Greg Bartels (r) presents the prize for closet-to-the-pin to Kevin Downey, Forensiq, after the annual Golf Outing.

The Annual Leadership Meeting of the Interactive Advertising Bureau is where the top decision-makers in the advertising-publishing-technology ecosystem go to discuss and debate building a profitable future for marketing and media. IPS was there at the February 9-11 gathering in Palm Desert, California. IPS CEO Greg Bartels left with three major takeaways on the direction of the business and how it will affect the flow of payments from client to agency to publisher.

What do the leaders in interactive advertising see as the most important trends shaping the business right now?

Bartels: Digital advertising, for the first time, lets advertisers look at marketing as they would any other business expense: as something with a measurable ROI. That is driving fast growth and faster change in the market as technology and distribution options expand. It also demands that we find ways to standardize information, data quality and classification, so that our measurements are accurate. An important issue there is old-fashioned fraud, which the stakeholders need to police before the government gets involved.

As digital advertising evolves, where do you see the interests of advertisers and publishers aligning, and where do they conflict?

Bartels: Advertisers and publishers are fully aligned in embracing the new digital media. But traditional publishers have faced a real challenge in making the transition to digital and monetizing the business. Digital Advertising is hot and the digital publishing models are making great strides. But the jury is still out on whether, as CNN's Jeff Zucker put it, they are "trading analog dollars for digital pennies."

IAB has put work into creating a standard for invoicing digital advertising, but implementation is always a challenge. What is the most important consideration for advertisers and publishers as they implement the Digital Invoice standard?

Bartels: Advertisers and publishers need to understand what it really means to have a standard -- and also what a standard will not do for them. A standard provides guidelines, but it is not a solution. It is the starting point for a transition to a more efficient and transparent billing, chargeback and accounts payable process. We are excited to be a part of that transition as we work with both advertisers and publishers.

IPS was also a sponsor of the annual Golf Outing, where Greg presented the prize for closest-to-the-pin – a Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 – to Kevin Downey from Forensiq, pictured above.