Peer39 Interview Series: Jamie Barnard, CEO, Compliant

For years, digital advertising has chased volume, often sacrificing quality and transparency in the process. Compliant's recent "Data Integrity Impact Study" challenges the fundamental assumptions of programmatic buying and proves that by curating inventory upstream based on data integrity, brands can unlock compounding value in terms of efficiency, performance, and cost savings. 

As a long time partner in Peer39's Contextual Data Marketplace®, we had the privilege of sitting down with Jamie Barnard, CEO of Compliant, to learn more.

Why do you say data integrity is now considered a "super signal" for quality and performance in programmatic media?

Jamie Barnard: Let's be clear: we're at a watershed moment. AI is powering more of our media buying, but if we don't fix the foundations, we're just accelerating old problems at warp speed. For too long, the industry has relied on after-the-fact metrics such as — viewability, brand safety, and fraud. These are important, but by the time you spot an issue, the budget is already spent.

Data integrity changes the game for CMOs. It allows them to invest with confidence and provides a better option vs. the walled gardens. And with our most recent research paper, "Data Integrity: A Super Signal for the AI Era," brands now can see the impact Data Integrity has on their media planning, activation, and measurement/attribution. That's why the ANA, the WFA as well as the Brand Safety Institute have adopted our standards and methodology approach. 

We're talking about an upstream signal — a way to vet the quality of inventory before a single impression is bought. Our Data Integrity Index (DII) independently audits and scores publishers on real-world data governance, data compliance and industry best practice. 

And the results are undeniable. Campaigns that optimized toward data integrity saw a 33% drop in CPA, a 5% lift in ROAS, and TrueCPM savings of 32% (simply by redistribution 8% of impressions). If you want AI to work for you, not against you, you feed it with clean, complaint, high-quality data. Data integrity is the super-signal that enhances transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

How does prioritizing data integrity change campaign performance and efficiency, and does it still require trade-offs in reach or cost?

This is one of the industry's most persistent myths — that if you want quality, you have to pay more and sacrifice reach. Our latest research blows that idea out of the water. 

When brands filtered out low-integrity inventory before the bid, they didn't just reduce risk — they drove real performance. Some cut their publisher lists by thousands (up to 21% fewer domains) and didn't skip a beat on key KPIs. In fact, a CPG giant saved nearly $130,000 by simply shifting spend towards higher-DII sites, while a financial services brand saw their CPA drop by a third. All without losing scale or jacking up CPMs. 

Here's the kicker: higher-integrity supply isn't rare. Over 64% of publishers globally score above 60 on the DII. Data integrity lets you focus your budget where it works hardest — instead of buying risk, brands invest in high-performing inventory. 

Quality and efficiency aren't opposites — they're two sides of the same coin when you focus on integrity. 

What are the biggest sources of waste and risk in programmatic today, and how does data integrity address them?

If you want to know where the rot is, look at three places: the limitless "long tail" of low-value domains, convoluted supply paths, and misaligned incentives. Most programmatic campaigns touch tens of thousands of sites, use enhanced audience data and opaque supply paths. This is the breeding grounds for fraud, MFA inventory, and data leakage. 

We've seen SSPs charging premium CPMs for low-integrity supply, and UID providers building identity graphs on shaky ground. If your data is compromised at the source, upstream governance, compliance and quality issues cannot be solved by downstream optimization, so the impact on campaign outcomes is irreversible. 

This is where DII comes in. By applying integrity thresholds pre-bid, you instantly cut out the noise. On the flip side, many brands are finding new, high-value inventory they weren't buying in the past. 

The path forward is clear: data integrity isn't just about compliance — it's about media quality and campaign outcomes. Our research proves that when you eliminate the long tail of low-integrity publishers, concentrate spend among the top 3,000 domains that capture 94% of quality inventory, and apply upstream curation signals, you don't sacrifice reach or performance — you enhance both. The DII enables brands to move beyond the false economy of cheap reach and embrace a quality-first approach where better data practices generate better targeting, better audiences, and ultimately better business outcomes. As we transition from programmatic to agentic media buying, data integrity becomes the critical governance layer that ensures AI systems amplify efficiency rather than inefficiency. 

How can media buyers, agencies, and platforms operationalize data integrity today?

My advice? This isn't theoretical anymore — the tools are now live and proven. You can learn more on the Data Integrity payoff here.

Buyers should be asking for DII transparency from every DSP, SSP, and marketplace they work with. Ask for the average DII score across inventory, breakdowns by deal type, and seamless access to DII-based pre-bid segments.

Here are the questions I'd put to any agency, tech partner or media supplier:

1. Why aren't we using this signal when the performance is clear and its so easy to activate?

2. How much of your supply scores above DII 40 or 60?
   
3. What are you doing to audit and enforce data integrity among your publishers or SSPs?
   

The industry is finally moving in this direction. The ANA and WFA are baking integrity into their standards, and buyers are starting to realize the reward. As the newest industry standard, Data Integrity is a must-have -- not a nice-to-have. The infrastructure is there.

How does the Peer39 partnership advance data integrity's impact, and what does the future hold as AI takes over optimization?

We partnered with Peer39 because they get that — context and data quality are inseparable. Their Contextual Data Marketplace® lets buyers combine our DII segments with contextual and suitability filters, all pre-bid, all within familiar workflows. No extra hoops, no headaches. 

Here's why that matters: as AI gets more autonomous, the risks multiply. If you don't set guardrails — like minimum DII thresholds — AI will happily optimize for the cheapest impressions, even if they're coming from the digital equivalent of a back alley. Peer39's platform puts those controls right where buyers need them: at the point of campaign setup.

Looking forward, the writing's on the wall. Regulation is tightening. Brands are demanding more. The industry is converging on integrity as the gold standard. Those who act now will future-proof their investments — and reclaim $27 billion+ lost to inefficiency. Those who don't? Well, let's just say the AI era won't be kind to blind optimization.

Bottom line: Data integrity is the essential signal for delivering performance, safety, and long-term success in the AI era. It's a 3:1 return! The tools are here. The data is clear. It's time to raise the bar. 

For anyone interested in learning more about Compliant's capabilities, you can follow Compliant on LinkedIn, visit Compliant.global, or reach out to your Peer39 Account Manager to learn more about how we partner together.