A Lesson In Data Quality Key at Go Addressable University

Teaching the nuances of data quality is the key lesson that will be taught by the TV trade group Go Addressable, which is launching a certification course for agencies and brands.

The first class in the entry-level Essentials curriculum of Go Addressable’s Foundation for Addressable Advertising course covers definitions and the benefits of using addressable advertising. The second class is about identity and why quality identity matters, Tim Myers, executive director of Go Addressable, told The Measure.

“It goes into details about the different approaches to identity and understanding the difference between deterministic and probabilistic device graphs,” Myers said. “Ultimately, it comes back to why it’s really important to use quality deterministic identities to execute campaigns for performance and accuracy.”

Myers said as advertisers deploy more of their first-party data, there is still confusion about how to organize and use it.

That confusion has slowed the growth of addressable advertising to the chagrin of Go Addressable’s members. Emphasizing the use of deterministic identities is important to the group, which views the walled gardens as their real competition.

“They basically have deterministic identifiers. You’re authenticated when you log in," Myers said. "TV has it in some places and it doesn’t in others and it’s confusing,” he said.

“We've also been trying to help reposition that definition of addressable as being linked to deterministic ID,” Myers said. “There is a lot of confusion out there that all digital television is addressable. I would say all digital television is targetable, but it's not addressable because, again, our definition of addressable is that it's based on deterministic identity."

The course explains that using deterministic identifiers will “provide that level of performance and measurement so you can see what the results are and give people a lot more confidence in executing on TV advertising, whether it’s linear or digital,” he said.

With probabilistic identifiers like IP addresses, “You’re still just going to be guessing a lot and that’s really the difference,” Myers said.

While most senior media buyers have experience with addressable advertising, the course will be a big help to younger professionals looking to advance their careers, he said. Go Addressable’s agency council also thought the course would be even more valuable for training their clients who work for the brands that are being marketed.

The use of higher-quality deterministic data only grows as AI is used to manage campaigns, Myers added.

Go Addressable has collaborated with media cartographer Evan Shapiro in developing the course.

Shapiro teaches the class on Substack. Matthew Van Houten, head of product & partnerships for DirecTV, is a guest speaker in the Introduction to Addressable TV lesson, and Larry Allen, FreeWheel’s VP for global strategy, data, measurement and addressable, chips in during the lesson on Why Identity Matters.

“Very few truly comprehend the difference between good data and bad. That’s in large part because the vendors out there selling data pools that are garbage don’t want people to know the difference,” Shapiro said.

“So, while this effort might be good marketing for addressable advertising, at its heart, it’s an education program aimed at better data health in the industry,” he said. “In my opinion, this is the best way for the entire TV industry to push back against the walled gardens who serve a large share of paid ad impressions to bots.”

The Essentials level of the course, launching this month, is being offered to everyone for free.

Yes, there will be a test on this material. Attendees who get a passing grade will get a certificate and a badge they can add to their profiles on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

An apple for the teacher is not required.

There may be a charge for the Master and Pro levels. Details about those will be released in the coming months, Go Addressable said.

Go Addressable will be promoting the course to its members and people who attend its events. It will also be promoting it on LinkedIn and other social channels. “We’re hoping to get some press coverage as well,” Myers added.

Having Shapiro in the mix should get it some attention too.

“Translating media complexity into clarity is what Evan does best,” said Lisa Herdman, Chief Enterprise Integration Officer at RPA. “That’s why partnering with him was a natural fit. We are especially pleased that the Go Addressable Certification Program in its Substack format is very approachable and accessible to all and will help educate brands and marketers about the benefits of using addressable TV.”

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Invalid traffic and fraud remain a problem for digital advertisers.

According to Pixalate, for Q4 2025, global IVT rates were 23% for web traffic, 36% for mobile app traffic and 21% for CTV traffic.

Invalid traffic for connected TV decreased to 19% in Q4 2025 from 23% in Q4 2024.

Web IVT increased to 25% from 21%.

On mobile apps, invalid traffic jumped 38% to 29% from 21%.