The prominence of location data in digital marketing continues to grow. Media buying is increasingly informed by location intelligence, which has become a proxy for audiences and a source of real-world behavioral insights. According to a recent study, location-based programmatic advertising grew 110% in the first six months of 2016.

The most-targeted audience subset from the first half of 2016 was “enthusiasts," audiences with above-average interest in health, food and beverage, technology, home and more. Following enthusiasts were standard demographic segments, then "shopper marketing," which was broken out into subsets like luxury, cost-conscious, big-box, convenience stores and more.

With location now at the center of programmatic ad buys, the importance of data accuracy and fraud protections are amplified. This will become a hot-button issue like viewability and impression fraud. Exchanges and providers that don't have processes to protect and clean their data will ultimately be left behind for those that do.