IAB to Define The Click

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is to collaborate Media Rating Council (MRC) to produce a set of Click Measurement Guidelines. The Click Measurement Working Group will lay down the definition of a 'click', together with standards for their measurement and the exclusion of invalid and fraudulent clicks.

The Working Group is open to all IAB Members, and Ask.com, Google, LookSmart, Microsoft and Yahoo! have already confirmed their participation.

The Guidelines will also outline an industry driven auditing and certification recommendation for any organization involved in performance based marketing like search engines, ad networks, third party ad servers or any company that counts clicks as a part of the media currency. They follow and form part of the 2004 Global Ad Impression Guidelines and the more recent Broadband Measurement Guidelines.

Greg Stuart, CEO of the IAB, says the ongoing program of guidelines ''demonstrate our continued commitment to being the most accountable advertising medium and providing marketers with the highest possible level of transparency.' The MRC's Executive Director and CEO George Ivie comments: 'I applaud the IAB for continuing to take a leadership role in the creation of Measurement Guidelines across all platforms of the Interactive medium. Agencies and marketers should feel assured that the Interactive industry is striving for increased reliability and consistency through the guideline-setting process and through their support for audits.'

The IAB was founded in 1996 and represents over 250 leading interactive companies that are actively engaged in, and support the sale of interactive advertising - they account for over 86% of online advertising in the United States. A full copy of the already completed Global Measurement Ad Impression Guidelines can be found at www.iab.net/standards/measurement.asp .

The MRC is a non-profit industry association established in 1964 at the behest of the US Congress and comprising leading television, radio, print and Internet companies, as well as advertisers, advertising agencies and trade associations. Its web site is at www.mediaratingcouncil.org .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.