In a joint announcement today from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the pair have published guidelines that will provide a framework to govern how ad impressions are counted on the mobile Web.
Issued today for public comment, the new guidelines aim to define exactly what a mobile Web ad impression means, as well as create a common definition and methodology that will become widely adopted in the U.S. and globally for counting mobile Web ad impressions. Other objectives include encouraging U.S. mobile Web ad servers to have their impression counts audited by an independent third party, as well as distinguishing between the established IAB Web ad impression and the mobile Web ad impression, and when each metric is appropriate.
Both organizations want to provide marketers and agencies with greater clarity and certainty (via the auditing process) that key metrics used for buying mobile Web ads are methodologically sound and meet the highest standards available to the media industry. As mobile advertising continues to evolve into a mega-business, rock solid measurement and standardization is a must.
The two also want to reduce the level of discrepancies and spur the industry’s growth by offering Internet publishers and ad servers a consistent, rigorous way to count the delivery of ad impressions across the board. Again, standardization is key. “The Mobile Web Advertising Measurement Guidelines will provide mobile advertisers with a clear way to count ad impressions and quantify the value of their investment in mobile advertising,” said George Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of the MRC. “This important collaboration between the IAB and the MMA provides the market with a valuable tool and I applaud their effort.”
These guidelines are related to, but distinct from, the IAB’s pioneering “Interactive Audience Measurement and Advertising Campaign Reporting and Audit Guidelines” released in 2005, which established the impression as the standard ad currency on the PC-based Internet. For IAB members, the guidelines can be reviewed and comments submitted here, while MMA members can review the new guidelines here.
