Third-party verification is a vital step in the cross-industry drive for improved quality standards in digital advertising across Europe
Brussels, 11th September 2018
Today, the European Authority (the operating division of the European Viewability Initiative, resourced by IAB Europe and EACA) announces the appointment of these three independent, media auditing organisations to undertake annual technical measurement audits of any company providing viewability measurement services across Europe. This will enable viewability measurement companies to achieve appropriate European accreditation (via a Certification Seal), recognised by all markets in the region and removing the need for further national accreditation. In turn, it will also complement the drive for higher quality standards in digital advertising across all markets.
This decision follows a Request for Proposals (RFP) process in which seven experienced auditing companies submitted detailed responses. The subsequent RFP evaluation process was led by the key stakeholders of the European Authority with expert support from the Technical Committee, appointed by the European Viewability Steering Group (EVSG).
The approved auditors were determined by a series of factors, including - clear demonstration of expertise and capabilities, sophisticated audit methodology and competitive pricing structure. Each of the 3 auditors will work closely with the European Authority along with the appropriate National Authority (i.e. cross-industry bodies in the UK - JICWEBS, Germany - AGOF/BVDW and France - Digital Ad Trust). In turn, each viewability measurement company will be able to select their preferred auditor.
The European Authority will grant licence agreements to the auditors on the basis of the proposed audit methodology and cost forecasts outlined within the respective RFP submissions. The immediate next step will be the delivery, by each auditor, of an effective ‘real-world’ audit test environment. The European Authority & associated Technical Committee will review and approve each of these test environments in advance of any audits being undertaken.
The purpose of the audits is to evaluate the performance of the technical approach offered by the viewability measurement companies according to the requirements of the European Viewability Measurement Principles (developed and published by the EVSG). Following each audit, the chosen auditor will produce an Evaluation Report – summarising the results to enable the European authority to assess whether a European Seal of Accreditation should be issued for the viewability measurement tool under scrutiny.
In the few markets where a national viewability certification process already exists, the European Authority is working with the relevant stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition and adoption of the European Certification Framework.
This Framework has been designed to offer a consistent solution across all
European markets - irrespective of the existing status quo. In the interests of contributing towards the development of consistent, global standards the European approach should also provide useful guidance for other regions or markets seeking to develop similar solutions.
Quotes on behalf of key stakeholders involved
Alison Fennah, Executive Business Advisor, IAB Europe said: “The appointment of these auditors is the key next step in the implementation of the European Viewability Initiative. Agreed standards and third party auditing are vital for a healthy digital ecosystem and we look forward to measurement companies taking advantage of this certification to drive their business across the region and beyond.”
Jon Chase, Board Director and Chair Media Agencies Council, EACA noted: “EACA remain fully committed to driving improved viewability measurement standards across Europe and beyond. We look forward to partnering with the chosen auditors to undertake Europe-wide audits. In turn, providing cross-industry approved certification of the multiple viewability tools. Another crucial step towards enhanced accountability and trust in digital media metrics.”
Richard Foan, Chair at JICWEBS in the UK added: “By agreeing which auditors are asked to undertake reviews the European Viewability Initiative takes another important step for European harmonisation and simultaneously contributes towards global standards for local markets. JICWEBS will continue to play its part in progressing this initiative and working with other stakeholders to address the remaining transition related questions”
Thomas Duhr (Vice-President at BVDW) said on behalf of the cross-industry team at BVDW-AGOF in Germany: "We are fully supportive of this European Viewability initiative that brings together relevant stakeholders - marketers, media agencies, measurement service providers - to help improve quality assurance across the digital advertising industry. In turn, it will be a key part of the Digital Trust initiative in Germany developed as a basis to establish a uniformly high level of marketing quality.”
Jean-Marie Le Guen (Director General, IAB France) commented on behalf of the Digital Ad Trust in France: “The selection of auditors is a major step in the development of a consistent approach in the auditing of viewability measurement services across Europe. The appointment of carefully selected auditors will provide greater transparency on the market and will allow stakeholders to make sure their viewability measurement tools meet the best performance standards. Digital Ad Trust members are committed to developing transparency and accountability to increase trust and create value for all stakeholders and, as such, fully supports the European Viewability Initiative.”
Valerie Morrisson, Managing Director, CESP, added: “Moving from served to viewable impressions ranks among the top priorities for all stakeholders, as shown in IAB Europe’s annual Report ‘Digital Brand Advertising and Measurement’. I’m pleased to see that EACA and IAB Europe have managed to convince the European countries to join forces to create a pan-European certification process to support this important move for the industry.”
Simon Redlich, Chief Executive at ABC, said: “We’re pleased to be appointed by the European Authority as an independent auditor to support this pan European initiative. Our well established viewability testing processes are recognised for delivering consistent, comparable results and we remain committed to increasing transparency and trust in this area.”
Professor Wolfgang Lehner from GWT-TUD noted: “We are excited to be appointed as one of the official auditors for the European Viewability Initiative. We look forward to providing transparent and objective audits of the viewability measurement tools.”
European Authority representatives
IAB Europe:
EACA:
Links to relevant documents
Contacts
For further information regarding this initiative, please see below contact details:
EACA (European Association of Communications Agencies)
Jon Chase (Board Director and Chair Media Agencies Council, EACA)
+44 (0) 7899 657862
IAB Europe
Alison Fennah (Executive Business Advisor)
+44 (0) 7712 645263
Marie-Clare Puffett (Business Programmes Manager)
+44 (0) 7805 819 373
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the leading European-level industry association for the digital advertising ecosystem. Its mission is to promote the development of this innovative sector and ensure its sustainability by shaping the regulatory environment, demonstrating the value digital advertising brings to Europe’s economy, to consumers and to the market, and developing and facilitating the uptake of harmonised business practices that take account of changing user expectations and enable digital brand advertising to scale in Europe.
www.iabeurope.eu | @IABEurope | IAB Europe
About EACA
The European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) represents more than 2,500 communications agencies and agency associations from 30 European countries that directly employ more than 120,000 people. EACA members include advertising, media, digital, branding and PR agencies. EACA promotes honest, effective advertising, high professional standards and awareness of the contribution of advertising in a free market economy and encourages close co-operation between agencies, advertisers and media in European advertising bodies. EACA works closely with EU institutions to ensure freedom to advertise responsibly and creatively.
www.eaca.eu | @EACA_eu | info@eaca.eu
About ABC
ABC delivers a stamp of trust for the UK media industry. Owned and developed jointly by UK media owners, advertisers and agencies to set industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement across print, digital and events. ABC is also a trusted verification provider - auditing media brand measurement data and the adoption of good practice and process to industry-agreed standards. Established in 1931, ABC was the first UK Joint Industry Currency (JIC) and founding member of the International Federation of ABCs.
About CESP
CESP (Centre d’Étude des Supports de Publicité) is a non-profit organization created in 1957, regrouping the different stakeholders of the French media industry: media owners and their sales houses as well as media agencies and advertisers. CESP conducts two main types of missions: audits in France (for all media currency studies) and abroad, and consultancy missions locally and internationally. Eighteen permanent staff work at CESP and are supported by a high profile Scientific Committee of 16 professionals from the academic and media industry fields, involved in all audits carried out by CESP.
About GWT-TUD
GWT-TUD GmbH is a R&D service provider headquartered in Dresden. Founded in 1996, GWT-TUD GmbH works at the interface of public research institutions, like TU Dresden, one of eleven German Universities of Excellence, and industry. With more than 500 projects per year, totaling over 25 million euros in volume, the company is among the top technology transfer organizations in Germany.
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Would you like to know the benefits for CMPs? Please download the Factsheet below.
The measurement of advertising effectiveness is steeped in a history of evolution and the introduction of digital channels has increased this pace of change.
This new IAB Europe white paper collates a range of industry measurement approaches along with general research findings and learnings in order to understand how the industry measures digital ad effectiveness and how digital media contributes to advertising success. The white paper also provides guidance and considerations, based on these learnings, for campaign measurement.
IAB Europe would like to thank the white paper leader that helped to edit and compile the final draft:
And the white paper contributors that provided content for this white paper:
DATE: Thursday, 20 September 2018
TIME: 12PM (CET) / 11AM (GMT)
Join Criteo and IAB Europe as we look into the current landscape of cross-channel measurement, examine attribution methodologies when measuring cross-device ROI and dig into why data is critical to build out cross-device identity.
Register for this webinar to learn how to:
*If you register but are unable to attend, we will send you the recorded version within a week of the live webinar.
Speakers:
By John Wittesaele, President, Xaxis EMEA
Xaxis recently competed a research project, in association with IAB Europe we surveyed business leaders in marketing and advertising to find out what they thought of artificial intelligence (AI).
The results are encouraging. They show an industry that appreciates the importance and the challenge of AI. You can download the report here.
But I’d like to take a short break from talking about AI — or just about AI — and turn instead to human intelligence. Most respondents to our survey said they were ‘somewhat confident’ in their understanding of AI.
But only 16% of advertisers and 15% of those who worked in agencies said they were ‘very confident’. Just 21% of advertisers and 33% of agencies say they’re using AI to drive growth, which is surely the point of almost everything we do in business. And that matters.
From data, to insights, to outcomes
The advertising industry needs AI. There is no way we can make use of the volume of media inventory or the amount of data available to us without it. With AI, we can identify audience segments, build scaled lookalike audiences based on those segments, then deliver tailored content which we optimise and personalise dynamically while the campaign is running.
It’s exciting. This is a great time to work in advertising. But our industry’s conversation is so focussed on artificial intelligence that we run the risk of neglecting something just as important: human intelligence.
To extract value from data, you need to turn it actionable information; something a business can use to achieve a measurable and positive outcome, whether that’s a rise in online conversion rates, driving footfall to stores, or something else. That’s what we do at Xaxis.
Where’s the talent and why should we care?
For that to happen, you need not just AI but also humans with the right skills, knowledge and experience. At the moment, that mainly means data scientists and analysts as well as planners and creatives comfortable working with data. As an industry, we just can’t get enough of these people — literally.
According to research by IBM, US market demand for data scientists is set to rise by 28% between now and 2020. Unless the supply of qualified candidates is increased, roles will go unfilled. The situation is much the same in Europe. A study by the EU Commission estimates that the continent needs to find 346,000 more data scientists by 2020 if vacancies are not to go unfilled.
In such an environment, brands and agencies will undoubtedly find it hard to track down, recruit and retain the data-talent they need to get the most out of their investments in AI.
What we need to do
According to a recent report by a London recruitment agency, entry-level data roles are scarce. 45% of the job listings analysed in the study asked for post-graduate degrees and 64% specified previous work experience in data analysis as a requirement.
The same report found that 93% of data jobs offered a salary that was above the UK median — on average, more than double it. If positions are going unfilled now, even at a salary almost twice the national average, what’s it going to be like in a few years when the number of data- AI-related roles has exploded?
There are two logical responses to this skills gap. The first is for advertisers and agencies to find themselves a partner who can provide access to the necessary data expertise.
Skill clusters are a well-known phenomenon in areas such as engineering and software development. They also operate in AI and data-based industries such as programmatic advertising. Find the right adtech partner, and you’ll have access to just such a cluster, giving you the expertise you need to bridge the skills gap.
The second response is a collective one. We need to change the way we think about the talent pipeline, about who would make a good data-scientist or analyst, and about what qualifications and experience we need. If we don’t, in a few years’ time we’ll find ourselves competing with investment banks, software developers and even the space industry for talent that gets more expensive and harder to find all the time.
So, as well as talking about the AI-revolution — which we cover in this report and which we should all be excited by — let’s also start talking about the human intelligence we need to work alongside AI: where we can find enough of it, how we can recruit it into advertising, and how we can retain it.
To find out more about the challenges the AI revolution is going to throw up for advertisers and the ad industry, download our report in association with IAB Europe.
