New online measurement system on the cards James livesley
The online ad industry took another step closer towards the standardisation of online measurement following a round table including IAB Australia, the MFA and AANA.
A round table to discuss measurement, as revealed by B&T in May, met to decide what is to be expected from research companies in future.
A working party has been established with representatives from a range of stakeholders including publishers and agencies. This group will now take responsibility for refining a blueprint outlining the requirements for a planning and buying measurement solution.
IAB chief executive Patty Keegan said: “It’s clear that a new or enhanced measurement system is needed to provide accurate, transparent and consistent audience metrics as they relate to planning and buying online media for the local market. The stakeholders agreed that research vendors should be challenged to come up with innovative solutions to circumvent existing technological and financial restraints.”
The group has decided on a “wish list” for an audience measurement system, which included a consistent measure for planning and buying, which may be supplemented by different measurement systems from publishers. Any system must measure actual people, with a focus on domestic people, visiting both domestic and overseas sites, the committee decided.
The group set out that both panel data and site-centric data could be used, possibly in combination, as long as it is able to meet the objective of measuring the behaviour of people.
Also, the system should not require participation from individual publishers for measurement, but should be broad enough to provide a realistic view of the whole marketplace.
Minimum essential metrics asked for included page impressions, people, reach, time and frequency.
