In a recent conversation I had with Bryan Goski, Chief Revenue Officer at VideoAmp, we dug into some of the biggest shifts happening across the advertising and media ecosystem. What emerged was a clear picture of an industry being reshaped by three powerful forces: the evolution of targeting, the practical impact of AI, and the growing importance of premium content and outcomes-based buying.
Targeting: From Demographics to Cohorts and Households
When I asked Bryan how he defines “targeting” today, he highlighted how far we’ve come from the days of simple demographic buys on linear TV. Historically, targeting meant choosing broad demos and building a media plan around them, in large part because it was hard to connect data sets to actual ad delivery in real time.
Now, with the ability to tie together disparate data sets (for example, auto ownership, purchase behavior, digital exposure, and more), we can define and reach far more precise household- or cohort-level segments. Instead of “adults 25–54,” we can focus on “in-market for a car” or “buyers in a specific category,” and execute those plans across screens.
This shift is not just about precision; it’s about efficiency and value. When waste is reduced and impressions are better aligned with real buyers, CPMs don’t have to be a race to the bottom; more relevant audiences can and should justify higher CPMs.
AI as a Real-World Efficiency Driver
AI is on everyone’s lips, but I wanted to get beyond the buzz. Bryan broke AI’s role into three layers:
- Data – Aggregating massive amounts of impression, audience, and outcome data.
- Computation – Using machine learning and large language models to analyze and connect that data at scale.
- Output – Turning those analyses into usable tools for planning, optimization, and measurement.
The examples he shared were very tangible. Engineering teams can now have AI generate code or prototypes in minutes that used to take weeks. Sales teams can pull platform data and auto-build customized client decks on existing templates in a few minutes instead of days.
The real story here isn’t just cost reduction; it’s time reallocation. When AI handles a big chunk of the manual work, humans can spend more time on strategy, creativity, and client relationships. As with past technology shifts, there’s initial fear about job loss, but over time the value tends to come from moving people up the value chain.
Why Premium Content Matters More Than Ever
I also raised the issue of premium content versus the massive long tail of digital video (including what I half-jokingly called “AI slop”). Bryan’s view is that premium content will increasingly be a key differentiator.
If you’re a brand that cares about brand safety, quality, and real human audiences, you’re going to gravitate toward environments like major entertainment brands, tentpole series (think Yellowstone), live sports, and trusted news. These are contexts where:
- The audience is more likely to be engaged and valuable.
- The content is brand-safe.
- The likelihood of invalid traffic and bots is far lower than in the open web.
At VideoAmp, Bryan and his team are actively exploring ways to build premium content metrics into campaigns and then connect those to attribution and outcomes. The thesis: impressions next to premium content should, on average, drive better performance and justify premium CPMs.
From Over-Frequency to Outcomes-Based Buying
One recurring pain point I raised was over-frequency, especially when buying across multiple platforms. Bryan acknowledged this has been a “dirty secret” in the industry for years. With AI and ML, however, platforms can now:
- Analyze massive data sets to understand diminishing returns by frequency.
- Tie impression delivery directly to sales or conversion outcomes.
- Inform planning and frequency caps based on what actually moves the needle.
This naturally feeds into outcomes-based buying. For lower-funnel and launch campaigns, tying impressions to conversions and optimizing toward optimal frequency (say, 5–7 impressions instead of 20) creates more efficient media and better results. For pure brand campaigns, survey-based upper-funnel metrics still matter—but they now sit alongside attribution and outcome data rather than in isolation.
The Bigger Picture
Stepping back from our discussion, it’s clear that two major transformations are converging:
- The structural shift from linear to digital.
- The accelerated adoption of AI to do more, faster, with fewer resources.
The combination is driving consolidation and forcing organizations to rethink their infrastructure, their workflows, and even their business models. Those who embrace AI, lean into premium content strategies, and anchor planning and optimization in real outcomes are likely to be the ones who gain the most ground in the months and years ahead.