MRC Launches Digital Place-Based Audience Standards

In New York, the Media Rating Council (MRC) has published standards for assessing digital place-based audiences, providing both a framework for syndicated measurement methods and a benchmark for auditing them.

The new standards have been designed to establish and document acceptable practices of measurement, improve practices and disclosures used by practitioners, and provide education to users of digital place-based audience measurement data from all segments of the industry. The standards also offer recommendations and benchmarks for audit processes, through which related products can be voluntarily validated by third parties.

The launch is the first phase of an initiative which will also go on to cover broader aspects of digital and analog out-of-home media. MRC says it aims ultimately to publish one document to encourage a common core set of metrics and practices for use across the full range of out-of-home media, and that these metrics will be comparable to those for other measured media. It suggests the latest standards should be read in conjunction with the DPAA's Audience Metrics Guidelines, in place since 2008, which describe the general principles for measurement of digital place-based media.

George Ivie (pictured), MRC Executive Director and CEO, comments: 'The MRC is pleased to have worked with DPAA and a broad coalition of industry leaders to develop standards intended to promote a consistent method of audience measurement across the broad array of digital place-based media entities. The standards provide the framework to establish quality audience measurement with transparency to aid the buy-sell process'.

The MRC is online at www.mediaratingcouncil.org , while the new standards can be seen here: www.goo.gl/SG8W1L .