Measuring Billions: Emily Wood On iSpot’s Programmatic Growth And Outcome-Driven Future

Over the past decade, Emily Wood, VP of Business Development at iSpot, has helped the company evolve into a leading measurement partner for programmatic advertising—capturing billions of impressions each week and powering CTV insights for major demand-side platforms like The Trade Desk. 

As part of our Truth in Number video series with CIMM, Emily Wood sat down with The Measure Editor-in-Chief Jason Damata, to reflect on how the company’s data scale, outcome-focused metrics, and long-term partnerships are redefining what success looks like in streaming and linear TV.

Jason Damata: Can you share a bit about your career journey?

Emily Wood: I’ve been working in television for 20 years and feel lucky to be where I am today. I started at Turner Broadcasting on the linear side and have experienced every transition—people saying “linear is dying” or “direct response is career suicide.” But moving into measurement turned out to be everything. I’ve been at iSpot for nearly 10 years now—my 10-year anniversary is in two weeks.

Jason Damata: What’s your current role at iSpot?

Emily Wood: I oversee our programmatic partnerships, primarily with DSPs and retail media networks. For several years now, I’ve focused on helping those partners leverage iSpot’s measurement capabilities.

Jason Damata: How does iSpot operate in the programmatic space?

Emily Wood: We work with many DSP partners that have embraced third-party measurement, starting with The Trade Desk. They were one of the first to lean in and effectively set a trend. We provide these partners with insights across advertisers running on their platforms, including reach and frequency over linear. We also power CTV measurement for The Trade Desk—they RFP’d the entire measurement industry five years ago and chose iSpot. We now measure billions of impressions weekly on their platform, and we’re their preferred measurement provider for incremental reach.

Jason Damata: Where is measurement headed?

Emily Wood: The future is outcomes. Everyone’s talking about outcomes, but we’re delivering them—automated, at scale—so platforms can act on and optimize campaigns in real time.

Jason Damata: After a decade at iSpot, what keeps you engaged?

Emily Wood: I’ve never been bored here. The work is fun, the challenges are exciting, and the people are incredible. That combination is rare, and I’m grateful for it.

Jason Damata: Do you have a favorite advertisement?

Emily Wood: I do, actually. There’s a whiskey commercial that always makes me cry. It starts as what seems like a funeral, set to a beautiful Irish song, but it turns out to be a wedding in the rain. I don’t even drink, but the storytelling gets me every time.

Jason Damata: What’s your approach to maintaining strong partnerships?

Emily Wood: It’s not always easy, especially with so much noise in the market. At iSpot, relationships and integrity come first. When that’s your foundation—and your product is strong—the business grows naturally. Many of our partners have become friends. We innovate and grow together.