Instrument / Agentic Ad Lab

Instrument

Pages whose main artifact is a tool you operate on your own situation rather than an argument you agree or disagree with. Every term is defined before the step that uses it, every column in a decision table delivers what its heading promises, and the count in the title matches the number of things delivered. They are worth more with a live counterparty endpoint and a specific buy in front of you.

What you need before you start. A buy to classify, and ideally a vendor endpoint you are allowed to call.

2 pages

• The Autonomy Ladder for Agentic Media Buying: What a Counterparty Can Prove
  Five rungs from read-only reporting to unattended spend, and the AdCP and AAMP fields, credentials and contract clauses that decide which of them a counterparty can actually verify on a live buy.
  Last checked 16 August 2026
• Questions to Ask an Agentic Advertising Vendor, and the Answers That Disqualify
  Seven diligence checks an agentic advertising vendor can fail on the wire, and the targeting dimensions a seller MUST honour.
  Last checked 16 August 2026

The other three

• Measured — Original data. Collected on the date below, by the method stated in each section.
• Traced — Every claim below opens a file at a named commit. The shas are in the citations.
• Argued — A judgement, signed. The evidence is checkable; the conclusion is mine to defend.