I-COM worldmeasurementnews

In US, CableLabs® and Canoe Ventures Announce Advanced Advertising 1.0 Specification

LOUISVILLE, COLO. & NEW YORK--Canoe Ventures LLC and CableLabs® today announced the issuance of a new draft reference architecture specification called Advanced Advertising 1.0, created to further the development of cable advertising products.

Advanced Advertising 1.0 comprises a set of component specification and standards that, individually, allow cable companies to provide more innovative types of advanced ads, such as interactive advertising, Video on Demand advertising within existing VOD platforms, and advanced forms of addressable advertising. Taken together, the Advanced Advertising specification allows multi-system operators (MSOs) to offer such products with consistent technologies, metrics and interfaces across a national footprint. The Advanced Advertising 1.0 spec was developed and will be maintained by a CableLabs Working Group composed of MSO, Canoe and CableLabs technical leads, with selective input from the vendor community. More...

In US, ABC News Selects VoloMedia to Measure and Monetize Podcasts

MARCH 26, 2009 -- SUNNYVALE, Calif. & NEW YORK -- ABC News announced today that ad insertion and audience measurement for its audio and video podcasts will be provided through VoloMedia Inc, and that the two companies will partner on advertising sales. More...

ABOUT VOLOMEDIA, INC.
VoloMedia provides a unique combination of products with a nationwide ad sales team to deliver advertising and reporting solutions for downloadable media, extending the reach and monetization of podcasts. The company's products and services are utilized by some of the largest and most well known media companies, including ABC News, FOX News, MSNBC, Washington Post/Newsweek, and Public Radio International in its Business, News, and Politics podcast verticals. Other VoloMedia content verticals include Entertainment, Health, Music, Sports, Technology, Travel, Video Games, and Women.

In Germany, I-COM joins dmexco as event partner

Cologne, March 25th, 2009 The dmexco – the digital marketing exposition & conference is further increasing the international character of the expo: With immediate effect AdMonsters, the only professional association exclusively dedicated to online advertising operations and technology, and the International Conference on Online Media Measurement (I-COM) are official partners of the new trade show, which will celebrate its debut in Cologne on September 23rd-24th, 2009.

“The integration of the worldwide networks of AdMonsters and I-COM is a further important component that will enable the dmexco to be perceived as the leading show for digital marketing in Germany and Europe,” Christian Muche, dmexco’s Director Business Development, Strategy & International, explained. The dmexco is also receiving support from the I-COM: “With its diversified digital themes the dmexco is already a first-class partner for us in the run-up to the event and we want to support its debut as far as possible,” commented Andreas Cohen, Chairman of the I-COM. “Furthermore, it offers us an ideal platform for presenting current trends in measurement.” Among others the I-COM will invite its members to its events as trade visitors of the dmexco and will advertise the premiere of the show on its website and in newsletters. Moreover, an I-COM seminar on the theme of Online Media Measurement is scheduled at the dmexco conference. More...

In US, Visible Measures Raises $10 Million in Series C Financing

Boston, March 26, 2009 -- Visible Measures, the independent third-party measurement firm for Internet video publishers, advertisers, and viral marketers, announced today that it has secured a Series C round of financing of $10 million, led by new investor Northgate Capital with participation from existing investors General Catalyst Partners and MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures. Visible Measures has raised over $29 million in total financing to date. This new financing will help solidify Visible Measures’ market position as the third-party measurement provider of choice for the Internet video industry’s leading advertisers, publishers, and aggregators.

“We are incredibly fortunate to be able to work with Northgate Capital, and I cannot imagine a better partner for us at this stage,” said Brian Shin, founder and CEO of Visible Measures. More...

Why the Click Is the Wrong Metric for Online Ads

Abbey Klaassen writes for AdAge: NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The great paradox of the web is that it's an interactive medium and everything can be measured. And that's wonderful -- unless you're measuring the wrong thing.

In the past several months, there has been increasing evidence that the most easily measured metric on the web, the click, is not the right metric to use for many advertisers. And that's good news for publishers struggling to monetize their content with online ads. More...

IAB Australia calls for comments on metric guidelines

Sydney – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia is calling for comments on its newly released draft paper “Industry Standards for Online Audience Measurement Metrics and Data”. The guidelines have been developed to progress standardisation of how audience measurement metrics are quoted and presented.

According to IAB Australia’s CEO Paul Fisher, there is an urgent need to standardise and simplify the online audience measurement metrics and he believes the guidelines will be well received by the industry. “These guidelines represent another clear step forward for IAB Australia in its process of improving the online advertising market. A consistent approach to audience measurement is necessary for us to build upon our foundations and ensure the continued growth of online advertising. I welcome commentary from the industry at large so we can produce a set of guidelines to satisfy Australia’s needs,” said Mr Fisher. More...

Kontagent Social Analytics Comes to the iPhone

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) March 19, 2009 -- Kontagent, a Facebook funded social analytics platform, today launched the private beta program of its social analytics and viral optimization tools for iPhone and web applications with Facebook Connect support, a first in the industry. Kontagent's suite of viral optimization tools helps marketers and developers track and optimize viral behavior on the iPhone and the emerging Facebook connected social web.

"With the successful launch of the Facebook Connect platform for the iPhone and other web destinations, developers and marketers are seeking new ways to take advantage of rich social data for their offerings," says Albert Lai, CEO and co-founder of Kontagent. "This unprecedented access to deep social analytics and viral optimization tools provides us with actionable insights into user demographics and social behaviors." More...

In Australia, ABC launches web audit to ensure traffic is being counted in the same way by all publishers

Lara Sinclair writes for The Australian: Gordon Towell, Chief Executive of the Audit Bureaux of Australia (ABA), said the Web Audit Service would give advertisers and media buyers "directly comparable data" for the first time when they were making advertising decisions. The Media Federation of Australia and the Australian Association of National Advertisers, as well as the Interactive Advertising Bureau, have sanctioned the new audit. Nielsen Online, Managing Director, Megan Clarken said sites that had never been included in the Market Intelligence system would now be seen as being more credible by advertisers and media agencies. More...

Unique Visitors Come In Two Shapes And Sizes

Jodi McDermott writes for Mediapost: Unique visitors come in two shapes and sizes -- the Web Analytics Association (WAA) version and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) version. For more than 10 years, the term unique visitors has been known as the count of unique cookies (de-duplicated over the period of analysis) to a Web site. As most sites do not require authentication or login, this unit of measurement (although not foolproof by any means) has been the de facto standard that most Web analytics vendors have used when configuring the unique visitors metric within their software. More...

In Australia, ABC to provide Code of Conduct audit

Sydney, NSW – The industry body IANA, (Interactive Ad Networks of Australia), today announced the launch of a new accreditation and compliance programme for its members utilising the services of the ABC, (Audit Bureau of Circulations).

The ‘IANA Compliance Audit’ has been developed through a consultation process involving ad networks, the ABC and Media Federation of Australia to support advertisers who use Australian interactive ad networks ensuring stringent self regulation of ad networks that adopt the code. The rules for ABC accreditation focus on confirming that each IANA member employs in-house methods of self-regulation that meet the requirements of the Code of Conduct. The Code requires commitment to proactive efforts to ensure clients inventory is protected from undesirable content. There will be random spot checks of publisher’s sites to confirm where members’ content is appearing. More...