Breaking News: The Audit Challenge

On April 20, the IAB sent an open letter to comScore, Inc. and Nielsen//NetRatings (NNR), the two major Internet audience measurement services, challenging them to submit to a third-party audit and accreditation of their measurement processes by the Media Rating Council (MRC). All measurement companies that report audience metrics have a material impact on interactive marketing and decision-making. Therefore, transparency into these methodologies is critical to maintaining advertisers’ confidence in interactive, particularly now, as marketers allocate more budget to the platform.

A number of issues prompted the writing of this open letter. Many marketers, agencies and media companies have had ongoing concerns with the currently unexplained discrepancies between the audience numbers reported by comScore and NNR. Further clouding the issue are disparities between comScore’s and NNR’s numbers and the server logs of the media companies, most of whom are IAB members. Every other medium has transparency into audience metrics, the internet is the only medium that does not. This was a call from the industry – the IAB, The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), The Online Publishers Association (OPA), and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) are all in full support of the need for transparency.

Since this letter was issued, the IAB has had numerous discussions with both companies. Both NNR and comScore have agreed to undergo an MRC audit, and in NNR’s case full accreditation. The IAB remains committed to both companies getting fully accredited. A summit to discuss the issues of auditing and to open the dialog for collaboration in striving for even better metrics has been set for mid-May. We are encouraged by these initial steps but will continue to ask for a specific timeline which is followed. Only then will true accountability go from promise to reality.

Click here to read the IAB's Open Letter and Press Release

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Professional Development: 
To meet the ever-changing needs of our constantly evolving industry, the IAB has launched its first ever Professional Development Series geared to both those who are new to the Interactive industry and seasoned professionals. This hotly-anticipated series is designed to provide attendees with the expertise needed to take their interactive careers to new heights.

The Specifics:
IAB Professional Development will launch with two sessions per day held on the following dates and locations:

• Thursday, May 17, 2007 - New York, NY
• Thursday, May 24, 2007 - Chicago, IL
• Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - San Francisco, CA

Both sessions will be led by Doug Weaver, Upstream Group President and 13-year veteran of Interactive advertising.  The morning module, Interactive 101, is geared towards those new to the Interactive advertising world as well as support level personnel looking for a greater understanding of the industry.  Discussions will feature the technology, measurement, research and creative practices that support the Interactive advertising business.

The afternoon module, Big Ideas: From Transaction to Transformation, will focus on topics key to the success of senior sellers, managers, executives and researchers looking to drive business. Doug Weaver will discuss the rapidly evolving and often contradictory forces that are reshaping the Interactive advertising landscape.

For more information and detailed descriptions of both sessions please click here.

User-generated content has taken the Internet by storm, and social-networking sites are among the highest trafficked areas in the online world. The potential to reach consumers is massive but how can a marketer know the best way to utilize it?

The 2007 IAB Leadership Forum: User-Generated Content & Social Networking will gather the top experts in the industry to show you how to best utilize them.  People like our keynote speaker, Michael Barrett, Chief Revenue Officer of Fox Interactive Media and many others will show you how to tap into the power of this new form of interactivity to leverage your brand.

Calendar of Events:
The IAB has planned a calendar of events for 2007 that touches virtually every element of Interactive media.  Mark your calendars today for these upcoming events:

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Marketer & Agency Guide to Lead Quality
The IAB Lead Generation Committee released a Marketer & Agency Guide to Lead Quality at the IAB Leadership Forum: Performance Marketing in Chicago on March 16th.  This paper reviews the definition and aspects of Internet lead quality, as well as providing some guidelines for ranking these aspects based on industry benchmarks.  The paper can be downloaded here.

What is causing your ad impression discrepancies? How much of your traffic is really from your customers vs. non-human agents? Are you filtering with the same list as the third party ad servers and other publishers? Who's really visiting your web site? How are your customers using your site?

The IAB/ABCe International Spiders & Bots List can help you answer all these questions. It is the most comprehensive and current public list of non-human user agents in the world. Updated monthly by some of the largest publishers and most experienced web-audit experts, this list is necessary for accurately filtering your advertising and web server logs. It knows which bots are still active and which are not. The major publishers and third-party ad-servers are using it, and if discrepancies are an issue for you, you should be using it too. Without it, you will never know what is real and what is not. Contact Jeremy Fain (jeremy@iab.net) if you have questions or subscribe now at www.iab.net/spiders.

Measurement Certification Update:
The IAB continues its efforts in educating marketers, agencies and publishers on the critical importance of measurement certification. As more and more marketers demand audited numbers be used as the basis for billing with their Interactive campaigns, it is becoming imperative to take the requisite steps to obtain measurement certification. This movement continues to secure Interactive's place as the most accountable and measurable of media. A number of large publishers and ad serving organizations have already completed audits and certification against the Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines, including AOL, Atlas, CNET, DoubleClick, Univision, the Walt Disney Internet Group, Weather.com and Yahoo! with many more well underway. For more information on the Measurement Initiative or for auditing and certification questions, please contact Erica at erica@iab.net.

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Member Networking Dinners
Last month, in conjunction with CTIA, The Wireless Association, in Orlando, the IAB launched our new Member Networking Dinners. The first event featured our Mobile Committee, and it was a successful kickoff to a new program that will feature a different committee for each dinner. Throughout the year, the IAB will host Member Networking Dinners for all active members involved in our committees. This will give our members the opportunity to mingle and meet others in the industry in a social setting.

Sales Executive Council
Our newly launched IAB Sales Executive Council is made up of the senior interactive advertising sales executives from our member companies. The first council meeting will be May 8th, at the IAB office, and will meet quarterly thereafter. Some key reasons for the formation of this council include recognition programs, evolution of professional development, discussion of the biggest barriers to sales, and discussion of what the council should be working on. The Council meeting will be followed by a post meeting networking reception for all to enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvers.

IAB Networking MIXXers
Beginning in May, the IAB will host monthly networking MIXXers for all active members, which includes primary and executive contacts; as well as all committee and council members. These MIXXers will be held in New York City and will serve as a great opportunity for our members to network with one another and enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. The cost is $20 per person.