From the Digital C-Suite

Accountability – 2011 will be the year of online media accountability, whether by industry driven efforts like the Open Data Partnership, or federal mandates, online media accountability will happen. Once regulations are put in place, and privacy concerns are calmed, expect consolidation to begin en force. I won’t be surprised if a few major players placed their bets early.

Cookies – These sweet treats got a bad rap this year with the “Evercookie” raising its ugly head, but my guess is that the majority of them will remain “opt-out”. However, expect PII and health sensitive data to be treated differently, requiring an “opt-in” consent for storing data and targeting users.

Proprietary Data – Advertisers will begin to manage their own online data and augment that data with what’s available from third-party sources. We will also see the first huge data “upfront” deals aimed at controlling share of voice, following the traditional TV model.

Attribution, Attribution, Attribution – I could say it one more time, but I think you get the point. The shift from offline to online advertising has already begun and within five years roughly $50 billion dollars will shift online. But with great spend, comes great need for measurement - and for us that means attribution. In 2011 marketers will demand to take a look beyond the click to see what’s really driving conversion as they create increasingly sophisticated online campaigns.

That’s my take, what’s yours?