Advertisers demand audited ad numbers from online publishers.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau announced that a select group of top brand marketers, including BMW, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford Motor Company, HP, ING, Kimberly-Clark, Pepsi and Visa, will demand audited numbers from Interactive publishers effective mid-2007 and measurement certified numbers in 2008. Audited and certified numbers will be the only numbers used for payment against those marketers Interactive advertising campaigns.

Audited numbers ensure that ad impressions are being counted accurately; while certified numbers indicate that the process supporting the ad counting is consistent and reliable.

“Across all media, ANA marketers are seeking transparency and accountability in measurement and we support the IAB for leading the charge in the interactive industry,” said Bob Liodice, CEO, ANA.

“As more and more dollars migrate over to Interactive, it is imperative as an industry that we continue to strive for the highest levels of transparency and validity. We are overwhelmed that marketers of this caliber have stepped forward in support of audited and certified numbers,” said Greg Stuart, CEO, Interactive Advertising Bureau. “We are confident that this is just the beginning and other leading marketers will join this group presently.”

The IAB announced the Global Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines in November 2004. The guidelines address long-standing marketer and agency concerns about the need for a standardized method of measuring Interactive advertising. These guidelines offer a detailed definition for counting an online ad impression, the primary currency of the medium, which is a critical component in establishing consistent and accurate online advertising measurements across publishers and ad serving technologies in the US and around the world. Auditing and Measurement Certification takes place annually to ensure continued compliance with industry standards. Unlike other media, the Internet is the only medium that measures an actual ad – all other media measure content. The U.S. guidelines also include an industry-driven third-party auditing and certification recommendation. The complete guidelines are available at www.iab.net/measurement.

The ongoing goal of this initiative is to establish a set of guidelines for consistent ad server measurement: a counting methodology, an audit procedure, and an auditing and certification process. 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!.

For more information at http://www.iab.net