At A Glance
Microsoft is moving curation toward an operating system for premium media buys, bringing deal packaging, transparency, and audience intelligence into one workflow. In this Ask the Expert conversation, Microsoft Advertising’s Erik Zamkoff shares how curated packages help buyers assess supply, help publishers track where inventory appears, and support AI-assisted planning with Experian.A closer look at media curation
Media buying depends on dependable inventory, clear package details, and results that justify spend. In this Ask the Expert session, Erik Zamkoff, Global Packaging Lead at Microsoft Advertising, joins Matt Petiton, Director of Partnership Sales at Experian, to discuss how media curation is expanding from deal packaging into a more complete system for premium buying and how inventory and audience intelligence work together to drive stronger outcomes.
How does curation solve discovery and scale challenges?
Curation helps media buyers access reliable information faster, compare packages, and reduce manual work. What started as a way to organize deal discovery has become a system for structuring supply, managing updates, and responding to buyer needs at scale.
Curation helps teams:
- Consolidate deal information in one place, so buyers have the detail they need to evaluate a package
- Act as a decisioning layer, organizing supply in a way that makes comparison easier
- Automate real-time updates, so buyers are working from current options rather than static documents
- Respond faster to custom requests, turning repeat asks into repeatable packages
- Bring speed and structure to a process that has often been manual
How does total transparency set winning curators apart?
Total transparency is becoming a baseline expectation in premium media buying. For buyers, that means knowing what inventory is inside a deal, how it’s sourced, and it’s expected to perform. For publishers, transparency means seeing how inventory is packaged, where it appears in market, and how those packages are represented back to buyers.
The strongest curation platforms build that visibility into the system itself. A source deal can be traced through its naming, packaging, and downstream use, giving publishers a clear view of where their inventory shows up and gives buyers more confidence in the information they use to make decisions.
That clarity strengthens working relationships on both sides. Publishers want partners who can show how supply is being used. Buyers want curators who stand behind the accuracy of their deal data. When that level of visibility is present, curated transactions feel more trustworthy, more organized, and easier to act on.
“The value proposition for publishers is straightforward: total transparency. I can sit down with a publisher and clearly identify which packages their specific deals appear in, ensuring clarity and trust.”
Microsoft AdvertisingErik Zamkoff, Global Packaging Lead
Why does curation clarity matter to publishers?
Publishers need a clear view of how their inventory is distributed, who has access to it, and where it appears across a fast-moving market. Gaps in that visibility make it harder to manage pricing, plan inventory strategy, and protect the value of supply.
A transparent curation system gives publishers a clearer view of how each source deal is merchandised across packages and campaigns. With that visibility, they can spot overlap, have more informed conversations with buy-side teams, and take a more active role in how their inventory is presented.
For publishers in premium marketplaces, that level of clarity matters. It supports stronger planning, control, and more confidence that supply is being used in a way that aligns with business goals.
How does audience intelligence make curation more effective?
Audience intelligence makes curated media more useful by connecting premium supply to the audiences marketers need to reach. Most campaign briefs require both quality inventory and relevant audiences to succeed, which is why curation works better when it’s connected to trusted data.
The next major shift in media buying is the move from standard inventory curation to a model that combines premium supply with audience intelligence. To bridge this gap, solutions like Experian’s act as a critical intelligence layer. Experian turns standard inventory into highly targeted, data-rich media packages. By pairing powerful data and identity with premium properties, advertisers can reach the exact people they want to connect with.
Experian Marketing Data plays an important role in this model. For example, if a marketplace offers an inventory package for professional sports, Experian audience data can augment that package by bringing in verified sports fans. This strategy adds richness and depth to campaigns, making the media buy more relevant to the audience. It allows clients to pick a category and extend it to reach a highly relevant audience. Bringing premium supply and audience intelligence together gives buyers a more complete solution for their advertising needs.
How is artificial intelligence changing the media curation interface?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how buyers search, compare, and package curated media supply. It can turn natural-language campaign requirements into recommended opportunities, helping teams move faster without replacing human strategy.
AI is poised to change how buyers interact with curated media supply, serving as both a facilitator and connective tissue across the entire transaction process. Human expertise remains essential for interpreting campaign goals and making strategic decisions. AI supports that work by automating routine, data-heavy tasks, accelerating the planning process.
“From an artificial intelligence perspective, it has been an amazing journey. We are now exploring an agentic pivot on the front end, allowing natural language search applications to simplify how buyers find supply.”
Microsoft AdvertisingErik Zamkoff, Global Packaging Lead
Tasks that previously required hours of manual effort, such as sorting through multiple audience taxonomies, cross-referencing deal details, and compiling package comparisons, are now automated. Buyers use platform interfaces in a natural language. They quickly describe campaigning requirements. AI instantly proposes new opportunities that correspond to stated objectives. This simplifies planning and drives a more consistent delivery from campaign to campaign or client to client. Reduced manual oversight allows teams to spend less time on repetitive steps. Teams can focus on client relationships, campaign strategy, and overall performance.
At Experian, AI integration is powered by our high-quality data, ranked #1 by Truthset, that meets critical standards of accuracy, freshness, consent, and interoperability. Our data is accurate, continuously updated, and human-centered. Our commitment to data quality enables AI to deliver real-time package recommendations, optimize campaigns with predictive insights, and surface opportunities that reflect current consumer behavior. By combining automation with human expertise, AI helps buyers make faster, more confident decisions.
Learn what’s possible with curated media solutions
For marketers planning premium buys, curated media solutions can help connect quality supply, audience relevance, and clearer decision-making in one workflow. Experian and Microsoft Advertising can help you solve your advertising challenges and find the right media solutions for your goals.
About our experts
Erik Zamkoff
Global Packaging Lead, Microsoft
Erik Zamkoff is currently the Global Packaging Lead at Microsoft, where he drives strategy and innovation across the company’s programmatic advertising and media marketplace offerings. He brings over a decade of experience spanning digital marketing, marketplace development, and product management, with prior roles at Microsoft, Xandr, and other technology firms.
Matt Petiton
Director of Partnership Sales, Experian
Matt Petiton is a senior revenue and go-to-market leader with over a decade of experience scaling strategic partnerships and driving revenue growth within CTV, digital and programmatic channels. Currently, Matt operates within the Partnership Sales org where he leads revenue generation and manages the end-to-end go-to-market strategy for some of Experian’s most strategic, enterprise-level platform partners.
FAQs
Curation in media buying is the process of organizing premium supply into structured packages that buyers can evaluate, compare, and activate more easily. It helps reduce manual work, improve deal clarity and connect inventory to campaign goals.
Transparency matters in curated deals since buyers and publishers both need confidence in how inventory is packaged and represented. Buyers want accurate deal data, and publishers want visibility into where their supply appears and how it is used.
Experian’s data, ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset, helps make curation more effective by connecting premium inventory with audience intelligence. Experian’s identity foundation and marketing data can help buyers move from broad inventory packages to media opportunities tied to more relevant audiences.
A marketer would use curation to find a media package that combines quality inventory with the audience needed for a campaign goal. For example, a professional sports package can become more relevant when paired with Experian audience data for verified sports fans.
Latest posts
Tapad, now a part of Experian, partners with Resonate to enhance audience analytics for mobile app brands
Featured stories from Experian MarketingLeading data insights and cross-device-powered services bridge mobile insights with connectivity to drive real-time consumer intelligence NEW YORK, May 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Tapad, now a part of Experian, the leader in cross-device marketing technology, has partnered with Resonate, a leading provider of real-time consumer intelligence and activation SaaS solutions. Through this partnership, Resonate will leverage the Tapad Device Graph™ to capture a deeper understanding of its mobile app audiences and provide brands with a more direct connection to their intended consumers. The integration of Resonate and Tapad’s technologies equips mobile app brands with insights into their consumers’ values, beliefs, motivations and purchase drivers. As a result, mobile app brands will better understand how to tailor messaging, drive advertising engagement, increase lift in performance across mobile consumers and ultimately boost revenue and returns. Utilizing the advanced data that the Tapad Device Graph™ provides, Resonate will create an Identity Service that connects mobile IDs to Resonate IDs for reporting insights both in-platform and out. To date, Tapad and Resonate have already driven incremental device connections for nearly 60 percent of customer profiles with an amplification rate of more than 120 percent, resulting in more than 400 million net new IDs within Resonate’s user base. “After testing multiple partners over the course of 12 months, it was clear that Tapad was the partner for us, given their ability to provide cross-device connectivity for more than one billion unique IDs against our consumer base,” said Joel Pulliam, SVP and chief product officer at Resonate. “In addition, Resonate customers have an inherent trust in Tapad’s mix of probabilistic and deterministic mobile connectivity data to provide a unified understanding of their mobile audiences.” “Partnering with Resonate will not only provide its brands with a more in-depth and actionable understanding of its consumers, but it will also allow our clients to connect with mobile consumers on a deeper level,” said Pierre Martensson, SVP and GM of Tapad’s global data division. “Resonate is not just answering the question of ‘how’ consumers are making purchases, but also tackling the more difficult question of ‘why’ they make certain buying decisions to best inform mobile brands about their audiences.” Contact us today
Tapad, a part of Experian, and Innovid partner to enhance cross-device video personalization
Featured stories from Experian MarketingPartnership leverages industry-leading Tapad Device Graph™ for more effective video marketing across all connected devices NEW YORK, April 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Tapad, a part of Experian, the leading provider of privacy-safe, cross-device marketing technology solutions, has announced its partnership with Innovid, the world’s leading video marketing platform. This integration enables Innovid to bring cross-device personalization and a more unified viewer experience to its video marketing clients including Bank of America, L’Oréal, Microsoft and Procter & Gamble. Innovid’s proprietary technology is the only platform optimized for video, enabling marketers to thrive in an ever-changing digital television landscape. Since its launch last year, Innovid’s Marketing Cloud Suite has helped marketers increase message relevance and the opportunity to drive conversions, retention and acquisition through video personalization. By leveraging the Tapad Device GraphTM, Innovid’s marketers can now benefit from the ability to drive consistent, personalized user experiences across all devices, creating more impactful connections with consumers and increasing ROI. “Personalization is a must for every data-driven marketer and really needs to happen across all devices to ensure a unified customer journey,” says Ronnie Lavi, SVP of product at Innovid. “At Innovid, we recognize one size does not fit all when it comes to video. As an open platform, we are always looking to add best-of-breed capabilities through integrations and partnerships, and we’ve chosen Tapad because of its superior cross-device expertise.” “Innovid has long paved the way for effective personalization in the video marketing space,” says Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad’s data division. “As video continues to gain popularity across digital formats, we’re excited to see how our technology empowers Innovid to bring that renowned personalization to more customers across all of their devices.” Contact us today
Tapad, now part of Experian, and Matter More announce strategic partnership
Featured stories from Experian MarketingTracey Scheppach’s new marketing and media practice leverages Tapad’s device-level data to help clients achieve “marketing nirvana” NEW YORK and CHICAGO, April 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Tapad, now part of Experian, is the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions, and Matter More, a next generation marketing and media practice with deep experience in the advanced TV space, announced a strategic partnership to bring together world class digital data and audience development expertise to help marketers improve how they connect with consumers. As consumer behavior continues to expand across multiple devices, today’s marketers need robust, comprehensive data solutions to accurately engage the people who matter most to their brands. At the same time, the TV industry has reached an advertising tipping point, capitalizing on the power of device-level data. “Achieving unduplicated reach and frequency across all channels with true addressability, and the ability to measure outcomes, is marketing nirvana,” says Tracey Scheppach, CEO and co-founder of Matter More, a new agency built for the modern age. “The best opportunity to deliver ‘marketing nirvana,’ at scale, is by partnering with Tapad and using their world-class Device Graph to help our clients simply matter more to the people they care about most.” “By leveraging our access to rich TV data, we can now measure the actual performance of media across channels,” says Marshall Wong, SVP, TV for Tapad. Tapad’s proprietary Device Graph™ unifies consumer behavior data across all devices, uncovering the interests, passions and behaviors of the audiences who matter most. As with any data solution, privacy, transparency and trust are crucial to bringing marketers a solid offering that delivers results. “Tapad is excited to partner with Matter More to tap into their knowledge base and experience working with some of the largest brands on TV today,” says Kate O’Loughlin, SVP and GM of Tapad’s media division. “The time has come to truly unleash the power of device-level data at scale.” Contact us today