The advertising technology world is confusing. There are hundreds of ad tech startups and technologies, but few standard ways or APIs for marketers take data from one and mix it with another. The Council for Accountable Advertising , a new industry trade organization I first caught wind of in January, hopes to change all that. It is now about to formally launch. The Council's goals are to create standards for data integration and transparency, define standards of accountability for the online advertising industry, suggest best practices, and provide original industry research. "You can't even download reports from two different tools and put them next to each other and know what they mean," says Stephen Messer, one of the founding members of the Council and vice chairman of Cross Commerce Media. The ad tech industry needs to simplify things and make them less confusing.