That search for understanding led us to review every reputable source of information they could find. (Today, they monitor more than 3,000 sources.)

Then they tried to make sense of all that information – much of it conflicting.

They filtered out what they considered to be less relevant or useful. Then they organized it by subject and geography.

Next they compared the data and perspectives, studied the assumptions and methodologies, and looked for possible sources of bias.

After nearly two years of this, they felt ready to share some of what they had learned, so they published the first eMarketer report.

That report introduced two things that have become the bedrock upon which they built our business.

The first was the now-iconic red-and-black comparative estimate chart that presented data from multiple sources along with our own eMarketer number, based on an in-depth analysis of all those other numbers.

The second was the eMarketer methodology itself: Aggregate, Filter, Organize and Analyze. You see, they had come to believe that the best way to gain understanding in a fast-changing, uncertain world is to follow a rigorous process rather than try to come up with the answers by yourself. (By the way, an important part of that process involves maintaining our objectivity. That’s why they never do our own primary research or take on consulting projects.)

The positive response to that first report convinced us they were on the right track. Over the next several years they developed our eMarketer PRO subscription service, which now annually presents hundreds of reports and forecasts, thousands of charts, briefs, and interviews. And they have expanded our coverage to include virtually every major topic related to digital marketing and every key geographic region.

Today, more than 1,000 corporations (ad agencies, media companies, brands in all sectors) rely on eMarketer for exactly that.

More and more universities subscribe so that they can prepare their students for a future that is likely to be even more volatile.

And the worldwide business press now cites eMarketerthousands of times every month because they know that they are a credible source for both data and analysis.

If they have learned anything about digital in nearly two decades it’s this: the changes will keep coming, the future will continue to be uncertain, the amount of information will increase exponentially – and the need for information you can trust from a source that uses a transparent, consistent process will only increase, too.