UKOM confirms appointment of Nielsen to launch industry-agreed planning system in UK

UKOM – the UK online measurement company – has appointed The Nielsen Company as its official partner to deliver an industry-agreed online audience planning system. In a landmark step for the industry, the much-anticipated currency has been approved with the backing of the UK’s largest advertisers and agency groups. Set to launch in January 2010, the UKOM Audience Planning System (APS) will allow advertisers and their agencies to plan online campaigns that target specific audiences, using an industry-approved system just as they do with TV (BARB), radio (RAJAR) and print media (NRS).

Providing the all-important reach and frequency metrics that agency planners require to build media schedules, the APS will be based on a panel of at least 35,000 consumers across home and work locations and will supply online audience data down to sites as small as 50,000 unique visitors.

Guy Phillipson, CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau and director of UKOM, said: “The UKOM Audience Planning System represents a genuine milestone for the online industry. For the first time, advertisers and agencies will be able to confidently plan campaigns using industry-approved audience data comparable with traditional media, such as TV and press. More...