Jeremy Fain: October 2007 Archives

Discrepancies: The Kraken of Interactive

Chances are, if you work on the advertising side of interactive, you have heard the word "discrepancy" thrown around with varying levels of frustration and bewilderment. The mysterious, maddening, material differences between a publisher's and a third party's impression counts are running people ragged on both the publisher and the agency side of the fence. In this opening entry for the IAB's Interactive Incitement blog, I attempt to explain why I believe the Discrepancies issue is the most important business problem our industry faces, and what the IAB (and many courageous volunteers) are currently doing to resolve it. Maybe, by the end, you, too, will be spelling the word with a capital D in all your emails.

"Discrepancies" is the big, slimy creature of interactive. Like a Kraken—the legendary giant sea monster—it reaches its limbs into all corners of our industry, trying to squeeze the life out of us (or at the very least, driving us to distraction.) Thankfully, over the past year, the IAB and its Ad Operations Council has dedicated the resources and pulled together members, advertising agencies, and vendors to examine Discrepancies and rid our industry of this Kraken's four main food sources: