IAB Australia Decision Wrong, Says Nielsen

In Australia, following a three-month review of how online audiences should be measured, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has announced that a panel-based methodology should become the industry standard. Nielsen Online has branded the decision 'a step backwards'.

The cross-industry online advertising measurement committee, which includes IAB Australia, AANA and MFA, was formed at the end of October, to develop an 'industry blueprint' for audience measurement in the Australian advertising industry (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7503.htm ). The committee has drawn from the World Federation of Advertisers' own blueprint, and focused on finding a meaningful measure which is not purely browser-based.

Following the review, the committee concluded that panel measurement is the 'most appropriate solution for industry standard online audience measurement in Australia', saying that it will give advertisers access to 'vital' demographic information on Internet users.

Nielsen Online favours site-centric measurement, which involves placing tags on the browsers of visitors. The firm has also been working on a hybrid measurement technique that combines site-centric measurement with panel based measurement.

However, the IAB has dismissed the idea of a hybrid approach. 'There is undoubtedly a place for a hybrid solution at some point,' confirmed committee Chairman Stuart Pike. 'But for the immediate future our focus will be upon reviewing panel methodologies with a view to refining and tightening the current methodologies before they can be accredited.'

Pike expects online metrics firms to come back to his committee by Christmas with proposals as to how they will run panel-based online measures, and confirmed that a panel would be in full operation by the end of the first quarter next year. The committee will then accredit firms that meet the correct measurement standards.

There is a possibility that Nielsen Online may shun the IAB accreditation system and advance its hybrid approach as an alternative. The firm believes that the panel-based approach will damage smaller players, including ad networks, and also criticised the IAB's focus on monthly data.

Pike responded by saying that although the decision to pursue a panel method similar to that used in television was not endorsed by Nielsen, the broader industry had set clear guidelines as to what it wanted. 'If we go with the presumption that people will try for accreditation and will get accredited, we are a long way there,' he added.

Web sites: www.iabaustralia.com.au and www.nielsen-online.com.

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

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