This launch, and comScore’s involvement, paves the way for increased ad verification measurement on mobile, helping media buyers and sellers access consistent metrics across all platforms to ensure campaigns have an opportunity to make an impact.

“As mobile advertising continues its rapid growth, it’s critical that measurement options keep pace,” said Dan Hess, chief product officer at comScore. “The Open Measurement SDK stands to further expand the reach of in-app campaign verification, and we are excited to be collaborating with the IAB Tech Lab Working Group to make this a reality for the industry.”

According to a provided release, we’re told that the OM SDK works in tandem with the existing comScore SDK, a single SDK that unlocks in-app measurement across comScore’s flagship Media Metrix audience suite and comScore advertising solutions, which measure campaign audiences, viewability, invalid traffic and brand safety, as well as campaign impact on brand equity, sales, location visits and other behaviors.

“Our customers and partners have varied measurement needs, which include and extend beyond ad viewability,” continued Hess. “We know many of our clients require extended in-app audience and advertising measurement to improve their monetization and marketing efforts, which is why we’ll continue to support and offer our own SDK technology alongside the ad verification features within the IAB Tech Lab OM SDK.”

To learn more, click here.

The post First Look: comScore Enables Ad Verification Measurement via IAB Tech Lab Open Measurement SDK appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Available for public comment through May 3, 2018, the technical guidelines provide instructions on best practices for delivering targeted ads, as well as controlling ad frequency and rotation across a wide variety of disparate smart TVs, connected devices, and other OTT systems.

In order to be compliant with these guidelines, devices and apps must store and send the following parameters as part of any ad request:

• An identifier for advertising (IFA) – required, unless the user has opted in to limit ad tracking, an IFA must be a unique value that is completely disconnected from a hardware ID, MAC address, IMEI, or IP address
• An associated IFA type – identifying the source of the IFA, whether device-generated, publisher-provided, or temporary
• Limit ad tracking (LAT) – an opt-out mechanism to respect the user’s privacy choices

The guidelines also feature specific advice and intelligence for consumer electronics manufacturers, OTT app publishers, and ad/measurement platforms to address the needs of each of these stakeholder groups.

“After linear TV, more Americans watch video content on OTT than on VOD or DVR, and the medium is skyrocketing,” said Dennis Buchheim, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IAB Tech Lab. “The traditional semi-persistent cookie we are accustomed to using as an identifier on browsers isn’t at play across OTT systems, so we need to deploy other types of identifiers to ensure that ad experiences are optimal for consumers. These guidelines will direct stakeholders down the path of best practices to allow OTT to grow and evolve as a significant advertising platform.”

“Between smart TVs, connected devices, and other OTT systems out in the marketplace—all with varied approaches to identification—we’re looking at a ‘Tower of Babel’ challenge,” said J. Allen Dove, CTO, SpotX, and member of the IAB Tech Lab OTT Technical Working Group. “The new IAB Tech Lab guidelines solve these challenges and improve overall user experience. We are hoping that others in the industry also contribute their input to make these recommendations even more effective.”

After public comment concludes, the IAB Tech Lab OTT Technical Working Group will evaluate and incorporate the feedback received and release a final version. To review the proposed guidelines, click here.

The post First Look: IAB Tech Lab Releases ‘Guidelines for Identifier for Advertising (IFA) on OTT Platforms’ for Public Comment appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Held in London on Wednesday, March 28 from 1-5 p.m. local time, the seminar will focus on the latest insights, innovations and ideas shaping today’s digital marketing ecosystem. The Performance Marketing Trends Seminar is free to IAB members, advertisers and agencies.

Registration information is available at: https://www.iabuk.net/events/register/30112.

As a sponsor of this event, CAKE will present a keynote session titled, “The Path to Purchase: Measuring Your Customer’s Journey.” Elizabeth D’Arcy-Potts, CAKE’s Joint Managing Director, EMEA, will lead the presentation. She will share tactics, technologies and strategies that marketers can use to transform campaign performance data into insights for successfully allocating and optimizing advertising spend.

Topics D’Arcy-Potts will cover include:

• Why multi-touch attribution matters
• The benefits of removing data silos that lead to incomplete views of marketing performance
• How to turn customer journey insights into tangible action and campaign success

“Customer journey analytics are a game changer for today’s marketers,” said Santi Perini, CAKE President and Chief Operating Officer of Accelerize. “They need to make the best decisions possible about how to maximize their budgets across multi-channel digital campaigns. We look forward to joining the IAB UK to discuss some of the biggest trends shaping the industry and to sharing CAKE’s holistic approach to tracking, measuring and optimizing performance marketing campaigns.”

The recent IAB and PwC Online Performance Marketing (OPM) study revealed the ongoing, rapid success of this market in the UK. The report concluded that advertisers spent £1.578 billion on Performance Marketing throughout 2016. This resulted in a return of £12.30 for every £1 spent.

The post CAKE by Accelerize Sponsors IAB Performance Marketing Trends Seminar appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“Piracy, fraud, malware, and lack of transparency are global challenges, and they require global engagement to address them,” said Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG. “To stop the criminals who steal our money and damage our supply chain, we must set high standards for all companies in our industry, regardless of where they are based or operate, and then enforce those standards worldwide. Working with Nick and our new EU office, TAG will be able to help EU-based and global companies better understand and more easily join TAG’s efforts.”

More than 130 non-US companies based in 27 countries have now applied for TAG Registration and the TAG ID, a proprietary verification process to demonstrate they are legitimate participants in digital advertising and the baseline requirement for participation in TAG’s certification programs.

“Over the last three years, TAG has built an effective and proven framework to solving some of the most difficult problems in digital advertising,” said Stringer. “Now we plan to educate policymakers and companies around the world about that approach, so brand advertisers and their agencies can ensure they are working with partners who maintain the highest standards for a clean and safe global supply chain. I am delighted to join TAG at this pivotal time to help extend the TAG vision, and we look forward to working with key European stakeholders to build a global approach in addressing criminal activity in digital advertising.”

Prior to joining TAG, Stringer was Chair of the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA), which administers the EU’s self-regulatory program to give consumers information and control over interest-based advertising. Between 2008-15, Stringer also served as Director of Regulatory Affairs at the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK). Stringer established IAB UK’s policy and regulatory affairs function and helped coordinate industry’s efforts to set appropriate UK and EU policies for digital advertising, particularly around privacy issues, as well as increasing policymakers’ understanding of the benefits of digital media. Prior to joining the IAB, Stringer worked at Orange, leading public policy issues across both mobile and broadband sectors.

As part of its worldwide efforts, TAG recently announced an alignment of many of its key initiatives with the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) in the UK. Through that alignment, JICWEBS will continue to drive brand safety efforts in the UK while TAG will take the long-term lead on fighting fraud, malware, and piracy. TAG endorses the JICWEBS Digital Trading Standards Group (DTSG) Brand Safety initiative to companies active in the UK market.

The post Trustworthy Accountability Group Hires Former IAB UK Executive appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed post by Tim Mahlman, President, Head of Advertiser and Publisher Strategy, Oath

At IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting, Unilever’s Keith Weed reiterated the importance of trust in digital advertising. Brands are demanding more openness and accountability. Fraud, viewability and brand safety are just a few of the concerns that have driven the desire for greater transparency in the ecosystem.

The industry still has ways to go in delivering on these demands. But transparency in digital is rapidly improving. Here are three areas, in particular, that are helping to bring about a new, more transparent era, hailed by Unilever, P&G, and others.

Third-party verification is table stakes

Today, advertisers are more interested than ever in how partners are spending their money. The biggest are reviewing media contracts in the hopes of getting more transparency and data from agency, vendor and publisher relationships. In response, the ecosystem is wholly embracing third-party verification. So much, in fact, that it’s becoming the industry standard. Now, a whopping 97 percent of advertisers want independent measurement of their media buys from companies like Moat and comScore — and they’re only going with partners who allow this. This is why the duopoly, after being hesitant about third-party verification in the past, is finally feeling the pressure. Third-party audits are simply table stakes today, enabling a new depth of transparency.

However, it is important to note that there is room to improve here. While third-party verification prevents agencies, vendors and sellers from having to grade their own homework, there are still questions to be answered. Third-party providers still need to be challenged to deliver more standardized reporting and metrics to cut down on discrepancy, while platforms must continue investing in their own technology to eliminate fraud and other issues.

Publishers will adopt ads.txt en masse and this is just the beginning of our industry being more transparent

Last year, the IAB launched ads.txt to bring more transparency to the programmatic supply chain. This is a more secure way for publishers to publicly identify the platforms authorized to sell their inventory, helping to limit bad actors. The idea is that as more publishers adopt ads.txt and post it to their domains, advertisers can avoid counterfeit inventory and have more confidence in what they buy.

This year, ads.txt adoption is going to explode among publishers. This was echoed at IAB ALM, by several of the biggest media companies. And while adoption is still relatively low right now, advertisers are increasingly demanding more tools for transparency. They want an accurate representation of media impressions and who is selling them. And they want to safeguard against counterfeit inventory through arbitrage and spoofing. Ads.txt helps. My company, Oath, supported ads.txt early on, knowing it would quickly become a game-changer. And we have already implemented it across our properties. We are also collaborating with publishers and approved resellers, and will begin enforcing ads.txt across all platforms, filtering inventory on domains where DSPs buy. But this is just the beginning. More advancements will roll out over the course of 2018 to protect advertisers’ media spend.

Vendors will be held to a higher standard

Today, advertisers want more from their technology platforms. In fact, they want more than just technology. They want trust. It’s not enough to simply activate data or offer distribution at scale. Demand-side platforms have to be more than just the pipes today. A lot more. Providing access to brand-safe, premium content is a game changer. With brand safety issues around the duopoly, many advertisers and agencies are concerned. It’s time to rebuild their confidence and trust. As a partner, it’s critical to be able to touch all aspects of a campaign: content, data and distribution. This is an unbeatable combination and it simplifies the digital supply chain, boosting transparency. Brand builders know that they need all three to be successful and the platforms that deliver against these needs will win in 2018. This is what I kept hearing in Palm Desert.

As we move ahead in 2018, transparency will continue to be a major concern in digital. But third-party verification, initiatives like ads.txt and the evolution of vendors relationships, are three ways our category is meeting advertiser demands.

The post Transparency at IAB Annual Leadership Meeting: Three Ways the Ad Industry is Improving appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Entitled “Personal Prime Time,” the report demonstrates that brands should no longer expect a single, universal moment of greatest engagement. While audience size might shift between different times of day, every daypart is ripe for meaningful consumer connections.

The study looks at the consumer journey through the lens of seven diverse content types—Episodic Shows, Music, News, Podcasts, Short Videos, Social Media, and Weather. In each case, the report acknowledges audience density in specific dayparts, but then provides findings to reveal that “traditional reach” metrics miss the consumer perspective on the “need state” that drives them to turn to content at any given time. Diving in further, the research begins to take a range of consumer attributes (e.g., age, parental status) and device usage into account, to allow for better targeting across dayparts and platforms.

For example, while majorities of both Millennials and Boomers check social media regularly, the research identifies key differences between these two generations:

• 82% of Millennials report that they check social media during various dayparts or all day long, while 66% of Boomers report the same
• The top “need states” driving Millennials to check social media are to “pass the time” and “be entertained,” versus Boomers are looking to “connect with others”
• Device choice differs as well, with Millennials preferring mobile devices and Boomers opting to check social media on their computers

“In the age of ‘big data’ it makes no sense for advertisers to place their focus solely on big numbers, when they can take advantage of insights that can help them pinpoint the right customer, the right way, at the right time,” said Anna Bager, Executive Vice President, Industry Initiatives, IAB. “This report only scratches the surface of what contexts, drivers, and modes will lead to optimal brand engagement—and we plan to delve even further to shine a spotlight on opportunities for marketers and publishers.”

“Personal Prime Time” was released at “IAB and dmexco @ Mobile World Congress” and is available for download at https://www.iab.com/personal-prime-time.

The post IAB Research Identifies Opportunities for Brands to Engage with Consumers Throughout the Day appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to the details provided in a news release, the IAB Sales Excellence Awards recognize select individuals and IAB member companies that have demonstrated superior levels of client service, expertise, and innovation in digital advertising sales.

The IAB Service Awards honor those individuals at IAB member companies who have exhibited notable leadership and guidance on specific digital advertising initiatives over the past year.

As in previous years, Advertising Perceptions and IAB leadership identified digital advertising skills and achievements, which should be measured in order to merit a Sales Excellence Award. Based on those identifiers, Advertising Perceptions developed and disseminated a two-part customer feedback survey to senior agency and marketing executives who pinpointed the sales organizations and individuals that have excelled in these areas over the past year.

Over 520 leaders from the ad buying community answered the questionnaire, nominating and then voting on the best sales teams and individuals across four main categories—large organization, small-to-medium sales organization, leadership through mentoring, and sales person of the year in four key U.S. regions. Respondents represented companies that spent at least $1 million on interactive advertising during the last year.

To review the complete list of 2018 IAB Sales Excellence Awards Winners, click here.

The post IAB Honors Digital Advertising Leaders appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Scheduled for April 30-May 4, 2018 in New York City, the week of presentations will highlight innovative storytelling that taps into sight, sound, and motion, providing advertisers with unparalleled opportunities to connect with today’s audiences.

IAB will serve as operator of the NewFronts, handling event logistics and marketing.

The New York City event will feature the NewFronts’ co-founders—DigitasLBi, Google/YouTube, Hulu, and Oath—alongside BBC News, Condé Nast, Disney Digital Network, ESPN, Fusion Media Group, Group Nine Media, Jukin Media, Meredith, The New York Times, Refinery29, Studio71, and Twitter.

To review the 2018 Preliminary NewFronts New York City Schedule, click here.

The post IAB Releases 2018 Digital Content NewFronts Calendar appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

We’re told that the new measurement compliance offering will focus on companies based outside the U.S., supporting 43 national IAB markets.

IAB Tech Lab introduced a range of technology compliance programs last year to verify accurate deployment of OpenRTB (Real-Time Bidding), VAST (Digital Video Ad Serving Template), VPAID (Video Player Ad Interface Definition), and MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions) standards. As this new measurement compliance program and other Tech Lab compliance offerings gain adoption, they will advance global adherence to technical protocols, specifications, measurement guidelines, and best practices through audits, validation, and testing frameworks.

“In Japan, as in other markets, issues such as ad fraud, brand safety, and viewability are gaining more and more attention,” said Kensuke Hirokawa, Director and Chief Technology Officer, CCI. “As many players, including ourselves, are urged to tackle those issues, I am pleased to announce that our advertising platform, BEYOND X, has received the first IAB Tech Lab verification in Japan. Delivering more reliable measurement and stronger technology capabilities to the Japanese market is an important mission of CCI. The company is taking vital steps in keeping with its role and responsibility to build a healthier digital advertising market.”

To learn more about the IAB Tech Lab Measurement Compliance program, click here.

The post IAB Tech Lab Launches New International Digital Measurement Compliance Program appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), bot fraud will cost advertisers $6.5 billion globally in 2017.

A statement emailed to MMW Wednesday notes that eZanga’s fraud detection division, Anura, “is the only ad fraud software solution built by a company that has bought and sold traffic.”

Having experience being held by clients to performance-based metrics and traffic quality helped eZanga benchmark the Anura rulesets with a unique point-of-view.

IAB membership enables eZanga to actively contribute this point-of-view to the discussions that are impacting the greater digital marketing landscape.

“We built Anura to validate whether or not a user is real or fake because viewability can be beaten,” said Rich Kahn, CEO and co-founder of eZanga. “We firmly stand behind measuring performance through real, human users with the resolve to interact without malicious intent as a stronger metric for combating fraud. We look forward to bringing insights from the discussions we’re having with our brand and agency clients to IAB’s ongoing initiatives to improve the transparency within online advertising.”

“It is important for the advertising ecosystem to work together to strengthen our defenses against ad fraud,” said Mike Zaneis, CEO of TAG. “By registering with TAG, eZanga has taken an important step in building a common industry standard to ensure that only legitimate companies participate in the digital advertising ecosystem.”

The post eZanga Joins IAB and Earns Approval for TAG Registry appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.