---
id: "quote-black-box-with-a-bill"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Performance Accountability Is Not Optional Anymore"]
tags: ["transparency", "metrics"]
related: ["concept-vanity-metrics"]
speaker: "Anonymous Supplier Executive"
quote: "Another supplier described their RMN investment as a black box with a bill."
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/the-importance-of-trust-and-transparency-in-retail-media-networks"
source_title: "The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks"
sources: ["attention"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-attention"
originDay: 4
articleStem: "hbr-foci-71-retail-media-networks-trust"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/09/the-importance-of-trust-and-transparency-in-retail-media-networks"
sourceTitle: "The Importance of Trust and Transparency in Retail Media Networks"
---
# RMNs as a black box with a bill

> Another supplier described their RMN investment as a black box with a bill.

— Anonymous supplier executive, § Performance Accountability Is Not Optional Anymore. The phrase captures what suppliers experience when retailers charge for outcomes they cannot see — the failure mode of relying on [[concept-vanity-metrics]] instead of [[concept-performance-accountability]].