Commerce media has grown rapidly, creating hundreds of networks that offer advertisers access to first-party data and opportunities to connect with consumers. But as growth slows, expectations around measurement and demonstrating advertising’s impact on business outcomes are increasing.
At EMARKETER’s "The Next Era of Commerce Media" event during Advertising Week New York 2026, AAM CEO Rich Murphy and EMARKETER Senior Analyst Arielle Feger discussed how measurement standards, transparency and independent assurance can help build advertiser confidence and support continued growth in the channel.
Trustworthy Measurement Can Drive Growth
As advertisers look at their investments more closely, more questions are being asked about how outcomes were determined.
“If buyers continue to question measurement, the channel might not meet its full potential,” Murphy said.
He discussed other advertising channels that experienced similar challenges and how implementing industry standards and assurance increased buyer confidence.
“There’s a history in other channels of standards, compliance and audits driving growth,” Murphy said, citing examples from point-of-care marketing and digital advertising.
For commerce media networks, this presents an opportunity to make measurement accountability part of their value proposition. Adopting industry standards, providing greater transparency and independently validating how outcomes are determined can help strengthen advertiser confidence and support continued investment.
Standardize Baseline Metrics, Not Every Methodology
One of the biggest challenges is that networks may use different definitions or measurement approaches for determining outcomes, making it challenging for advertisers to compare results.
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recently released a report calling for the implementation of foundational digital metrics such as impressions, viewability, clicks and invalid traffic as baseline for comparable measurement.
"Everybody has to use the same standards," Murphy said. "After that, there is room for variation and bespoke solutions."
Different use cases may require different approaches to measuring incrementality, but implementing baseline metrics and common definitions provides a foundation for standardization.
Transparency Is an Important First Step
Since different methodologies can produce different outcomes, advertisers need to understand how outcomes were measured. Disclosing the methodology used and any relevant limitations is an important first step toward helping buyers interpret results and make informed comparisons.
Murphy said independent verification can provide an additional level of confidence by examining whether methodologies are appropriate for their intended use case, underlying data and calculations are reliable and results are accurately reported.
"When there is no uniform way to calculate incrementality, the role of a third party actually becomes more important by providing greater transparency and accountability," Murphy said.
He also discussed AAM’s Incrementality Certification for Commerce Media, which verifies that an organization’s measurement approach aligns with industry guidelines including the IAB and IAB Europe’s Guidelines for Incremental Measurement in Commerce Media.
Learn more about how DoorDash advanced transparency in incrementality measurement.
