Jones Media has acquired Verve.ai, a Canadian augmented intelligence data platform, from realSociable, as it looks to deliver more data-driven content and media solutions.

The acquired technology is designed to give Jones Media more insight into consumer journeys online and in social through its predictive capabilities — a tool that the company says has remained elusive to marketers in the digital era.

A key differentiator of Verve.ai, said Cathy Fernandes, CEO of Jones Media, is that the technology will allow Jones to better verify influencers with their audiences (correcting for the duplication of metrics like audiences and views) through newly launched Fraudulent Bot Examination methodologies that detect fake or irrelevant followers.

“Most traditional [agencies] are collecting into a DMP based on campaign or pixels,” said Fernandes.  “But we’re able to go into the social channels and start to aggregate that within the DMP, and then start to enrich what that user base looks like, what they like to consume, how they consume it, [on] what platform, and [at] what time.”

Fernandes said AI capabilities are sometimes misrepresented in the industry, with some features not being true AI because of a lack of third-party verification.

“Data alone carries no actionable value. Today’s CMO needs insights that beg questions of her business in order to drive smarter decision making,” said Dalia Asterbadi, CEO at Verve.ai, in a press release.

Fernandes said that although the technology will have “huge benefits” for the marketing and advertising side of the equation, the data can be taken broader. Within the next year, Fernandes said the company would like to achieve what she calls “the holy grail.” “We’ll show value right across the entire consumer journey,” she said.