IAB Urges Audit for comScore and NetRatings

US trade association the Interactive Advertising Bureau has sent an open letter to two of the major Internet audience measurement firms, comScore and Nielsen//NetRatings, asking them to submit to a third-party audit of their measurement processes by the MRC.

IAB President and CEO Randall Rothenberg wrote the letter to Magid M. Abraham and William Pulver, Presidents and CEOs of comScore, Inc. and Nielsen//NetRatings, respectively. In it he warns against 'persist[ing] in using panels that potentially undercount or ignore the diverse populations that are the future of consumer marketing', adding: 'it certainly appears to us as if these audiences are being undercounted or disregarded.' He continues: 'Discrepancies as wide as the ones we are seeing are unacceptable to us, and they should be unacceptable to you and your teams.'

The IAB is asking that both firms have their technologies and processes audited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) in order to find the reason for discrepancies between their audience measurements and those shown in server logs of the IAB's own members – and between the two firms' own results. The letter suggests that transparency is needed for these methodologies in order to maintaining advertisers' confidence in interactive media as the sector continues its rapid growth.

Independently audited methodologies and numbers, says Rothenberg, 'would let marketers eliminate waste, media companies realize a fair price, and advertising agencies target audiences and analyze their campaigns more effectively.'

comScore has recently published its own research suggesting that web logs can greatly exaggerate traffic, boosting audiences by up to 150%. It has commissioned an audit of its methods by the Advertising Research Foundation, which is now in its later stages.

Figures on Google search share, which illustrate the kind of discrepancies discussed, can be seen in another of today's stories on DRNO (www.mrweb.com/drno/news6702.htm ) – these also include the third major measurement firm, Hitwise.

The IAB is the US trade association for Interactive media companies, with 332 members accounting for an estimated 86% of the nation's interactive ad spend. It is online at www.iab.net . The MRC (www.mediaratingcouncil.org ) was established by Congress in the early 1960s and provides accreditation and auditing of ratings services, to date mostly offline. The two organisations have collaborated on guidelines for counting online ad impressions.

The three ratings firms are online at www.comscore.com , www.netratings.com and www.hitwise.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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