locked within a single platform or channel but scaled across the entire media strategy. While cross-platform measurement is more urgent than ever, first-party data on its own won’t get you there.

You can’t rely on platforms to grade their own homework

Now more than ever, the pressure and need for measurement independence are mounting. It’s not enough to track metrics within platforms—you need to measure across them using a single, consistent, unbiased methodology. Without that, performance is whatever the platform says it is.

So why are brands still relying on reporting from siloed gardens and DSPs despite knowing those metrics don’t tell the full story? As campaigns span social, CTV, and retail media, marketers have become accustomed to insights that can’t be reconciled cleanly. Aware or not, the result is overlapping data, inconsistent attribution, and little visibility into how one touchpoint influences another.

As Sean put it: “You want to work with a provider that allows you to measure everything… platforms, providers, creative—and do it deterministically.” 

Deterministic, identity-based measurement gives marketers a true single source of truth—one that doesn’t depend on third-party cookies or inferred data and isn’t subject to platform-level bias. It enables accurate person-level tracking across the full media mix and reveals the real relationship between exposure and behavior.

Importantly, it also highlights what platforms don’t show you, such as incremental lift, cross-channel performance comparisons, and campaign interactions beyond a single domain. This kind of visibility is essential for in-flight optimization, budget reallocation, and strategic decision-making. Without it, you’re flying blind, or worse, trusting biased data to steer the ship. Now and increasingly in the future, independent, deterministic measurement won't be a nice-to-have, but the only way to hold your media accountable.

Real-world use case: Driving impact with CTV for a wellness-oriented energy drink

A zero-sugar, plant-based energy drink set out to challenge category giants by aligning with health-conscious consumers and delivering a message built around wellness. To build awareness and drive results among active adults aged 18–29, particularly women, the brand’s agency, VITRO, partnered with PDi to launch a programmatic CTV campaign using AI-driven targeting across platforms.

To measure the campaign’s true effectiveness, PDi worked with DISQO to connect CTV exposure with both attitudinal and behavioral outcomes deterministically. Using DISQO’s Brand Lift and Outcome Lift solutions, the team was able to pinpoint campaign impact and answer critical questions around audience resonance, optimal frequency, and competitive switching. 

The results were clear. Compared to a control group of unexposed consumers, the campaign drove meaningful lift in key brand metrics:

• +8 points lift in aided brand awareness
• +14 points lift in awareness for consumers exposed four to six times, the frequency range that delivered the highest impact
• +8 points overall lift in purchase intent
• +7 points lift in purchase intent among women
• +10 points lift in awareness among wellness-focused consumers
• +9 points lift in purchase intent in that same audience

Creative that emphasized the drink’s zero sugar and plant-based benefits connected strongly with its target. And with precise targeting of competitor audiences, the campaign successfully encouraged switching consideration.

By partnering with DISQO, the brand didn’t just see how their campaign performed—they understood why it worked and where to optimize next. No black boxes, no guesswork—just clear, actionable insights across the funnel​. 

Final takeaway: eliminate the blind spots

No matter how targeted your media is, if measurement remains fragmented, you’re still flying blind. Conflicting platform incentives, inconsistent methodologies, and disappearing identifiers continue to obscure the truth about what’s working and why. And when you can’t connect exposure to outcomes across the full media mix, optimization becomes guesswork.

To move forward, advertisers need a measurement solution that spans every platform, functions independently of media sellers, and delivers real transparency.

That’s exactly what DISQO delivers: leading ad effectiveness measurement solutions. Together, Brand Lift and Outcomes Lift provide a deterministic, always-on view of campaign impact—linking how people feel about your brand to what they do after seeing your ads. Whether it’s awareness, consideration, search, or site visits, you’ll see how media drives outcomes across social, TV, digital, and beyond. No black boxes. No silos. Just clarity. 

Looking for more information and emerging data from leading brands and agency leaders on how they are going deeper to counter ad measurement challenges? Get the State of Programmatic Measurement report from DISQO and AdExchanger. Want more info on measuring what matters—every channel, one source? Get in touch. Let’s talk. hello@disqo.com.