The fog between agencies and clients around data just keeps getting thicker: ID Comms report
By Michael Bürgi • January 23, 2026 •
Ivy Liu
The disconnect between advertisers and their media agencies is certainly nothing new to the industry, despite constant efforts to get on the same page. A new report out of ID Comms indicates that things aren’t getting any more connected.
In the 2026 installment of the State of Digital Media Benchmark, the media consultancy analyzed the governance protocols of 143 major advertisers representing about $35 billion in annual spend. One chilling if unsurprising conclusion: agencies blame clients for being so siloed the agency doesn’t have clarity on client data, which is arguably the lifeblood of modern digital marketing.
It all translates to what the report cited as a “dangerous disconnect between ‘having data’ and ‘having visibility’, particularly among the world’s largest advertisers,” those spending at least $1 billion in media annually. When asked to identify the biggest driver of media waste, agencies essentially blamed clients — 46% of agencies cited advertisers’ “Internal Data Silos” as the primary culprit of waste in digital media, compared to 36% of advertisers. (The fact that one out of three advertisers acknowledged their own role in lack of data clarity is telling in and of itself.)
“Perhaps most telling is the feedback from agencies; they are clearly struggling to navigate their clients’ internal data silos,” said Tom Denford, founder and CEO of ID Comms. “Yet clients seem to underestimate how much waste these silos are creating.”
The report cited a few somewhat startling numbers, including that 71% of “giant” advertisers (ie those spending in excess of $1 billion annually) describe their data environment as “chaotic” or “fragmented.” It’s another acknowledgment that data complexity is outpacing the ability to stay on top of data governance.
Two marketing executives in data-intensive categories shared their thoughts anonymously in the report, with one CPG marketer saying, “Cost transparency is absolutely critical. Much of the struggle related to evaluating channels and tactics comes down to opaque pricing models from media vendors. This is a major differentiator between market leaders and follow-ons.”
A pharmaceutical/health marketing exec, who also was quoted anonymously, said, “Greater transparency and synthesis across digital media channels [is needed]. Too often they are activated and reported in silos, thereby limiting our ability to optimize our investments based on audiences, content, placements, and performance.”
One other surprise out of the data: Highly regulated industries aren’t necessarily the most governed. According to ID Comms’ findings, financial services brands lag behind industry averages on governance scores. On the other hand, luxury and travel brands score higher and Denford posits it’s because they are likely driven by stricter brand safety protocols.
Denford will present the full findings of the report on Feb. 5 in a webinar briefing to advertisers.
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