A recent Wall Street Journal article painted a somewhat sad picture for online display advertising. The piece referred to display ads as "stodgy and ineffective," while highlighting the marketplace's enthusiasm for search ads. While display has definitely received much less ad industry buzz when compared with search, it does represent a viable channel that can produce results superior to both offline advertising and search. And given what is going on with the U.S. economy, its accountability cannot be ignored.

Truth be told, display is experiencing something of a renaissance. Advertisers are investing in programs as success measurement becomes more sophisticated and programs become more accountable. But the growth of digital display is being held back. Growth could be much stronger.

The dam that is holding back the floodwaters is constructed entirely out of uncertainty. Not uncertainty with respect to whether the medium should be a part of the mix. Rather, the questions circulate endlessly around what role digital display should play in the marketing mix and how much should be spent in the channel. To answer those questions, the industry needs to develop a series of tools that will open the floodgates. Here's where we need help:

• Reach, frequency and GRP forecasting
• Purchase data for measurement purposes
• Planning tools
• Dynamic inventory