Ad fraud, ad blocking, viewability, a lack of transparency, and a reluctance to acknowledge that engagement is really bad-these all add up to the conclusion that digital advertising as we know it isn't a solution, it's a problem. Start with the sleazy off-site links that appear at the bottom of the page in a lot of publications, including many otherwise reputable ones. If you foolishly click on one of those links, more likely than not you'll end up in places that are NSFW. Or in clickbait hell, with flashing ads, neon colors, and a page that barely moves.
  * Of every dollar spent on programmatic advertising, only 40 cents actually goes to reaching audience. The other 60 cents goes to agencies and tech platforms.
  * In 2015, according to the ANA, anywhere between 3 percent and 37 percent of spend could be lost to fraud involving bots-non-human traffic.

  US adults are more likely to use print coupons than paperless discounts, a finding that is true across generations and extends to affluents, per a Valassis survey.   However, the use of paperless discounts is growing fastest, with almost half (45%) of Millennials (born 1982-1998) saying that they increased their use of paperless discounts compared to the previous year.

  -More than $800 million in deals seen last year, most since '08
  -Pressure to merge grows as U.S. publishers divest TV assets
  Newspapers have settled on a strategy to stop withering away: feast on each other for survival.
  For the owners of big-city dailies like the Chicago Tribune and Denver Post, buying smaller publications and slashing costs has become a way to buy time while figuring out how to make more money online. That was the logic behind the recent failed attempt by Tribune Publishing Co., owner of the Los Angeles Times, to buy two Southern California newspapers.

  Local digital ad revenue will grow from $48 billion in 2015 to $66 billion in 2016, Borrell Associates projects in its new benchmarking report covering 10,395 sites in all media. (Free executive summary here.) That's an eye-popping increase of 37.5%. But newspapers will see only a 6% to 7% revenue increase, the report says.

  The Local Search Association held its annual conference last month, where search and marketing experts in the local space provided fascinating insights into trends and challenges that the advertising, marketing and search industry faces today. Included in the list of top 10 insights was #9 Print may not be sexy, but SMBs dig it.

  Rather than defend any individual digital marketing channel, I want to highlight this important fact: So far, nothing has replaced anything in digital marketing. Instead, we've seen a layering of new digital channels on top of existing channels, which creates a rich tapestry of ways to connect with customers. 

  The Internet of Things adds even more options for customer-to-brand interactions, and the most popular connected devices like FitBit use email and mobile notifications to reach users.

  More than 7 in 10 US consumers would prefer to receive email communications from businesses over direct mail, SMS, and push messages, and the preference for email extends across age groups and genders, per an Adestra study. Interestingly, Boomers are more than 3 times as likely as teens and Millennials to favor direct mail.