At A Glance
Experian introduces a solution for commerce media networks (CMNs) that connects first-party shopper data with trusted identity, audience, activation, and measurement capabilities. Brands gain deeper shopper insight, broader off-site reach, and closed-loop measurement across channels, with a clear path to incremental media revenue.Experian is introducing a solution designed specifically for commerce media networks (CMNs) to capture more advertising revenue. This solution connects brands’ first-party shopper data, combining it with Experian’s #1 ranked identity and audience services. Together, these capabilities help CMNs gain deeper customer insight, build richer audiences for activation, extend reach outside of their owned and operated inventory, and run real-time measurement and attribution.
Why are commerce media networks investing in audience and identity solutions?
CMNs now play a central role in how brands reach high-intent shoppers. CMNs are expected to offer more than on-site placements. Advertisers want broader reach, consistent targeting, and proof of performance. Experian’s solution is built to address those expectations by helping CMNs turn common challenges, including limited audience visibility and reach, and growing demand for programmatic access, into revenue opportunities. By working with Experian, CMNs can better understand their customers, extend reach beyond owned platforms, and show return on ad spend as shoppers move from ad exposure to purchase.
How does Experian help commerce media networks grow media revenue?
As commerce media continues to expand, success depends on understanding shoppers and monetizing that knowledge responsibly. Experian’s solution supports CMNs across identity, audience development, activation, and measurement, with benefits designed to support growth.
Identity resolution
Every CMN captures authenticated first-party data, whether collected online or offline. On its own, that data represents only a portion of a customer or household’s addressable footprint. By connecting to Experian’s identity graphs, CMNs gain a broader view of their customers across offline and digital environments, supported by coverage across 126 million households, 250 million individuals, and 4.2 billion digital IDs.
Expanded insights
Understanding shoppers at scale is critical for commerce media networks looking to differentiate their offerings and grow media revenue. Beyond data hygiene, Experian enables CMNs to build customer profiles that go deeper than purchase behavior alone, incorporating demographics, lifestyle attributes, TrueTouchSM, Mosaic® USA, and more.
These insights help CMNs better understand who their audiences are, identify high-value segments, and create unique, differentiated audiences at scale. By offering brands a clearer view into shopper behavior and intent, CMNs can attract the right brand partners, support more effective activation strategies, and position their network as a premium destination for commerce media investment.
Create audiences
CMNs can enrich first-party data with Experian Marketing Data to build custom segments for advertisers. With more than 5,000 Marketing Attributes available, CMNs can help advertisers reach first-party audiences enhanced with data based on demographics, media preferences, and behavioral signals.
Maximize reach and distribution
Experian’s Third-Party Onboarding capabilities allow CMNs to move audiences from owned platforms into programmatic, television, and social channels. Through Experian’s network of more than 20 platforms, including The Trade Desk and Magnite, CMNs can extend audience reach and create new monetization opportunities. Self-service tools, native integrations, and transparent pricing support efficient activation.
Through Experian’s Curated Deals, CMNs can make their data usable in private marketplaces (PMPs), offering unique data for advertisers to build their PMPs. This helps advertisers obtain more reach, achieve their intended outcomes,and offers CMNs another way to monetize their data.
Demonstrate success
CMNs need clear, trusted measurement to support advertiser investment. Experian’s Activity Feed empowers CMNs to run attribution, so they can show their clients the impact their data delivered. It does this by connecting ad exposures and consumer touchpoints across environments, including web and connected TV (CTV), to households and individuals, making the link between ad exposure and consumer action clear.
Case study: How Experian enhanced addressability for a leading retail media network
A leading RMN has worked with Experian since 2021 to better understand its customers, organize first-party shopper data, and activate audiences across the digital ecosystem. Experian supported this RMN in reducing reliance on third-party cookies by anchoring shopper data to more stable digital identifiers, including mobile ad IDs (MAIDs), hashed emails (HEMs), CTV IDs, and Unified ID 2.0 (UID2).
As a result, addressability across owned platforms and programmatic channels increased by nearly 300%. This improvement supported more consistent reach and measurement throughout the shopper journey.
“Accurate data is the backbone of effective commerce media strategies, and Experian’s top-tier data solutions are critical for precise targeting and audience delivery. Experian’s advanced capabilities in data onboarding, customer audiences, and robust identity graphs allow advertisers to seamlessly reach the right audiences.”
NexChatper IncArt Sebastian, CEO
What value does Experian bring to commerce media networks?
Experian supports CMNs with a combination of identity, data quality, and ecosystem connectivity.
How can commerce media networks partner with Experian?
Experian’s data and identity solutions help commerce media networks make the most of their opportunity. By connecting shopper insight to activation and measurement, CMNs can strengthen advertiser relationships and grow revenue.
Connect with a member of our team to learn how Experian can support your commerce media strategy.
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FAQs
Experian’s solution for CMNs connects first-party shopper data with identity, audience, activation, and measurement capabilities. Commerce media networks use it to expand reach, support advertisers, and measure outcomes across channels.
Identity supports commerce media performance by connecting shopper data across devices, channels, and environments. This connection supports consistent targeting, broader reach, and measurement tied to real purchases.
Yes. Experian enables activation across programmatic, television, and social platforms through Third-Party Onboarding, direct platform integrations, and Curated Deals through PMPs.
Experian supports closed-loop measurement for commerce media networks through Activity Feed. Activity Feed links exposures and online actions to households and individuals, enabling CMNs to easily run attribution. With Activity Feed, commerce media networks can show how media contributes to shopper behavior and sales.
Latest posts
In our Ask the Expert series, we interview leaders from our partner organizations who are helping lead their brands to new heights in AdTech. Today’s interview is with Samantha Zhang, Senior Data Scientist, and Jim Meyer, General Manager of the DASH TV Universe Study at the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF). DASH is an annual tracking study conducted by the ARF to define and better understand TV audience behavior and household dynamics. What does DASH measure, and how does it help the industry understand TV consumption today? By capturing hundreds of individual- and household-level data points from each respondent in a rigorous and nationally projectable sample, DASH creates a comprehensive picture of U.S. consumer TV “infrastructure” – how America watches. Core elements in DASHElements that create context in DASHTV setsLocation | brand | smartness | service modes | sources DemographicsConnected devices Game consoles |video players | streaming devicesYesterday viewing Daypart | TV/device genre | Out-of-home viewingMobile devicesOwners | sharing usersShoppingOnline and in-store | Exposure to major RMNsInternet serviceModes | ISPs | connectivity by device Streaming audio Streaming TVSVOD/AVOD tiers and sharing | FAST Email accounts and apps Live TV Modes of access | including casting from devices Social media For example, DASH gathers: Data on every TV set, including brand, room location, age, “smartness,” and connection devices and modes Household connectivity and video service data, even in homes with no TV set Internet Service Providers (ISP) and TV service usage, including Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs), virtual vMVPDs, streamers (ad-supported and premium), and Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) channels Person-level ownership and usage of video-capable mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops Measures of viewing and co-viewing across dayparts, devices, and services Additional modules covering shopping and retail media networks, streaming audio, social media, email, and apps Broad coverage and granularity make DASH a uniquely robust source of truth for practitioners across the industry, including measurement experts and ad programming strategists. DASH also reports regularly (and publicly) on key industry dynamics. DASH identified a growing segment of device-only viewers – now nearly 9 million households that watch TV, but do not own a TV set – and highlighted the implications of that trend for traditional ratings systems based only on households with TV sets. Households (HHs – million)2025 HHs (M) U.S. penetrationChange vs. 2024 (M)Total US134.8100%+2.7Connected TV (CTV)114.685%+2.1TV (Set)124.292.2%+1.1Device-only8.86.6%+1.6TV-Accessible133.198.7%+2.7 DASH called out the rise in app-based pay TV and proposed a new connection framework that better represents the modern TV world, in which linear and streaming overlap. DASH also defines the universes of households reachable with advertising. This graphic, for example, shows how all ad-supported linear and streaming properties in aggregate define the true scale of TV advertising. While 35 million households (and growing) are reachable only with streaming ads and 13 million (and falling) only with linear ads, most households are reachable with both, underscoring the importance of understanding the “overlap.” Who uses DASH data, and what decisions does it help inform? There are three primary users of DASH, each with its own use cases: Measurement providers, including Nielsen, use DASH to calibrate viewership data, turn household data into persons data (and vice versa) and estimate potential reached audiences–what the providers call media-related universe estimate (MRUEs)–for the calculation of ratings. Not surprisingly, measurement companies were the first to see the value that an independent TV universe study could provide. Media companies, including major broadcasters and streamers, use DASH to add context and color to their ad sales presentations – and to track the measurement providers, whose ratings play a major role in valuing ad inventory. AdTech companies, including Experian, use DASH to create high-value audience segments for activation. The recent accreditation of DASH by the Media Rating Council (MRC) and adoption by Nielsen as an input to its TV ratings have generated interest from a broad range of companies. We are actively pursuing new licensees and partners to make DASH more useful within, and even outside, the TV ecosystem. What does MRC accreditation signify, and why is it meaningful for DASH? MRC accreditation means DASH passed a rigorous audit conducted by Ernst & Young over many months, which validated our methodology, controls, and data quality. MRC accreditation establishes that DASH is an industry-standard dataset. While the service provider normally announces its own accreditation, the MRC took the unusual step of issuing its own release on DASH, announcing the accreditation of DASH for TV universe estimation and endorsing the study for broader, cross-media use. How does Experian use DASH data to build audiences? The segments combine specific TV usage habits and behaviors from DASH with Experian data on demographics, spending, and other contextual inputs to create a fuller view of consumer viewing behavior. They are designed to be valuable to advertisers in many categories and planning contexts – and to be customizable to fit advertisers’ media targets. The segments can be used to: Apply or suppress audiences to improve target coverage across a campaign Better align media and creative Reach elusive but high-value viewers, such as Ad Avoiders Drive valuable consumer behavior Achieve specific advertising objectives What are some practical use cases for DASH-based audiences? Here are some practical use cases for four different kinds of DASH segments in five different advertiser categories. Travel Co-WatchersA couples-only resort uses TV Co-Watching Households without Children to strengthen target reach and ad memory recallA big theme park destination uses TV Co-Watching Households with Children to reach families in moments of togetherness Home Entertainment TV Owners and Brand LoyalistsA premium TV manufacturer uses the overlap of Multi Brand TV Owners and Single Brand TV Loyalist Households to market its newest TV model to its most loyal consumers. Fast Food Screen Size ViewersA fast food chain with a high-impact new brand campaign uses Large Screen TV Viewers to better align the media and creativeThat same fast food chain uses Small-Screen TV Viewers to drive store traffic by increasing exposure of its retail campaign among on-the-go viewers Financial Services Cord Cutters A personal cost management app and a cash-back credit card target Streaming-First Cord Cutter Households to reach young, tech-savvy, cost-conscious consumers Thanks for the interview. Where can readers learn more about DASH? We started work on DASH seven years ago, and it’s been fun to watch it “grow up.” Our partnership with Experian is a big step toward putting DASH to work for advertisers and agencies. To learn more, visit our site at https://theARF.org/DASH or contact us at DASH@theARF.org. Contact us About our experts Samantha Zhang, Senior Data Scientist at ARF Samantha Zhang is a Senior Data Scientist at the Advertising Research Foundation working on the DASH TV Universe Study, with additional research spanning areas including attention measurement, digital privacy, and artificial intelligence. Jim Meyer, General Manager, DASH, at ARF Jim Meyer is general manager and co-founder of the ARF DASH TV Universe Study and managing partner of Golden Square, LLC, which advises media and research technology companies on growth strategy and development. Latest posts
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