BPA Worldwide Blog

BPA new rules and amendments - December 2010

Below, we have summarized new rule amendments passed by BPA’s Board of Directors at their December 2010 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes are effective immediately.

The BPA Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on the BPA home page, or by clicking here. We have also posted this summary to the BPA blog if you wish to comment on any of the initiatives or rule amendments. If you prefer, please contact your BPA Member Relations Manager, or any of our audit staff, with any questions.

 

 

Board Actions Applying to All BPA Members

* Combined Brand Audit/Multimedia Report. Last year, BPA introduced the Integrated Brand Reach audit, a new service to verify a media owner’s brand reach across multiple channels of content distribution. The gross number of recipients for each channel were reported, as well as the net count of unique recipients.
The success of this process relied on an integrated database containing each channel’s recipients. However, too few media publishers have initiated or completed integrating channel data files.

As a result, BPA has been asked to verify the recipients per channel without integration during a transitional period while integrated databases are built. Given the difficult economic times, the BPA Board agreed to provide an audit of a brand without initially requiring database integration or net unique recipients.

Those publishers with truly integrated databases may continue to report gross recipients of each channel, the number of “uniques” served and the overlap in channels delivered. Alternatively, publishers have the opportunity to report multiple media channels without identifying any overlap of platforms users. In those cases, each paragraph will include a disclosure that “no attempt has been made identify or eliminate duplication that may exist across media channels.”

According to BPA President and CEO, Glenn Hansen, the global auditor of media has as its goal that members will report “uniques” across all platforms by 2014. A three-year transition period allowing media owners to introduce the necessary processes to properly integrate their subscriber databases is necessary, he added. Each year, the Board will reevaluate the attainability of the desired goal with the knowledge that advertisers and media buyers want media owners to provide integrated data so they can make the best marketing decisions across all channels.

Whether media owners report data through integrated channels or by separate platforms, both Aggregate and Average contacts per channel (by frequency) will be available.

A sample Brand Audit Report will be available shortly.

* Non-requested digital subscribers. As part of this process, BPA introduced a new channel for non-requested digital magazines on the Brand Audit Report. Non-requested digital subscribers will be grouped together as “Digital” circulation in the Executive Summary but broken out separately as Request/Non-Request categories within the age/source paragraph.

* Expo/Event registrants/attendees. Understanding that sponsors of expos/events may wish to promote to those registrants who may not attend the event, media owners will now be allowed to report the number of event attendance only; or both attendance and registration. Registration alone may not be reported. Previously, organizers were permitted to report attendance figures only. The new rule applies to reporting data for both live and virtual events.

* Publicity. Now that BPA has moved to measure all channels of a brand through the Brand Audit Report, media owners may be faced with disclosing various sources throughout their media kits. To ensure members’ promotional pieces are as clear as possible, the Board voted to allow a single statement per promotion, “Unless otherwise indicated, all data is publisher’s own data.” However, if publishers choose to disclose the sources for all data cited, they may do so.

Board Actions Applying to Business Publications and Consumer Magazines

Unbalanced Reporting Frequency. A number of BPA members, often in seasonal situations, report multiple issues on one six-month circulation report but only a single issue on the other statement.

To help reduce cost to members, the BPA Board amended its rules to allow those reporting only one issue during a six-month period to report all issues on a single annual circulation statement instead of two six-month reports.

Posting of Membership Advisory and Subsequent Statements. BPA rules prevent a circulation statement from being issued until the previous audit has been completed and released. If a member’s statement is found to require significant revisions as a result of the annual audit, a Membership Advisory is issued outlining the changes made to the statement. The Membership Advisory is posted on the BPA Reports Library. Once the new circulation statement is issued for the subsequent reporting period and posted to the Reports Library, the Membership Advisory is moved to the “History” link. Advertisers typically utilize the current report or statement and may not be aware of recent adjustments included on the Membership Advisory.

To further promote full disclosure, BPA will create a link to Membership Advisories found on the Reports Library. The Membership Advisory link will be removed once a subsequent audit has been completed and the underlying cause of the Membership Advisory has been corrected.

Multi-Copy Same Addressee Disclosures. Rules relating to the disclosure of multi-copy same-addressee (MCSA) circulation were amended to provide better disclosure:

• BUSINESS: If any one MCSA or Sponsored MCSA sale is greater than 5% of total average paid subscriptions for the period, the sale must be fully explained in the explanatory paragraph. Reporting the actual name of the sponsor/purchaser is optional for the publisher.
• If subscriber duplication (reported as MCSA) is equal to 25% or more of average qualified circulation, disclosure within the Definition of Recipient Qualification (DRQ) is required. If duplication (MCSA) circulation is 10% or more, but less than 25%, a comment is required in the explanatory notes section of the statement or report.

 

• CONSUMER: If MCSA circulation is equal to 25% or more of average qualified circulation, disclosure is required within the Market Served (page 1) and Method of Distribution (last page). If 10% or more, but less than 25%, a comments is required in the explanatory notes (last page).

Applicant Audit Extension/Public Notification. BPA’s President grants all applicants a 12-month period within which to complete an initial audit. The President also has the potential to extend that period up to three months should BPA agree that sufficient progress is being made toward completing the audit. However, concerns are raised when media owners’ use of “BPA Applied for” during the application period has the potential to deceive the advertisers in the market to the detriment of other members and applicants.

In those cases when the application has been extended, the Board ruled that the extension period should be used to complete audit work, not to extend the period being audited. BPA will also add a notice of “Application Extension” to the Reports Library on the BPA website.

Minimum Price Disclosure. Additional disclosure is required for any large volume multi-copy same-addressee (MCSA) and/or sponsored subscriptions found on the qualified circulation file, regardless of when they were sold. The rules of disclosure were amended to read:

• If MCSA or sponsored subs represent 5%-9.9% of total average qualified circulation, details of those subscriptions must be reported in the explanatory paragraph (last page of report).
• If MCSA or sponsored subs represent 10% or more of total average qualified circulation, details of the subscriptions must be reported under paragraph 1 on the statement.

Board Actions Applying to Consumer Magazines Only

Average Annual Subscription Order Price: Single Copy Sales. Under current BPA rules, magazines with 50,000 or less average total qualified circulation and less than 5% average qualified paid circulation in paragraph 1, are not required to report average subscription order price. Magazines with more than 50,000 average qualified circulation in paragraph 1, have the same reporting option when the average qualified paid circulation is less than 2%.

Magazines with a high number of single copy sales, or sponsored circulation may exceed these paid circulation thresholds, but have a very small individual subscription base. As a result, members must calculate and report average annual subscription order price on a very small portion of their circulation.

To reduce the time and effort necessary to track and calculate this data, the Board voted to eliminate single copy sales when calculating the annual subscription order price reporting threshold.

 

Board Actions Applying to Canadian Community Newspapers Only

Annual Statement Filing Now an Option for Canadian Community Newspapers. Recognizing that community newspaper publishers in Canada are under continued pressure to remove costs from their operations, community newspapers will now file one annual circulation statement ended March 30. Community publishers retain the option of filing interim six-month statements; however, all community newspapers will be required to file top-level interim data (for six months ended September 30) that will be reported in an online Community Newspaper TRAC (Trend Report About Circulation). Top-line circulation data will include each publishing day’s six-month average circulation for the following four categories: Total Paid Circulation; Voluntary Paid Circulation; Total Non-Paid Circulation; and Total Bulk Distribution. The Board believes community newspaper publishers may be able to eliminate printing costs by opting for the 12-month annual statement.

Daily newspapers in Canada currently report circulation data in a single report covering the calendar year. Dailies serving a daily average of 25,000 or more paid copies are audited on an annual basis; those serving fewer than 25,000 paid copies are audited bi-annually.

What's you opinion? BPA committees propose several new reporting options

As we work our way through BPA’s global audience development committee schedule in advance of our Board of Directors meeting in December, a number of interesting proposals have been brought to the table. I will highlight some of these ideas here with the hope that you will provide your feedback and help shape BPA policy as we move forward.

PROPOSAL 1: Integrated Brand Reach and/or Multimedia report

It has come to our attention that some BPA members wish to report multiple media channels on a BPA Worldwide report, but do not have the resources at this time to fully integrate their files and report “uniques.” As a result, BPA is considering offering a “Multimedia Report (MM)” that will provide publishers with the opportunity to report multiple media channels without identifying any overlap. ABC (North America) has a similar offering.

To be clear: the distinction is that Integrated Brand Reach (IBR) report documents gross recipients of each channel, the number of uniques served and the overlap in channels delivered. The Multimedia Report will show only gross for each channel—with no indication of the unique number of recipients. This proposal would also include the creation of a new channel for non-requested digital magazines on both the Multimedia Report and the Integrated Brand Reach Report.

We would like to hear your opinion on the following ideas:

1. Offering the two services (IBR and MM)
2. If two services are offered, do our reports sufficiently distinguish between the two measurements (see links to the draft reports)
3. Should BPA allow reporting an aggregate of the gross measured, or is the figure of no value in the marketplace
4. Should a new channel of the brand be created for non-requested digital magazines, which are currently considered non-qualified.

PROPOSAL 2: Remove 36-month age requirement (non-print channels)

It is clear that BPA cannot apply the same B-to-B print magazine standards to other channels analyzed (i..e. E-newsletters) in the Integrated Brand Reach report. The capture and control infrastructure for the additional channels are not yet present within most media owners processes. This is especially true when capturing audience demographics.

It has been suggested that BPA remove the 36-month age requirement for demographics on any media channels other than print circulation. This rule would be re-addressed in the future as media owners develop more advanced systems/processes and “qualify” subscribers to channels of the brand, either as they do for print or by linking subscribers of other channels to the information held for their print subscription. In the meantime, however, removing the age stipulation on demographics (other than print) may allow media owners to move more quickly into a truly integrated database.

PROPOSAL 3: Event audience reporting

BPA’s Audience Development Advisory Committee proposed that media publishers be allowed the following options when reporting event figures: event registration only, event attendance only, or both registration and attendance as two separate figures.

This proposal would apply to reporting data for both live and virtual events.

We understand that sponsors of events have the opportunity to promote to registrants even though they may not attend the event. This promotional opportunity may occur before the event as well as after the event. Therefore, it would be of value to have the number of registrants verified. But registrants should not be confused with attendees.

PROPOSAL 4: Publicity Rules

Now that BPA has moved to measure all channels of a brand through the Integrated Brand Reach audit report, should media owners be required to disclose, via a single blanket statement at the beginning of promotional pieces, the circulation/distribution source claim as either: BPA, “Publisher’s Own Data” or another third-party source?

If the promotional item is comparative in nature and involves audited and unaudited channels of a brand, then disclosure of the sources of claims must occur, particularly when the source is “Publisher’s Own Data.” However, this may not be a typical case.

As always, your input is invaluable to us as we consider potential changes to BPA’s processes. Please use the “Comment” button below to share your thoughts and ideas.

BPA Board moves industry closer to total brand reach measurement

Below, we have summarized new rule amendments passed by BPA’s Board of Directors at their May 2010 meeting.

Unless otherwise specified, all changes are effective July 1, 2010.

The BPA Rule Amendments/New Rules may be accessed through the “Rules” link on the BPA home page, or by clicking here. If you wish to comment on any of the initiatives or rule, please use “Comment” link at the end of this post. If you prefer, please contact your BPA Member Relations Manager, or any of our audit staff, with any questions.

Board Actions Applying to All BPA Members

In moves that will transform BPA Worldwide from a legacy print media measurer to that of reporting the consumption of the media brand across all platforms, the BPA Board of Directors took next steps in redefining what a member is by removing the requirement that each channel of the brand be a member--now the brand is the member. Included in this transition, effective July 1st, is a new fee structure for reporting rich data and measuring multi-channels of the brand.

No Pain, No Gain

Everyone has heard this statement. It’s relevant for the recent economic crisis and certainly also relates to our professional lives. With much talk of late about lasting effects of the recession on the tradeshow industry and its current model, these words may never ring more true.

In the January 2010 issue of EXPO Magazine, Dan Cole, Vice President of Sales and Business Development for the Consumer Electronic Association, said in his Sales Q & A column that if an exhibitor is “not sufficiently disturbed by a problem” they will not “act in order to solve their pain.” He went on to say that not only does there need to be “enough pain,” there also needs to be a solution to that pain. Read more here.

The same thing can be said of show organizers. If they are not “sufficiently disturbed” by exhibitors, they will not “act in order to solve their pain.” Exhibitors are starting to voice the need for show organizers to be more accountable. We see this from industry surveys, at conference sessions and industry blogs. Most organizers continue to say that until exhibitors demand accountability, they will not be proactive in providing it; with little to no disturbance from something they do not consider a problem.

BPA Worldwide rolls out Brand Reach audit report to meet demand for verification of all touch-points

Like most media owners today, Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Stamats Business Media was looking to retain and grow marketing revenue in an increasingly diverse media landscape. Stamats, which publishes multiple titles across several distinct media platforms – print, online, e-newsletters – recognized that increasing revenue lies with a better understanding and identification of all touch-points its brand has with consumers. This information would be key to broadening its selling scope.

Stamats, upon hearing of BPA’s new offering at the American Business Media (ABM) Spring Meeting, turned to BPA Worldwide, the global leader in auditing media, for help. Together, using Stamats relational database, they began testing BPA’s new Brand Reach^sm audit service which allows media owners to better monetize their consumer information held across multiple media platforms and offer more creative but effective options to advertisers interested in extending their brand awareness and reach.

An open letter to BPA's media owner members

Speaking for all of us at BPA Worldwide, I want to take this opportunity to personally thank those media owners who have continued membership and support. We recognize full well that the market realities of the past year have placed the media industry under enormous stress and strain and to say it’s a transformative time is a gross understatement. However, if there’s a time or a circumstance to reaffirm our collective commitment to quality, transparency and accountability, this is it.

The intense pressure is forcing hands in many ways, leaving some media owners contemplating cutting corners in ways they never would have considered 18 months ago. But solutions are often foisted in the toughest of times and we appreciate that in spite of the impulse to do some belt-tightening, you refuse to compromise on the investment necessary to maintain the integrity of your data through a BPA audit.

BPA’s obligation to serving the entire media industry – advertisers, media buyers and media owners –enables us to best and most credibly serve our members. We are not beholden to any one slice of the media universe. In fact, our very structure supports objectivity. With an elected board of 17 advertisers and agencies and 15 media owners, and with local media buyer and owner advisory boards in Asia, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, BPA continues to be an industry-owned, not-for-profit organization operating for the benefit of the industry. BPA’s bylaws require that our chairman always be a media buyer – never an owner. Media buyers will always have the larger share of board seats, because it is their investment in advertising that has created the need for audited data. It is this board, supported by numerous advisory groups, that establishes the guidelines for measurement consistent with the needs of our stakeholders throughout the world.

Address to ABM/FIPP World Conference: "A Passport to Transformation"

Here is a speech I gave Monday, September 8th at the B-toB World Conference of FIPP hosted by ABM to announce our new offering in the web measurement business.

Good afternoon.

As the program of this conference highlights, “passport to transformation”, these are challenging times for media owners, certainly BtoB, but all media. I believe inherent in every challenge lies opportunity. And so I appear before you today to announce how BPA has responded to challenging times and seized the opportunity. With an ever-increasing demand on time and resources, people are moving much faster thus requiring - even demanding - information at an increasingly feverish pace.

The obvious answer to this need for information, and speed at which to get it, is the Internet. This comes as no surprise but probably not since the industrial revolution and the invention of the automobile has the world seen a greater innovation to our modern world.

I am sure we all agree and accept that advertising spend has made a dramatic shift to the internet. Although the spending rate in the trade press did make a modest rebound after the dotcom bubble burst and the recession following the 9/11 attacks, the shift to internet advertising has remained strong and growing. While small increments of spend have crept back to the printed product, it is no where near levels it once enjoyed. As a result, the number of pages of trade magazines has diminished noticeably as has the number of new B2B magazine launches.

Currently the biggest concern for the trade press industry is the decline of advertising spending. The effect of this has caused a shrinking of circulations and reduced print runs. In addition to this there is concern over the move of business audiences from traditional trade magazines toward information gathering from alternative sources. Although many believe there will always be a need for printed trade magazines, the fact remains there are fewer launches and many other titles moving toward a web-based or “e” product. In today’s current marketplace, the advertising buyer is presented with more media choices while at the same time working within smaller and tighter budgets. As a result, audits and verification should be required to keep the emphasis on the needs of the advertiser. We recognize that BPA needs to increase its relevance in today’s multi-media environment.

Our history shows we have always been innovative. Twelve years ago we moved into the interactive market and the waters got very muddy with various vendors and confusing metrics. The market is evolving at a rapid pace and metrics change just as quickly. Ultimately (and unfortunately) the market has become comfortable with measurement whereby the website owner sets their own measurement parameters using software that is perceived to be third party independent when nothing could be further from the truth. Unfortunately thus far we have not seen the rally cry in the industry to require real third party auditors across the board.

As reported in the Internationalist, (Spring 2007) one ad agency executive has said of his trade, “…you were expected to document everything: audience delivery, reach, intra-media reach, frequency, reach at the effective frequency and much more. The rising importance of ‘new’ media made these metrics less relevant…But a substitute currency was never developed.”

He went on to say, “The erosion of traditional media metrics followed by not having a substitute model has created media plans with a lot of conjectures posing as facts and are often arbitrary.”
So said Marcelo Salup, Senior Vice President & Director of Marketing, GroupoUno

Well folks, I am here to tell you that it stops today!

It stops today!

In a shift toward total brand metrics away from single channel measurement, I am announcing that, in cooperation with Nielsen Online, BPA will bundle enhanced website traffic measurement with all print and trade show audits without increasing our existing dues and fees. Likewise our web only members can include print or events int e same bundled package. Our members have invested in BPA over the years and we are returning the favor in kind.

BPA members around the world will now have near real time online reporting of audited web activity included with circulation audit of print products and attendance at exhibitions or events.

We have been eager to create this added-value bundle for our members. Last year we made the decision to manage revenue and expenses of our not-for-profit organization to enable BPA to offer more services for the same existing rate.

Cost containment measures and pricing management have enabled us to return value to our members by including 24/7 web measurement for every member with no change in dues or fees. We saw the opportunity to give back to our members a truly value-added package to measure their entire brand. This ‘integrated pricing, integrated media’ approach is vital to our mission to lead the world in auditing media. And that mission only becomes truly validated when we can say ‘whatever the channel’.

Our new tag-enabled census tool, powered by Nielsen’s SiteCensus service, is being launched in beta test to our members already participating in our log file-based interactive audits, as well as those members with print audits who have volunteered to participate in the test.

The beta test is scheduled to run now through December with full roll-out to our membership in January 2009.

We chose to work with Nielsen because like BPA, Nielsen is a globally recognized brand in the media industry. It has cutting edge, patented web measurement and reporting systems in place, and an installed base of media buyer users.

The “BPA powered by Nielsen Online” solution offers a dashboard of website traffic metrics providing an industry standard that gives advertisers and media buyers an apples-to-apples comparison when making their marketing decisions. Clearly we are aware that there are a number of web analytics and measurement tools available to media owners. This new solution will create a level playing field with a single set of standards—provided on a constant basis—performed by one audited analytics tool—that advertisers and agencies can trust as accurate. A single, standard web measuring system across our membership eliminates any guesswork on why data is different amongst competitive sites.

We are making this move from our previous log file-based interactive audit to page-tagging because the latter gets data to market much faster and at significant savings. Our members will now be able to access website traffic information—including page impressions, unique browsers, users’ sessions, unique browser frequency, user session duration, page duration and an executive summary of the above—on an unlimited basis to retrieve nearly-real time data, 24 hours-a-day, seven days a week. The ability to select by market sector, country of origin of traffic, or specific site also exists.

Members can print or download website traffic information based on daily, weekly, monthly or historical reports, or forward the traffic data directly to sales staff or prospective advertisers. Although we will not produce individual reports for the online data, top-line web data can be integrated with a brand’s circulation or attendance audit. We will also work with Nielsen to collect qualitative survey data from website users for more robust measurement and demographics by site and market sector, which is the demand being made of BPA by advertisers. Media buyers want to know the quality of the user.

As part of our agreement with Nielsen Online, we will conduct a System Certification Audit on Nielsen’s SiteCensus tool on an annual basis to ensure it is properly collecting and reporting web traffic data. We will also continually audit each website to ensure correct tag placement and number of tags per page, as well as accurate filtering of spiders, robots and internal users from traffic counts.

This opportunity is truly a 'passport to transformation'.

--end--

Please submit your comments below.

Measuring engagement and the effectiveness of marketing media

I recently moderated a panel discussion at the 2008 Exhibiton & Convention Executives Forum (ECEF) titled "Measuring engagement and the effectiveness of marketing media". The panel was made up of media association executives, including Gordon Hughes, President & CEO of American Business Media (ABM); Dr. Ray Pettit, Ph.D., Sr. Vice President of MarketShare Partners representing the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF); and Bob Liodice, President & CEO of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

Each of the panel brought forth great insights regarding trade shows as one of the most effective media platforms, including the statistical value of events and the fact that face-to-face provide a higher level of engagement than other media. Both the ARF and ABM have research studies available which document the level of engagement and effectiveness trade shows offer as a medium.

Click here for the ARF research study.

Click here for the ABM research study.

I encourage you to view the archived vidoe panel discussion and post below with your comments and questions.

Event Audit Q & A—Why Should I Audit My Event?

The question and answer article below first appeared in the March 2008 edition of the IAEE's Exhibitions & Events e-newsletter.

Question: I have heard the recent industry buzz about auditing shows. I have always been forthcoming with my attendance numbers and, quite frankly, my exhibitors are not asking for audited data. Why should I audit if no one is asking for it?

Answer: Being forthcoming with your attendance numbers is always a good business practice and for many years decisions to exhibit were based upon this type of trust. But in today’s competitive media environment, the executive suite wants to know exactly where the marketing dollars are going—and why.

When asked why we are doing these shows, the stock answer that “we have been doing this show for years and it meets our target market” is no longer an acceptable response. Marketing execs want to see independent, verified information that is backed by a legitimate source. Audited event data provides that valuable marketing intelligence that is reported in a consistent manner by an objective third party.

Of course, the biggest reason your exhibitors are not asking for attendance audits is likely because they are not aware this information is available to them—free of charge. If they knew about events audits, don’t you think they would ask for them? I would bet they would since this would be a terrific way to legitimize and rationalize to their execs why they should spend money on your show.

An event audit also serves as a very powerful marketing and sales tool to sell exhibit space. Data from an event audit report allows you to sit down with an exhibitor, review all of the verified attendee segments and drill down and identify their target markets. This also sets the bar for your exhibitors’ future expectation levels.

For a new exhibitor, your relationship will be built upon a foundation of trust and the audit data will reinforce that trust. The audit will also help you to manage the expectations of your new exhibitor so they will more likely to renew for the following year.

The audit can work for non-renewals too. Verified data will enable you to show the exhibitor those market segments that they were unable to reach at your show. After identifying your exhibitors’ specific market segments, you will then have the opportunity to upsell via booth size or conference sponsorships.

Click here to see the review a BPA Worldwide Event Audit Report.

If you have a question about event audits, please comment below or submit your inquiries to jzuccerella@bpaww.com.

Media owners take note: Christmas retail shows continued consumer shift toward online

It may not quite spell the death of retail just yet, but Christmas 2007 was undeniably an internet holiday.

Consumers in the US spent almost $28bn online during the Christmas season, up 19% on the previous year, whilst around 4.4m surfers - equivalent to one in thirteen of the UK population - purchased items online on Christmas Day itself, a year-on-year increase of 269%.  According to internet security company Retail Decisions, over the whole three-day holiday period total online spend in the UK hit an estimated £440m.

That’s great news for retailers, of course. It’s also a further indication for media owners, buyers and advertisers that, not only our media consumption, but so much of our social interaction will increasingly revolve around the online space. Shopping, social networking, entertainment and news are already internet-led activities.

However, as trading online becomes the norm, as it surely will within five years, it is essential for the credibility not only of the medium but also of those that operate in it, that the same safeguards and standards that we have applied to our offline activities are carried through to the online space.

The internet is maturing fast, despite the fact that new opportunities are unveiled literally by the day. The time when the dot-com collapse rocked our faith and led to a pull-back in investment in online seem a long time ago.

And this means that media owners, buyers and advertisers can no longer afford to conduct their business in silos. Advertisers need to make buying decisions across all media platforms and based on evidence of where potential consumers are going to source their information or buy their products. 

This focus on ROI demands that online embraces the same level of independently verified, in-depth data as their print contemporaries. It will lead to demands for media owners to report the geographic origin of traffic to their sites, so that those who advertise globally can make informed decisions on where to place their spend; it will lead to greater scrutiny of ad serving networks, and above all, it will demand demonstrable evidence from media owners that what an advertiser pays for, it actually gets.

It’s going to be an interesting year.