IPA Calls on Google & Facebook to Clean Up Video Measurement

"Audience measurement, brand safety, and transparency are still causing issues for the advertising industry, despite its best efforts to find solutions. Much of this is blamed on the duopoly. However, we can’t continue to cry foul of Google and Facebook’s measurement practices, as well as the wider issues that they create for publishers, and simultaneously ask them to police the industry. Solving these ongoing problems can’t just be left to the digital duopoly to solve – the industry as a whole needs to up its game.

"We always need to keep the end consumer in mind, ensuring that the ads served are both useful to the consumer and exciting enough to grab their attention. There are also powerful untapped data sets – for instance, that of network operators. These companies have consent-based close relationships with consumers and can, therefore, tap into data that would be unreachable for most businesses. Their data can be used to create a people-based approach to marketing that will ultimately lead to a better ad experience for consumers and the kind of transparency that means we won’t need to rely on the duopoly to be judge, jury, and executioner."

James Collier, Chief Revenue Officer, Rainbow

“Brand safety has been hitting the headlines of late, especially when it comes to the duopoly, and while Facebook and Google are working on improving it, there is still a long way to go. We have been offering 100% brand safety for a while now, and know that it’s not impossible to achieve – it’s just a case of choosing quality over quantity, and caring about ad placements that deliver back to brands, rather than simply chasing scale. A huge amount of video is consumed on both Facebook and Google; and if we want to raise industry standards as a whole, whether that be with regards to brand safety or video viewability, then both Google and Facebook should be leading the way.”

Christophe Joyau, Chief Operating Officer, Widespace 

Publishers are actively trying to combat the duopoly

"The industry is realising that it’s advertisers who own the budgets, and this is the third time we’ve seen the advertising industry 'stand up' to the walled garden duopoly. After last year’s Facebook Video Measurement hiccup, and Youtube’s fight against extremist content – an issue also for most social media platforms across the board – we’re now seeing an industry-wide force taking a stand. The industry is not satisfied with Facebook and Google’s efforts to accommodate the brand safety and measurement issues.

"Despite the growing dissatisfaction in the industry, both behemoths’ bottom lines have remained unaffected. Not only is the demand side taking a stance, many publishers have taken an active strategy on how to combat the Big Two. Branded content, direct deals, and in-depth audience insight are some of the things publishers are bringing to the table to take back a piece of the pie."

Amit Dar, Strategic Partnerships Lead, Taptica