comScore Bids to Shake Up Online Ad Assessment

Online measurement firm comScore has announced the introduction of AdEffx Smart Control, billed as a dramatic advance in the accuracy and scope of digital advertising assessment tools.

Smart Control, developed by comScore SVP of Research Harvir Bansal PhD, is based on established marketing mix modeling techniques and aims to improve measurement of emerging digital advertising segments, including homepage takeovers, integrated placements and specific audience buys.

Smart Control looks at the change in consumer response (either attitudinal or behavioral) by varying frequency of advertising exposure using a Bayesian regression model, from which the 'control' response (i.e. frequency = 0) is derived. In so doing it borrows from decades-old offline marketing mix modelling techniques, and bypasses the test-and-control methodology previously used for online, thereby yielding 'more comprehensive and accurate results' according to comScore.

Among the limitations of current techniques, which are predicated on comparing a group of campaign-exposed individuals to a control group of non-exposed individuals, the firm says they require publishers to 'burn' available inventory to use for the control groups, resulting in swings in data accuracy from publisher to publisher; require larger samples to be able to generate statistically significant results; fall short of measuring the holistic impact of the campaign; and are impractical for new types of ads such as homepage takeovers, audience targeted impressions and integrated placements.

By contrast comScore says the Smart Control methodology 'is more sensitive and therefore more likely to produce a statistically significant result', allowing substantially smaller sample sizes.

Anne Hunter, comScore vice president of Ad Effectiveness Solutions, says the approach is 'superior to the traditional test-and-control methodology for most digital campaigns run today', while Bansal says the firm is 'confident that this solution truly has no peer in the industry.'

The new system is also winning praise from researchers outside the company. ARF Chief Research Officer Joel Rubinson comments: 'A year ago, the Journal of Advertising Research published findings by comScore that proved 'the click' is only a small part of the impact that digital advertising creates. If not the click, then what? comScore should be applauded for attempting to more completely address the ROI of digital advertising in the context of fully integrated marketing campaigns.'

Radha Subramanyam, VP, Head of Corporate and Media Research at Yahoo!, says Smart Control 'helps address a number of publishers' research challenges: it reduces wasted impressions, simplifies campaign implementation, and aligns more closely with offline research techniques'. Kristi Manclow, Ad Sales Research, Disney Online, comments: 'Finding adequate and representative control sample has been a persistent issue for the industry. By applying research theory long validated by offline marketers, Smart Control will help Disney Online more efficiently and effectively measure large integrated campaigns and demonstrate our value to advertisers.'

Web site: www.comscore.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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