Nielsen Moves Closer to IAB Accreditation

In Australia, Nielsen has released data from its upgraded Internet panel, in a move towards its final accreditation by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

The data, from a sample recently expanded from 3,500 to 7,000 individuals, will address issues in reporting on the increasing number of Australians who access the Internet both at home and at work. An estimated 17 million Australians have access to the Internet, and close to one third of those have access both at work and at home.

'This release is a direct response to the call from the market to resolve measurement issues in order to help to grow the online industry,' states Megan Clarken, MD, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online. 'The methodology and data has been scrutinised as part of the IAB's accreditation process and I am proud of our ability to provide the level of transparency that we have throughout the upgrade of our service.'

As a result of capturing at-work usage, the panel upgrade will also see an expansion in the Australian active universe (the segment who have accessed the Internet in any given month) from 11.5 million to 13.5 million users.

According to Paul Fisher, CEO of IAB Australia, the launch of this data heralds the culmination of two years of work within the online ad industry and a significant step towards the creation of hybrid online audience measurement in Australia.

'Today's launch is the product of a tremendous contribution by various industry parties and Nielsen is to be applauded for its open collaboration and commitment to the process of providing the best, most accurate, people-based online audience measurement,' said Fisher.

IAB recently appointed Gai Le Roy to Chair its Measurement, Research, and Standards & Guidelines councils, which are collaborating with Nielsen Online to implement a hybrid Internet audience measurement system - combining web site tagging and panel-based data.

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