Audit groups unite for Web data system

Rival media auditing groups the Audit Bureau of Circulations and BPA International have agreed to work together to develop common standards in the validation of Website audience data.

This follows a debate at the general assembly of the International Federation of Audit Bureau in Washington last month, where rival audit groups agreed to develop a common audience measurement system.

ABC UK’s deputy chief executive Richard Foan has been appointed co-chairman of an IFABC standards committee designed to develop common minimum standards and reporting formats for the audit of ad-backed Websites.

The move comes at a time of rapid growth in Net advertising but mounting confusion over the various forms of audience measurement.

AC Nielsen subsidiary I/PRO dominates the market in traffic measurement systems in the US, and accounts for three-quarters of Web audits, according to its sister company CyberAtlas, which surveys the Internet sector. CyberAtlas’s latest Web Advertising Roadmap, reveals that only 16 per cent of ad-supported sites are audited or tracked.