Interactive Advertising Bureau
09 August 2017

IAB Europe, EACA and WFA Press Release: New cross-industry initiative to improve viewability measurement standards across Europe

Brussels, 10th August 2017 - The European Viewability Steering Group (EVSG), a cross-industry body originally formed towards the end of 2015 by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe (IAB Europe), the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA) and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), today announces the launch of a comprehensive European Viewability Certification Framework.

This includes the publication of the first set of European Viewability Measurement Principles and will soon be followed by the launch of a Request for Proposals (RFP) process to identify suitable auditors across the region.

The Measurement Principles have been created to help reduce discrepancies in the data provided by different viewability measurement tools. Extensive consultation has been conducted with a broad range of industry stakeholder groups including - publishers, media agencies, advertisers, measurement companies, ad technology providers, national, international and cross-industry trade bodies. Notable contributions have been provided by the MRC in the US; JICWEBS in the UK; BVDW, AGOF and OWM in Germany; Digital Ad Trust in France; and key national trade bodies across Europe.

The RFP process will be launched before the end of August and will seek to identify and appoint one or more auditors. Interested companies should contact IAB Europe or EACA. The Measurement Principles will be used as the basis for evaluating the performance of the technical approach undertaken by the viewability measurement companies. An evaluation report will be produced to help inform the potential issuing of a European Seal of Accreditation. The Seal will be recognised by all participating European markets and will remove the need for further market-by-market accreditation.

The EVSG is responsible for shaping the overall strategic direction of the initiative, ensuring it remains relevant and valuable to all stakeholders across Europe. To formalise the involvement of several national markets with developed viewability initiatives, the EVSG is now being enlarged to include nominated market representatives (see page 3).

The ongoing management and implementation of the Certification Framework and awarding of the Seals will be undertaken by a related body called the European Authority (EA) - resourced by representatives from IAB Europe and EACA. The EA will work in conjunction with the appointed national bodies to ensure the certification framework is implemented effectively in each market.

The Certification 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 EVSG envisages that the European approach will provide useful guidance for other regions or markets seeking to develop similar solutions.

Quotes from EVSG Founding Member organisations

Alison Fennah, Executive Business Advisor, IAB Europe said: “With digital ad spend surpassing €40bn it’s ever more critical to reinforce the quality of the digital advertising environment to underpin the delivery of free content. Ensuring that viewable impressions are measured correctly and consistently is a key first step. This initiative is designed to enable Europe’s varied markets to collaborate and create regional standards and deliver local growth.”

Jon Chase, Chair Media Agencies Council, EACA noted: EACA are committed to helping shape and implement the drive towards improved viewability measurement standards across Europe and beyond. The ultimate objective being to establish a fully viewable digital ad environment. Whilst other challenges in the digital advertising ecosystem also require increased focus, reducing data discrepancies between the different viewability tools is a crucial step towards enhanced accountability and trust in digital media metrics.”

 Rob Dreblow, Global Head of Marketing Services, WFA said: “Whilst advertisers investing online often work with their own definitions of a viewable impression, it is critical to have a baseline of quality in terms of how to measure a genuine opportunity to see. Building on the excellent work in the US and UK, we hope this initiative will serve to help markets around the world reduce discrepancies and improve the quality of viewability measurement as this project develops into global guidance.”

Quotes from EVSG National Market Member organisations

Germany:
Thomas Duhr, Vice President, BVDW (rep. IAB Germany) said: “BVDW is pleased to be participating in a European initiative which offers the German market a powerful solution for Viewable Impression measurement discrepancies. BVDW, AGOF and OWM have collaborated to develop a ‘blueprint’ structure to administer the European Certification Framework through active co-operation between the European and national authorities.”

UK:
Richard Foan, Chairman, JICWEBS commented: "We are pleased to support and participate in the European Viewability Initiative to drive greater consistency in viewability measurement across the region. Having initiated the UK certification system for viewability tool vendors in early 2014 and working towards building global standards for local markets, JICWEBS will continue to be involved in the evolution of the European Principles and European Viewability Certification Framework."

France:
Sophie Poncin, President, SRI, representing Digital Ad Trust said: “Viewability is such an important KPI for our industry, it is time to implement European guidance on its measurement. We are proud to support this initiative in France with the Digital Ad Trust Committee.”

Italy:
Assocom, IAB Italy and UPA commented: “The Italian market is looking forward to being involved in the European Viewability Certification Framework to address one of the industry's biggest challenges. This European initiative complements our recently published ‘White Paper of Digital Advertising’ which has been developed as an open, collaborative and cross-industry initiative. This aims to communicate and support a dialogue around hot topics and associated solutions as part of a dynamic digital culture.”

 

END OF PRESS RELEASE


EVSG member organisations and their representatives

IAB Europe:
• Karim Attia, Chair Brand Advertising Committee, IAB Europe
• Alison Fennah, Executive Business Advisor, IAB Europe
• Suzanne McElligott, Board Member, IAB Europe and CEO, IAB Ireland
• Tim Jones, Chair Research Committee, IAB Europe and International Research and Consumer Insight Lead, Oath

EACA:
• Jon Chase, Chair Media Agencies Council, EACA
• Dan Watson, Digital Director, Carat Global
• Bethan Crockett, Digital Risk Director, GroupM

WFA:
• Rob Dreblow, Global Head of Marketing Services, WFA
• Sital Banerjee, Global Head of Media, Philips
• Gerhard Louw, International Media Management & Digital Transformation, Deutsche Telekom

UK - JICWEBS:
• Nigel Gwilliam, Head of Media & Emerging Tech, IPA
• Jon Mew, CEO, IAB UK

Germany - BVDW and AGOF:
• Sven Bornemann, Managing Diector, AGOF
• Katharina Wiegand, Team Leader Digital Business, BVDW

France - Digital Ad Trust (ARPP, Geste, IAB France, SRI, UDA, UDECAM):
• Jean-Baptiste Rouet, UDECAM
• Valérie Chavanne, Vice-President, IAB France
• Hélène Chartier, Director General, SRI

Italy - UPA, IAB Italy and Assocom:
• Anthony Cardamone, Assocom and IAB Italy
• Alberto Vivaldelli, Digital Manager, UPA

Links to relevant documents
Q&A related to the press release
European Viewability Measurement Principles
Overview of the European Viewability Initiative

Contacts
For further information regarding this initiative, please see below contact details:

IAB Europe
Alison Fennah (Executive Business Advisor)
fennah@iabeurope.eu
+44 (0) 7712 645263

EACA (European Association of Communications Agencies)
Jon Chase (Board Director and Chair Media Agencies Council, EACA)
jon.chase@eaca.eu
+44 (0) 7899 657862

 

About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the leading European-level industry association for the online 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.

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.

About WFA
The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) is the voice of marketers worldwide, representing 90% of global marketing communications spend – roughly US$900 billion per annum – through a unique, global network of the world’s biggest markets and biggest marketers. WFA champions responsible and effective marketing communications worldwide.

 

Website links to EVSG National Market Member Organisations

UK (JICWEBS – IPA, IAB UK, ISBA, AOP)
Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) - https://jicwebs.org/
Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) - https://www.ipa.co.uk/
Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK) - https://iabuk.net/
Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) - https://www.isba.org.uk/
Association of Online Publishers (AOP) - https://www.ukaop.org/

Germany
Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) E.V. - https://www.bvdw.org/
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Online Forschung (AGOF) E.V. - https://www.agof.de/?lang=en
Organisation Werbungtreibende im Markenverband (OWM) - https://www.owm.de/index.php?id=76

France (Digital Ad Trust – ARPP, Geste, IAB France, SRI, UDA, UDECAM)
Autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité (ARPP)- https://www.arpp.org/
Groupement des éditeurs de contenus et services en ligne (GESTE) –https://www.geste.fr/
Interactive Advertising Bureau France (IAB France) - https://www.iabfrance.com/
Syndicat des Régies Internet (SRI) https://www.sri-france.org/
Union des annonceurs (UDA) – https://www.uda.fr/
Union des Entreprises de Conseil et Achat Media (UDECAM) - https://www.udecam.fr/

Italy
Associazione Aziende di Comunicazione (Assocom) - https://www.assocom.org/
Interactive Advertising Bureau Italy (IAB Italy) – https://www.iab.it/
Utenti Pubblicità Associati (UPA) - https://www.upa.it/eng/index.html

Additional website link to the US Viewability Certification provider (MRC)
Media Rating Council (MRC) - https://mediaratingcouncil.org/

 

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