Consent is king. It's the only thing that matters if personalisation at scale is the future. PwC flags that truth, though doesn't dwell on it in the report. The consultancy suggests the world is converging on some privacy standards that may yet allow the world of media and advertising to continue towards one-to-one nirvana. We'll see how that plays out.

Highlighting the development of platforms that pay people for consent to use their data is interesting - a concept that has kicked around for years but has been given new life in the face of data regulation - and there are some smart business models under development.

There's also renewed interest from lawmakers. California's new governor Gavin Newsom is onboard.

"California's consumers should ... be able to share in the wealth that is created from their data. And so I've asked my team to develop a proposal for a new data dividend for Californians, because we recognise that your data has value and it belongs to you," said Newsom during his annual State of the State speech.

If all businesses are scrambling to acquire first party data, and often paying premium prices, going direct could have some legs.