At A Glance
AI learns what your data teaches in 2025, "good data" in AI means accurate, current, consented, and easy to connect, or your models lose relevance and your investments underperform. Experian is leading this next era of responsible data where trust, transparency, and innovation come together to make marketing more human, not less.What makes data “good” in the age of AI?
In AI-driven marketing, data quality now defines success. “Good data” in AI isn’t about volume; it’s about the balance of accuracy, freshness, consent, and interoperability. As algorithms guide decisions, they must learn from data that’s both accurate and ethical.
At Experian, we believe good data must meet four conditions:
1. Accurate
Verified and anchored in real human identity.
2. Fresh
Continuously updated to reflect today’s consumers.
3. Consented
Collected and governed transparently.
4. Interoperable
Easily integrated across platforms through a secure, signal-agnostic identity spine, enabling seamless data activation.
This is the data AI can trust and the data that keeps marketing relevant, predictive, and privacy-first.
Why does data accuracy matter more than ever?
AI models are only as intelligent as their inputs. Incomplete or inconsistent data leads to bad predictions and wasted spend. As the industry moves toward agentic advertising, where autonomous systems handle campaign buying and optimization, data accuracy becomes even more critical. If your ad server or audience data is flawed, these new AI agents will simply automate bad decisions faster.
Experian applies rigorous quality filters and conflict resolution rules to ensure our data is both deterministic and accurate. Deterministic signals alone don’t guarantee accuracy; they must be verified, deduplicated, and contextualized. Our identity resolution process anchors every attribute to real people, giving brands and platforms the confidence that every insight stems from truth, not noise.
Our data is ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset, giving our clients confidence that every decision they make is backed by the industry’s most reliable insights.
Just because it is deterministic, doesn’t mean it’s highly accurate. You still need to refine and validate your data to make sure it tells a consistent story. You need to anchor your data around real people.
Why does AI need fresh data?
Outdated data can’t predict tomorrow’s behavior. AI thrives on recency.
At Experian, our audiences are refreshed continuously to mirror real-world signals, from purchase intent to media habits, so every campaign reflects what’s happening now, not six months ago.
And we don’t just advocate for fresh data, we rely on it ourselves. Our own AI-powered models, used across our audience and identity platforms, are continuously retrained on the most current, consented signals. This allows us to see firsthand how freshness drives better accuracy, faster optimization cycles, and more relevant outcomes.
But freshness alone isn’t enough. With predictive insights, our models go beyond describing the past. They forecast behaviors, fill gaps with inferred attributes, and recommend next-best audiences, helping you anticipate opportunity before it happens.
Fresh and predictive data means you’re reaching people in the moment that matters and shaping what comes next. With AI, that’s what defines performance.
How do consent and governance build trust in AI?
Responsible AI starts with responsible data. With 20 U.S. states now enforcing privacy laws, data compliance isn’t optional, it’s operational.
At Experian, privacy and compliance are built in. Every data signal, attribute, audience, and partner goes through our rigorous review process to meet federal, state, and local consumer privacy laws. With decades of experience in highly regulated industries, we’ve built processes that emphasize risk mitigation, transparency, and accountability.
Governance isn’t just about regulation, it’s also about innovation done right. We drive transparent and responsible innovation through safe, modular experimentation, from generative applications to agentic workflows. By balancing bold ideas with ethical guardrails and staying ahead of evolving legislation, we ensure our innovations protect consumers, brands, and the broader ecosystem while moving the industry forward responsibly.
Compliance and governance aren’t just boxes to check; they’re the foundation that gives AI its license to operate.
How does interoperability enable AI’s full potential?
AI delivers its best insights when data connects seamlessly across fragmented environments. Our signal-agnostic identity spine allows data to move securely between platforms (connected TV, retail media networks, and demand-side platforms) without losing context or compliance.
Interoperability isn’t just about moving data between systems; it’s about connecting insights across them. When signals connect across environments, AI gains a more complete view of the customer journey revealing true behavior patterns, intent signals, and cross-channel impact that would otherwise remain hidden.
This unified perspective allows AI to connect insights in real time, improving predictions, performance, and personalization while protecting privacy.
Where do AI and human oversight meet?
AI can make marketing more predictive, but people make it meaningful. At Experian, our technology brings identity, insight, and generative intelligence together so brands, agencies, and platforms can reach the right people with relevance, respect, and simplicity.
Our AI-powered models surface connections, recommend audiences, and uncover insights that would take humans months to find. But our experts shape the process, crafting the right inputs, ensuring data quality, reviewing model outputs, and refining recommendations based on industry knowledge and client goals. It’s this partnership between advanced AI and experienced people that turns predictions into actionable, trustworthy solutions.
What “good data” looks like in action
“Good data” becomes most powerful when it’s put to work. At Experian, our marketing data and identity solutions help brands and their partners connect accurate, consented, and interoperable data across the ecosystem, turning insight into measurable outcomes.
When Windstar Cruises and their agency partner MMGY set out to connect digital media spend to real-world bookings, they turned to Experian’s marketing data and identity solutions to close the attribution loop. By deploying pixels across digital placements and using Experian’s identity graph to connect ad exposure data with reservation records, we created a closed-loop attribution system that revealed the full traveler journey, from impression to confirmed booking.
The results were clear: 6,500+ bookings directly tied to digital campaigns, representing more than $20 million in revenue, with a 13:1 ROAS and $236 average cost per booking. Attributed audiences booked $500 higher on average, and MMGY’s Terminal audience segments powered by Experian data achieved a 28:1 ROAS.
This collaboration shows that responsible, high-quality data and AI-driven insights don’t just tell a better story; they deliver measurable business performance.
Why the future of AI depends on “good” data
The next phase of AI-driven marketing won’t be defined by who has the most data, but by who has the best. Leaders will:
Operate with clear data principles grounded in transparency and truth
Build consent and compliance into every workflow
Keep data accurate, current, and interoperable
Pair automation with human oversight
AI success starts with good data. And good data starts with Experian, where accuracy, privacy, and purpose come together to make marketing more human, not less.
Partner with Experian for AI you can trust
About the author
Budi Tanzi, VP, Product, Experian
Budi Tanzi is the Vice President of Product at Experian Marketing Services, overseeing all identity products. Prior to joining Experian, Budi worked at various stakeholders of the AdTech ecosystem, such as Tapad, Sizmek, and StrikeAd. During his career, he held leadership roles in both Product Management and Solution Engineering. Budi has been living in New York for almost 11 years and enjoys being outdoors as well as sailing around NYC whenever possible.
FAQs
At Experian, we define “good data” as the balance of accuracy, consent, freshness, and interoperability. We apply rigorous governance, validation, and cleansing across every signal to ensure that AI systems learn from real-time behaviors, not assumptions. This approach turns data into a foundation for reliable, ethical, and high-performing intelligence.
Experian ensures AI-ready data accuracy through advanced cleansing, conflict resolution, and human anchoring. Experian ensures AI models rely on verified, high-quality inputs. Experian’s data is ranked #1 in accuracy by Truthset.
Yes, Experian can help brands stay compliant with privacy laws. Experian’s privacy-first governance framework integrates ongoing audits, legal oversight, and consent management to ensure compliance with all federal, state, and global privacy laws. Compliance isn’t an afterthought; it’s embedded in every step of our data lifecycle.
Experian makes AI more human by pairing innovation with human oversight to ensure AI helps marketers understand people, not just profiles. At Experian, we believe the future of marketing is intelligent, respectful, and human-centered. AI has long been part of how we help brands connect identity, behavior, and context to deliver personalization that balances privacy with performance. Our AI-powered solutions combine predictive insight, real-time intelligence, and responsible automation to make every interaction more relevant and ethical.
Marketers can activate Experian’s high-quality data directly in Experian’s Audience Engine, or on-the-shelf of our platform partners where Experian Audiences are ready to activate. Built on trusted identity data and enhanced with partner insights, it’s where accuracy meets accessibility, helping brands power campaigns with confidence across every channel.
Latest posts
Cross-device matching and pixel-based foot traffic attribution reporting empower digital marketers with greater control of location-based campaigns.RALEIGH, N.C. (PRWEB) AUGUST 04, 2020 Tapad, part of Experian a global leader in digital identity resolution, and Reveal Mobile, a leader in location-based marketing, today announced a collaboration that combines Tapad's digital cross-device matching technology and pixel-based attribution features with Reveal Mobile’s VISIT Local, the software that hundreds of digital agencies and brands use for location-based analytics. The partnership is designed to drive improved performance by optimizing ad targeting and messaging for location-based campaigns. Powered by Tapad’s privacy-safe cross device matching, marketers using VISIT Local to power location-based campaigns can enhance how they reach shoppers. When one member of a household shops for groceries, clothes, household goods or any other consumer item, a conversation between multiple members of the household typically takes place beforehand. With cross device matching, marketers can reach everyone who has influence over what to buy and where to buy it. VISIT Local users can expand location-based services with a single click to include devices that share the same household, including targeting across multiple devices owned by the same user, allowing advertisers to maximize messaging and increase their share of wallet among consumers. “VISIT Local has always given our customers access to high-intent location-based audiences. With the addition of cross device matching from Tapad, advertisers can boost audience sizes up to 300 percent while maintaining full confidence in quality and relevance,” says Brian Handly, CEO of Reveal Mobile. “VISIT Local users can now apply multiple criteria and attributes to a single location-based audience, giving them the advanced control and transparency they need.” As reliable attribution becomes increasingly complex for marketers and ad buyers who need to prove value, the addition of Tapad’s pixel-based foot traffic attribution to VISIT Local enables the measurement of actual campaign effectiveness by tying ad views to in-store foot traffic. This new feature, which will be available in VISIT Local this fall, lets Reveal Mobile customers understand who visited a retail location as a result of being served an ad, providing a more accurate view into return on ad spend during and after advertising campaigns. “Tapad’s goal is to empower marketers with digital advertising efficiencies at scale across devices,” says Mark Connon, COO of Tapad. “With cross device matching and pixel-based foot traffic attribution, marketers using VISIT Local can better address the consumer’s preferences and habits, and deliver them consistently actionable information on user behavior. These capabilities advance location-based advertising in ways marketers need and want.” In addition to these new features, VISIT Local’s location-based audience builder now enables marketers to create custom audiences made up of people who have visited different places on different dates. This gives VISIT Local users the ability to segment and create the most highly targeted audiences possible. For example, a marketer who wants to advertise for a chain of restaurants can easily target visitors of different competitors in different cities. Or a marketer who wants to advertise vacation destinations can target people who have been to various resorts at different times of year. Or a marketer who wants to advertise the release of new music can target people who have been to concert venues in different cities on different dates. “Many of our customers need to create highly custom audiences so they can run experiments, test messaging, and run increasingly competitive campaigns,” says Handly. “Everyone who uses VISIT Local can now apply multiple criteria and attributes to a single location-based audience, giving them the advanced control and transparency they need.”To learn more about Tapad’s digital identity resolution products, visit our identity solution page. To learn more about Reveal Mobile’s location-based marketing offerings, visit http://www.revealmobile.com. About TapadTapad, Inc. is a global leader in digital identity resolution. The Tapad Graph, and its related solutions, provide a transparent, privacy-safe approach connecting brands to consumers through their devices globally. Our one-of-a-kind Graph Select offering enables marketers the flexibility and freedom of choice to correlate devices to varied objectives, driving campaign effectiveness and business results. Tapad is recognized across the industry for its product innovation, workplace culture and talent, and has earned numerous awards including One World Identity's 2019 Top 100 Influencers in Identity Award. Headquartered in New York, Tapad also has offices in Chicago, London, Oslo, Singapore and Tokyo. About Reveal MobileReveal Mobile is a leader in location-based marketing, analytics, audiences, and attribution. Creator of VISIT Local, VISIT Match and VISIT Data, the company’s products help digital agencies, brands and retailers of any size leverage location data to understand and reach the right audiences. Reveal Mobile is CCPA compliant and a member of the Network Advertising Initiative, which conducts an annual privacy certification. The company is based in Raleigh, NC. For more information, visit https://revealmobile.com. Contact us today
Overview Chartable leverages The Tapad Graph to improve cross-device attribution rates and remove non-addressable IPs for clients. Challenge Chartable needs to differentiate between consumer and potential business IP addresses to provide accurate household modeling and reduce excess data for their customers. Podcasting generally only has access to IP addresses as a form of digital ID which limits its ability to connect activity to individuals and extend it across all devices. The Tapad + Experian solution Using Tapad, now a part of Experian, Chartable is able to cut through the noise of IP data and discard any addresses deemed a shared IP or business. Then, Tapad + Experian connects individual users to their other digital IDs and users in their household; creating a richer attribution model for Chartable customers. Increase in podcast attribution rates Contact us today
With the growth of digital marketing and the targeting capabilities associated with online outreach, many predicted that this would mark the end of direct mail advertising. But if Millennials have anything to say about it, that’s not going to happen anytime soon. Yes, believe it or not, Millennials are driving the resurgence of direct mail advertising, and many leading brands are now pivoting their omnichannel marketing plans to include direct mail. And with the USPS reporting more than 75.7 billion in marketing mail volume in 2019, this trend shows no sign of slowing down. Including direct mail in your plans may give your brand a better chance of reaching your audience. Why? 1. Millennials actually like getting mail.While most of us have decried “junk mail” as being environmentally unfriendly or just a pain to deal with, Millennials actually enjoy physical mail. Valassis recently cited research from USPS Customer & Market Insights stating that Millennials spend the most time sorting mail (about six minutes compared to the average, which is four minutes), plus they’re opening mail and reading it (at eight minutes versus the average of seven minutes). Valassis also conducted a study that showed that 68% of Millennials read print ads or inserts from retailers, and 64% prefer getting them through the mail. So, while digital outreach may be convenient, it hasn’t completely decimated the desire for that old-school, hands-on experience of opening and reading something that’s addressed to you. 2. Millennials respond to a multi-channel approach.Oftentimes, marketers think of omnichannel as being a combination of digital and TV, but when you add print into the mix, it can make an even bigger impact on Millennial audiences. Valassis found that 60% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after seeing an ad when it’s presented across both offline and online channels, while 72% of Millennial parents say print ads encourage them to go online and make a purchase from that retailer. 3. Millennials think physical mail makes for a more personal approach.You’d think that e-mail would feel more personal, but with the influx of spam most people get, that’s just not the case. In fact, 67% of people see physical mail as being more personal than an e-mail, with seven out of 10 saying they prefer receiving actual mail over digital mail. And for marketers looking to make a one-to-one connection, this is music to their ears. With changing marketing plans, the mailbox has less competition than the inbox. Getting a catalog at their door with the perfect offer at the perfect time helps the marketer make the direct connection. 4. Direct mail lasts longer than digital mail.That may seem like an obvious statement, but there’s more to it than you think. When an e-mail arrives in someone’s inbox, it’s easy to ignore it, read the subject line and forget about it, or even just randomly delete it, if spam filters don’t take care of that on their own. But the average lifespan of a piece of direct mail is 17 days, which may account for how direct mail generates purchases five times larger than e-mail campaigns. It’s harder to ignore when it’s in your house and you have to physically handle it as opposed to just clicking a mouse to get rid of it. 5. Millennials trust direct mail.It’s true—research shows that 90% of Millennials think direct mail advertising is reliable. Plus, Millennials are 24% more likely to show mail to others, compared to 19% of non-Millennials… which means if they find a deal they like in the mail, they’re probably going to spread the word. Contact us today