New IAB Guidelines Address Discrepancies

In the US, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its 'Ad Campaign Measurement Process Guidelines' for public comment.

The document, which IAB has put together with a number of auditing organizations, supplements current measurement guidelines and provides definitions and guidance on the auditing process used in the placement, trafficking and reporting of interactive advertising.

It has been designed to help the IAB, publishers and ad agencies establish further transparency and consistency in ad measurement by ensuring all phases of ad serving undergo a technology, process and data audit.

To help the industry reduce inconsistencies, the guidelines also include a self-assessment questionnaire that allows publishers, third-party ad servers and agencies to evaluate their compliance using controls outlined in the document.

Comments George Ivie, President of the Media Rating Council: 'Our research has found that human error plays a material role in large impression discrepancies and these guidelines, when followed, will assist in reducing those errors and improve overall efficiencies in the measurement process.'

After the 30-day comment period, ending on September 10, the feedback will be reviewed and the guidelines will be finalized and publicly released.

Founded in 1996, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices for interactive ad effectiveness research. Its 375 members are responsible for selling more than 86% of online advertising in the US. Web site: www.iab.net .

In February, the bureau adopted privacy guidelines designed to give users control over the use of their personal data by online advertisers.

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