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IAB US Releases Update to “Digital Video Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines”

New York, NY (December 17, 2009) – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced an update to the “Digital Video Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines” that addresses an increasingly common occurrence--digital video content and ads that play automatically when a webpage loads. The first part of a broader auto-play initiative by the IAB’s Digital Video Committee and the Media Rating Council (MRC), these revised guidelines address both measurement and disclosure and establish the latest parameters for the accurate counting of digital video ad impressions.

“Auto-play content and ads are a material part of the ecosystem and the IAB and the MRC want the marketplace to be clear on how they are used,” said George Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of the MRC. “This update will allow buyers to make informed decisions on how their digital video ad impressions are being presented.” More...

EyeWonder First to Offer Ad Visibility Metrics for Rich Media and Video Ad Campaigns

ATLANTA—NOVEMBER 2, 2009—EyeWonder, Inc., an innovator in interactive digital advertising
technologies and services, today announced the global rollout of its Ad Visibility Suite, a set of metrics designed to give advertisers and publishers in-depth analysis of the actual real time an online ad is physically within the viewable area of a browser.

Among the metrics included in the suite are total time (in seconds) an ad is physically visible to users within their browsers, average visible time (in seconds) and visible time by percentage of visible area. Beyond interaction and click-through metrics, the Ad Visibility Suite tells advertisers which parts of their ads are actually visible at any given scroll position.

“Customers get a more comprehensive view of their ad performance by seeing the exact amount of time users have ads in their browser windows and comparing that with length of engagement. We’re bringing these two pieces of the puzzle together to provide a more complete picture of what constitutes a successful online ad campaign, resulting in more meaningful measurement” said Ricky McClellen, EyeWonder’s Chief Information Officer. More....

In South Africa, Acceleration Media pioneers universal GRP metric for online media evaluation

Acceleration Media writes: Acceleration Media is pioneering a groundbreaking online media and planning methodology called Gross Rating Points (GRPs) in South Africa. This innovative methodology will allow media planners and marketers to, for the first time, set correct media weighting and budgets to their online campaigns so that they can achieve the best possible return on their investments in the digital channel.

Acceleration Media's online GRP tool is an audience measurement method that combines Acceleration Media's ad-serving data with demographic information from the OPA/Nielsen's panel. This allows Acceleration Media to forecast reach and frequency for online advertising campaigns in the same way as many marketers and media planners in offline media forecast reach and frequency.

“One reason for this is that media planners have lacked a metric to establish marketing budget allocation for the online environment. It's clear that we require a universal media evaluation approach" said Marcus Stephens, new business development manager at Acceleration Media. More...

In UK, Digital Video advertising measurement open standard finally in sight

The Guardian writes: It's taken a while, but broadcasters, online publishers and advertisers could be close to agreeing a standardised system to measure online video viewing. The Broadband Measurement Working Group, a coalition of broadcasters, internet service providers and measurement bodies, is to start testing a new measurement metric next month, 18 months after starting out on its mission to create a universally recognised way of quantifying the millions of video views publishers are generating. The group brought together an eclectic cast including the BBC, ITV (LSE: ITV), C4, Five, BSkyB (NYSE: BSY), Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED), BT (NYSE: BT), BARB, ABCe and the IPA.

Matt Simpson, chair of the IPA Digital Media Group and also group head of digital at OMD, says that "as TV overlaps online more, it's vital for online to develop tools that count across both platforms." More...

In US, the Cross-Platform Ratings Debate Continues

Steve McClellan writes for Adweek: Nielsen's recently announced plans for a cross-platform ratings system has sparked debate about both the rollout's timing and exactly what online programs should be included.

The plan, revealed just over a week ago at a client meeting in New York, focused on Nielsen's creation of a single system for measuring audiences for TV and online long-form video programs by mid-2011.

But for some, that's just too long a wait. "I think the industry recognizes we needed this yesterday," said Alan Wurtzel, president, research and media development at NBC Universal. "If you can't measure it, you can't sell it." More...

In US, CIMM launches website & RFP, reiterates need for 3 Screen Measurement

The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement writes: CIMM is a group of buyers and sellers formed to promote innovation and develop new industry standards for television, mobile and cross platform audience measurement in the United States. To facilitate this ongoing effort CIMM intends to shape, fund, and operate a small number of pilots with measurement companies and publish research findings.

Among our specific concerns two stand out. The promise of set-top-box tuning data, offering very large samples (approaching census) that can deliver the combination of granularity and reliability we need at low cost, is obvious. However research suppliers have not begun to address STB methodological issues to our satisfaction.

A second concern is cross-platform measurement. We need reliable, granular, results-based metrics that can be applied consistently across all the major video platforms, to fuel the burgeoning interest in multi-platform video advertising plans. Such metrics do not now exist.

This is the time for leading buyers and sellers to work together with audience measurement providers to seek innovative solutions and understand the tradeoffs of innovative solutions to media metrics. We are agnostic as to who will supply us with this data; the field is open, but we need these forward-looking metrics, adequate to the high standards of trading and post-evaluation, within the next 3-5 years. More...

In US, CIMM saga continues as Nielsen invites top clients to strategy meeting

Claire Atkinson writes for Broadcasting & Cable: At an Oct. 16 meeting, Nielsen will open a conversation with clients, hoping it will help content owners figure out how to gain real compensation for the material they make available online and to mobile devices. And crucially for the measurement outfit, it also wants to make sure it remains at the forefront of the effort.

Nielsen is convening 75 top clients to get ahead of measurement issues that are going to come crashing down swiftly as audience authentication initiatives like TV Everywhere and OnDemand Online begin rolling out nationally. The optimistic time frame for pay-TV companies to begin authenticating subscribers across the nation is summer 2010. Of course, Hulu is already there, but competitors and some industry observers argue that while the video site has been a success at drawing audience, it operates without a viable long-term business model.

With the divergent needs of the industry in mind, Nielsen plans to present its wares and listen to how the industry would like to proceed in melding TV and online video measurement. “Nielsen is measuring three screens, but they have to come up with a combined product that meets the industry’s needs and they want to get out in front of it,” says one senior research executive.

'Potential Reach' Is More Than Potentially Misleading

Tod Sacerdoti writes for Mediapost: As with most misleading metrics, potential reach was likely created to help sell something. ComScore wanted to sell large annual subscriptions to video ad networks and video ad networks wanted a big reach number to sell advertising and compete effectively against the large display ad networks. The metric has fundamentally served its purpose - all video networks are paying customers and many video networks' actual reach is large enough to compete with the large display networks -- and as such, it is time to put this metric to rest. More...

In US, Visible Measures Announces New Executive Appointments, Investors

Boston, October 6, 2009 ― Visible Measures, the independent third-party measurement firm for Internet video publishers, advertisers, and viral marketers, today announced that Tom Brennan, formerly co-founder, CFO, and Vice President of Strategic Alliances at OpenAir, a NetSuite Company, has joined the company as its chief financial officer. Visible Measures has also added to its previously announced Series C financing, receiving additional funding from Palo Alto, CA-based DAG Ventures, a venture capital firm with extensive experience in Internet video and media technologies.

“We have been fortunate to continue to see rapid customer adoption and expansion of our business. We are adding capacity and capabilities in many areas to facilitate our growth,” said Visible Measures founder and CEO Brian Shin. “Tom is a successful entrepreneur who brings years of financial and operational expertise to our team and we are thrilled to have him on board.” More...

In US, Nielsen moves forward with "three-screen" measurement strategy

Joe Mandese writes for Mediapost: In another step toward the integration of online and television, TV ratings researcher Nielsen Co. has informed its clients that it is adding new sample characteristics to its ratings software that will enable advertisers, agencies and media companies to identify the composition of TV audiences based on their household Internet connection speed, persons Internet usage, whether the households are "telephone-capable," and whether the households play video games.

The new sample characteristics come as Nielsen is racing ahead with its so-called "three-screen" measurement strategy, and as the advertising and media industry are contemplating other solutions to get audience measurement data for TV, online and mobile platforms, including the recently organized Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM). More...