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comScore Appointed as Independent 3rd Party for Site Vetting by IAB U.K. Internet Advertising Sales Houses Council (IASH)

LONDON, U.K., August 5, 2009 –comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), announced that it had been selected as the sole independent provider of centralized site content vetting on behalf of the Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) – the official sales house council of the IAB in the U.K.

The site vetting initiative requires the classification of more than 12,000 sites by degrees of suitability for hosting display advertising, thereby providing advertisers and agencies with greater transparency into what type of content their ads are being delivered against through online advertising networks. This effort will deliver greater trust, transparency and confidence to advertisers and agencies who want to be assured that their ads are not being delivered alongside potentially objectionable content.

“Increased site content transparency is essential for the continued growth of online advertising, not only in the U.K. but across Europe,” said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe. “comScore has been working with advertising networks for several years now, and has extensive experience classifying online content. We are delighted to be working with the IAB and providing comScore’s expertise to the industry, which will ensure the transparency that is critical to the continued growth of advertising networks in Europe.” More...

In US, Mobile Marketing Association Brokers Industry’s First Cross-Carrier Best Practices

New York, London, UK, Singapore & Sao Paulo: March 27, 2009 - The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) today announced that the four largest U.S. wireless service providers – Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile USA – have agreed to incorporate their mobile marketing guidelines within the MMA’s best practices. This industry-first agreement is a milestone toward the continued growth of mobile marketing, a dramatic reduction in the costs of launching mobile marketing campaigns, faster time to market for campaigns and improved consumer satisfaction by improving the consistency and efficiency of mobile marketing campaigns across the four major US wireless service providers. The agreement underscores the industry’s commitment to work towards standardized marketing practices which will improve consumer satisfaction and understanding of mobile marketing campaigns.

Under the agreement, the four companies, all MMA members, will incorporate their individual mobile marketing guidelines and codes of conduct – known as “carrier playbooks” – into a unified document to be maintained by the MMA. As a result, the operational efficiencies for the industry is upward of $200 million annually. 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...

In UK, 16 IASH members recertified through ‘random audits’

IAB UK writes: All 16 members taking IASH ‘Random Audits’ have passed. This was the first audit to see ABCe randomly select a month during January and June 2008. The tougher new audit process, announced in January 2008, reinforces IASH’s commitment to transparency and tightening of the Code of Conduct. The 16 members that passed the audit are: ad pepper media UK Ltd, Ad2ONE UK, Adconion UK Ltd, Addvantage Media, Advertising.com, Consilium Media Ltd, dgmDisplay, DrivePM UK, eType, GMW Media Ltd, Glam Media UK Ltd, Specific Media UK, Tacoda UK, Unanimis Consulting Ltd, ValueClick Media UK and Yahoo! Network. More...

In UK, all IASH members pass random audit

ABCe writes: All 16 Members taking IASH 'Random Audits' have passed. This was the first audit to see ABCe randomly select a month during January and June 2008. The tougher new audit process, announced in January 2008, reinforces IASH's commitment to transparency and tightening of the Code of Conduct.

The 16 Members that passed the random audit are: Ad pepper media UK Ltd, Ad2ONE UK, Adconion UK Ltd, Addvantage Media, Advertising.com, Consilium Media Ltd, dgmDisplay, DrivePM UK, eType, GMW Media Ltd, Glam Media UK Ltd, Specific Media UK, Tacoda UK, Unanimis Consulting Ltd, ValueClick Media UK and Yahoo! Network. More...

In UK, IASH suspends member for code infringement

IASH (Internet Advertising Sales Houses), the committee founded to police the activities of sales houses and encourage best practice has suspended a member for infringing its Code of Practice and taken steps to further improve standards for buyers.

The unnamed member is sanctioned for failing to take part in the July audits, which breaches sections 8.1.4 and 8.1.5 of the Code. The decision was taken following a meeting of the IASH committee on 9th July. Under the IASH code this company will not be re-admitted until it passes an ABCe audit. James Aitken, chairman of IASH, said: "IASH is striving for transparency and raising standards. We warned members that we wouldn’t pull punches if anyone broke the Code of Conduct and this suspension clearly shows that we mean business." More...

The MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) Releases Global Code of Conduct

The MMA (Mobile Marketing Association) "released its Global Code of Conduct, designed to provide guidelines that all Mobile Marketers should consider and build their mobile marketing initiatives around. The MMA Global Code of Conduct, or “the Code”, is intended to guide companies within the mobile ecosystem so that they can effectively, and responsibly, leverage the mobile channel for marketing purposes, whilst always protecting the consumer experience.

Produced by the MMA’s NA Privacy Committee, with input from MMA Regional Board of Directors in APAC, LATAM and EMEA, the Global Code of Conduct updates the 2007 revision and aligns the Code with generally accepted global privacy principles." More...