Radio Accountability Initiative announced at RAB Conference.

Ad-ID announced the “Radio Accountability Initiative,” which was endorsed by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) at its RAB `09 conference. Harold S. Geller, senior vice president, cross-industry workflow, 4A’s, and managing director, Ad-ID LLC, announced the initiative during a panel discussion entitled “Increasing Cash Flow and Decreasing Makegoods Through Digital Commercial Workflow.” The Initiative will address accountability and distribution platforms that ensure the right commercials get on the right stations.

In endorsing the Initiative, Jeff Haley, president-CEO, RAB, said “As radio aims to grow its share of ad dollars, proof of performance, improved commercial workflow and consumer interactivity are increasingly important at the station level. It is beneficial to make radio commercials as interactive as the purchase-enabled songs to which they are attached.”

“Accountability in radio revolves around identification. If you can consistently identify a spot, the advertiser it’s associated with, and centrally access other necessary information, you create an environment where accountability and transparency are core capabilities,” added Harold S. Geller, managing director, Ad-ID LLC. “Each of the founding participants in this initiative plays a key role in radio workflow; together they can demonstrate the accountability of radio.”

Initial initiative participants include: Allen Hartle, founder/CEO, Jump2Go; Dale Graham, president / CEO, ClearStreaming Inc.; Harold S. Geller, managing director, Ad-ID LLC; Joe Rivera, vp/director of operations, FirstSpin Inc.; Rick Rowland, president, PowerLink Software.

Additional vendors and station groups will join as this initiative launches. There will be no restrictions to participation other than supporting Ad-ID. If advertisers choose to code ads outside of Ad-ID, a station’s own policy will govern how that ad is treated.

“The founding participants of the Radio Accountability Initiative can make radio more accountable with limited disruption to existing workflow,” added Geller. “Obviously as more vendors come on board, and adopt Ad-ID and XMP, more capabilities will emerge.”