At A Glance
Marketing in 2026 will hinge on connection: between AI and data accuracy, commerce media and category expansion, and curation and programmatic efficiency. These shifts mark marketing’s “6–7 moment,” when once-fragmented parts finally snap together. Experian’s 2026 Digital trends and predictions report outlines the forces shaping this more unified era.Remember when “6-7” was all over your feed and no one really knew why, but somehow everyone got it? In 2025, the internet proved that connection doesn’t always make sense — at least not at first. The “6-7” meme was random, ridiculous, and everywhere. It spread because it felt connected; an inside joke everyone could share.
Marketing in 2026 will have its own 6-7 moment. Experian’s 2026 Digital trends and predictions report explores how 2026 will be defined by connection: between activation and measurement, data and AI, platforms and outcomes. After years of fragmentation, the industry is finally unifying around shared foundations: data accuracy, identity resilience, and measurable performance.
Here are three connections to watch for in 2026.
1. AI is only as good as its data foundation
AI’s performance depends on the quality, recency, and integrity of its inputs. In 2026, marketers will recognize that the differentiator is not the algorithm itself but the data that informs it. As AI becomes embedded into workflows (from audience discovery to media optimization) accurate identity and privacy-safe data become essential.
Why it matters
Good data fuels responsible automation, predictive insight, and personalization that feels human. Without it, even the most advanced models will simply automate bad decisions faster.
What actions should marketers take to strengthen their data foundation?
To make AI adaptive, ethical, and aligned with real-world context, marketers need to strengthen the data foundation beneath it. In 2026, that means taking four core actions:
1. Prioritize accuracy
Verify data and anchor it in real human identity, rather than inferred or fragmented signals.
2. Keep data fresh
Ensure inputs stay current through continuous updates that reflect real-time consumer behavior and conditions.
3. Maintain consent standards
Source data responsibly and stay compliant with privacy regulations emerging across 20+ U.S. states.
4. Enable interoperability
Connect data securely across platforms through a signal-agnostic identity framework that supports consistency and scale.
When these elements come together, AI becomes more than just automation: it becomes adaptive, ethical, and responsive to real-world context.
2. Commerce media expands beyond retail
Commerce media is no longer just a retail play. What began as retailers monetizing their data and media has evolved into a multi-sector movement uniting data, media, and transaction insights. Auto, travel, CPG, and even financial brands are launching their own media networks or partnering with existing ones to close the loop between exposure and conversion.
More than half (58%) of advertisers are interested in advertising on non-retail media networks.
eMarketer
Why it matters
In 2026, commerce media becomes a strategy for any brand with first-party data, measurable outcomes, and the need for closed-loop insight.
What should marketers do with this expansion?
Activate beyond owned channels
Extend audiences beyond owned inventory into addressable connected TV (CTV) and open-web environments where identity links every impression to real outcomes.
Make identity the growth engine
Privacy-first identity resolution increases data addressability and keeps media measurable across every channel.
Collaborate for scale and consistency
Partner with providers that deliver transparency, interoperability, and shared measurement – not just data volume.
3. Curation becomes the programmatic standard
Curation is reshaping programmatic advertising into something more focused, efficient, and accountable. In an era shaped by privacy regulation and signal loss, curation brings identity, quality, and control together, allowing marketers to target confidently across CTV, audio, and the open web.
More than 66% of open-exchange ad spend (over $100 billion annually) now runs through curated private marketplaces (PMPs).
eMarketer
Why it matters
Curation aligns with the industry’s need foraccurateidentity, transparent supply, and stable outcomes, especially as traditional signals fluctuate.
How can marketers use curation more effectively?
Utilize supply-side innovation
Use supply-side platform (SSP) curation tools from partners like Index Exchange and Magnite to optimize in real time and keep your supply paths transparent.
Adopt curated marketplaces
Work with agency-built marketplaces from groups like GroupM and Butler/Till to control data costs, maintain transparency, and improve performance.
Activate with Experian Curated Deals
Tap high-performing audience segments, including PurpleLab’s HIPAA-compliant health audiences, through curated PMPs in leading demand-side platforms (DSPs) such as Amazon DSP.
Optimize and prove performance
Combine Experian data with Audigent supply-path intelligence to adjust campaigns mid-flight using metrics like CPM, CTR, and video completion rate.
2026 will be the 6-7 era for marketing
The “6-7” meme didn’t need to make sense to go viral. But your marketing does.
2026 will be the year marketers move from fragmentation to connection. Download Experian’s 2026 Digital trends and predictions report to explore all five digital marketing trends shaping 2026.
Ready to get started? Connect with a member of our team
About the author
Fred Cheung
Director, Partnership Sales, Audigent, a part of Experian
Fred Cheung has spent over a decade in the programmatic advertising space, with roles at Mindshare, Jounce Media, Twitter, and The Trade Desk. His deep experience in trading and product management helps in his current function on the Experian Marketing Services’ Sales team where he focuses on data growth and adoption across the industries’ leading buy-side platforms.
FAQs
Experian uses this phrase to describe the inflection point where AI, identity, commerce media, and programmatic curation finally connect in practical, scalable ways. It reflects the shift from fragmentation toward unified activation and measurement. Experian covers five digital marketing trends to watch for in 2026 in our 2026 Digital marketing trends and predictions report.
Experian provides verified consumer data, identity resolution, and privacy-first frameworks that strengthen AI accuracy. AI tools require reliable inputs, and Experian’s data foundation helps marketers apply AI in predictive modeling, audience insight, and media optimization.
Identity allows brands and media networks to connect exposure to conversion across sites, screens, and environments. Experian supports this through resilient identity frameworks that maintain recognition even as signals shift.
Experian provides high-performing audience segments and outcome-based signals that improve curated PMP performance. These capabilities give buyers more control, more stability, and clearer pathways to measurable results.
Experian’s 2026 Digital trends and predictions report outlines the five forces shaping the year ahead, including AI’s dependence on data quality, commerce media expansion, and the rise of curation.
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London – 24 November, 2017 – Tapad, part of Experian, is the leader in cross-device marketing technology and continues to broaden its reach across EMEA. The business today reported a 20 percent growth in the scope of its regional device graph, a data set used by organisations to map consumers to their devices, enabling better, more personalised cross-device marketing. This news complements Tapad’s recent expansion of its UK team with the hire of experienced solutions engineer, Davide Rosamilia. As the demand for cross-device technology solutions continues to grow around the globe, coupled with the emergence of regulations such as Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Tapad is committed to offering suppliers the greatest level of insight without compromising consumer privacy. Since Tapad started licensing its proprietary Tapad Device GraphTM just over a year ago, demand for the company’s technology has experienced significant growth. New supply partnerships and proactive data sourcing have also meant an increase in devices across key markets, which contribute to the overall 20 percent growth of the EMEA device graph, including a 44 percent increase in the U.K., 47 percent in France, and 85 percent in Germany. “We’re continuing to invest heavily in growing our regional device graph, allowing us to better meet the needs of EMEA marketers as they strive to reach individuals with greater precision in some of the most tightly regulated marketplaces worldwide,” said Tom Rolph, VP EMEA, Tapad. “This year, we have also welcomed 10 new data suppliers whom we’ve helped to increase cross-device amplification, attribution and audience extension, helping to further set us apart in the marketplace and successfully expand our EMEA presence.” Available around the world, the Device Graph provides access to Tapad’s globally compliant and privacy-safe datasets across EMEA, APAC and the U.S., and offers deeper knowledge of consumer preferences, purchase intent, and conversion behaviors. “Tapad has shown a unique ability to adapt to the nuances of the local EMEA market and display impressive growth without sacrificing dedication to privacy,” said Alistair Hill, CEO and Co-founder at On Device Research. “When we started vetting technology vendors, we needed to be sure that we selected a partner that could offer compliant and privacy-safe datasets to operate within our stringent data standards. Tapad’s probabilistic solution offered us greater scale, greater device reach, and increased engagement without compromising on privacy.” Contact us today
The Tapad Device Graph™ Will Expand Sizmek’s Cross-Device Reach and Improve the Efficiency and Precision of Digital Advertising NEW YORK, November 16, 2017 – Tapad, part of Experian and a leader in cross-device marketing technology, today announced a new global partnership with Sizmek, the largest independent buy-side advertising platform delivering impressions that inspire. By integrating the Tapad Device Graph™, Sizmek will enhance its AI-powered predictive capabilities to deliver accurate, cross-device messaging at global scale in a privacy-safe environment. Combined with Sizmek’s existing data enablement, creative optimization and media execution capabilities, the proprietary Tapad Device Graph improves the efficiency and precision of digital advertising by accurately matching people and devices. This enables advertisers to get a clear view of individual customer journeys, achieve scale without compromising on efficiency, and uncover new opportunities for conversion. Sizmek’s customers will have access to Tapad’s globally compliant and privacy-safe datasets across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. With deeper knowledge of consumer preferences, purchase intent and conversion behaviors, Sizmek and its customers are able to enhance advertising strategies including cross-device audience identification and more. “Tapad is known for their strong cross-device capabilities, and their offering is an excellent addition to our growing program for best-of-breed data and measurement partners" says Mike Caprio, Sizmek’s Chief Growth Officer. “For our customers, this partnership will add further people-based marketing precision and reach to our comprehensive offerings around creative optimization, data enablement and media execution." “Sizmek’s adoption of industry-leading AI and machine learning campaigns will be a great complement for the Device Graph,” said Chris Feo, SVP, strategy & global partnerships at Tapad. “Our ability to create smaller, more customized segments in conjunction with Sizmek’s AI modeling will deliver efficiency, effectiveness and increased ROI for marketers worldwide.” This partnership comes at a time of a massive shift in the marketing technology industry. Companies like Tapad and Telenor, as well as Rocket Fuel and Sizmek, are joining forces to adopt those technologies that are most efficient and accurate at reaching consumers at scale in a personalized and non-intrusive way. The combination of Tapad and Sizmek’s offerings will provide international marketers with exceptional resources to lead a more cost effective and results driven campaign. Contact us today
The Tapad Device Graph™ increases Throtle’s amplification by 475 percent. NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Tapad, now a part of Experian, the leader in cross-device marketing technology, today announced a partnership with Throtle, a leading data onboarding company. The Tapad Device Graph™ will enhance Throtle's best-in-class onboarding capabilities by providing accurate and privacy-safe cross-device reach as well as precise audiences at scale. In partnership with Tapad, Throtle will deterministically link its services to a corroborated individual with hundreds of targeting attributes. This linkage allows Throtle to offer true cross-device identity management and identity resolution services to accompany its robust onboarding capabilities. Throtle will also work with Tapad to validate its device graph, building larger, more comprehensive audience segments. To date, the Tapad Device Graph™ has connected 61 percent of Throtle IDs to related ones in the graph, with an average amplification rate of 475 percent for Throtle's IDs, or 4.8 new IDs per each of Throtle's. Throtle has also seen its overall match rates involving Tapad's identity insights rise an average of 15 percent since the inception of the partnership. More specifically, Tapad's mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs) have increased Throtle's in-app identity inventory by 35 percent. "Tapad has proven to be a trusted source for cross-device matching and has a tremendous reputation in the advertising and marketing technology industries for delivering superior precision and scale with the utmost dedication to privacy," says Paul Chachko, CEO, Throtle. "Since we first began our test phase, and continuing through to this day, Tapad has met and exceeded our expectations for what a partner should be." With Tapad's strong commitment to precision and accuracy, Throtle was confident that this partnership would prove to be the right choice for the strategic expansion of its platform. Not only does Tapad deliver in-depth insights, parsing deterministic from probabilistic linkages, but its pool of device-level touchpoints enables Throtle to increase scale without seeing a decline in precision. "Accuracy and precision are core characteristics of our proprietary Device Graph," explains Chris Feo, SVP, Strategy & Global Partnerships, Tapad. "When Throtle approached our team, we knew we would be the right partner to assist their leading onboarding technology. We're excited to work with Throtle to achieve cross-device reach, audience scale and precise deterministic and probabilistic linkages for its clients." For more information about the Tapad Device Graph™, or to request a demo, visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync About TapadTapad Inc. is a marketing technology company renowned for its breakthrough, unified, cross-device solutions. The company's signature Tapad Device Graph™ connects millions of consumers across billions of devices. The world's largest brands and most effective marketers entrust Tapad to provide an accurate, privacy-conscious, and unified approach to connecting with consumers across screens. In 2015, Tapad began licensing the Tapad Device Graph™ and swiftly became the established gold-standard throughout the ad tech ecosystem. Tapad is based in New York and has offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Oslo, San Francisco, Singapore, and Tokyo. Tapad's numerous awards include: Forbes' Most Promising Companies, Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, Crain's Fast 50, TMCnet Tech Culture Award, and Global Startup Award's "Startup Founder of the Year". In 2016, Tapad was acquired by the Telenor Group, one of the world's largest mobile operators. About ThrotleThrotle is a data onboarding company focused on deterministic matching and identity resolution, empowering brands with true individual-based marketing. Our data centric onboarding approach guarantees the highest level of accuracy, scale, and responsiveness for our clients. For more information on Throtle, please visit, throtle.io. Contact us today