First Four Firms Get UK Viewability Accreditation

In the UK, the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) has announced that comScore, DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science and Moat are the first four firms to receive its new viewability certification; and will be included in the body's first viewability products comparison report.

ABC launched the viewability certification programme in February, with the aim of helping agencies understand what viewability products do. The programme is based on a set of JICWEBS industry agreed testing principles and will initially test on PCs and Macs through a variety of common browsers, with further roll-out phases planned to cover tablets and smart phones in the future. It has been developed through consultation with the ad industry, and complements the work of the USA's MRC (Media Rating Council) and others in this area.

comScore has received the accreditation for its validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) tool; DoubleVerify for its DV Impression Quality suite of services; Integral Ad Science for a system calculating viewability using both browser optimisation and page geometry methods; and Moat for Attention Metrics. Another firm, OnScroll, has signed up to the scheme and is currently undergoing testing.

ABC CEO Jerry Wright (pictured) comments: 'ABC's proven track record in providing valuable digital certification has delivered trust and transparency in the complex area of online ad viewability. It is crucial that advertisers and agencies know what they are buying into and that the product owners demonstrate their willingness to be independently certified.'

Companies that have already received US MRC viewability accreditation include comScore; Yahoo!; Sizmek; WebSpectator; Integral Ad Science; Google; and DoubleVerify.

Web site: www.abc.org.uk .