asiCast 129: Online measurement in Australia – a new beginning

Posted by asi on 21st September 2021

Shortly after the announcement that Ipsos had been appointed to measure digital audiences in Australia, Ian Garland, Managing Director of Milton Data, interviewed Gai Le Roy, CEO of the IAB Australia.

Will the new service operate like a JIC, where the IAB owns the service and markets the data, or will the new arrangement be closer to the model adopted in the UK where Ipsos will retail the data to any interested parties? One of the most striking positives about the tender process associated with this appointment was input from a wide range of players in the market. What was the outcome of this process and why did stakeholders regard Ipsos as most likely to meet the requirements identified?

Ian observes that the IAB represents an extremely wide range of digital players, from Google and Facebook to traditional broadcasters, publishers and new market entrants. He asks Gai whether it is possible for a single service to meet all the needs for planning, buying and reporting. The IAB has stressed the need to focus more on people-based measurement rather than device-based, but of course whenever a new metric is introduced there will be differences – there will be winners and losers. How can these differences be explained to the marketplace?

Will the service extend to campaign reporting and to what extent will this depend on the co-operation of publishers? Until now, audiences have been measured by objective criteria such as exposure to advertising, but we are seeing the introduction of additional factors such as engagement and attention that many are suggesting are of increasing importance. To what extent might these additional measures simply confuse an IAB currency?

Some of the more recent announcements of developments in audience measurement point to essentially bespoke solutions developed to meet the specific requirements of particular markets. Does this suggest that there is a move away from the demands of multi-nationals who have been requesting fewer differences between markets? How does Gai see this development (and similar projects around the world) playing into projects like Origin and the WFA’s North Star objectives?

Ian Garland talks with Gai Le Roy:

You can also listen to the interview by pressing play below or click here.

The increased importance being placed on the role of panels will be discussed at this year’s asi International Television & Video Conference, online from 2nd to 5th November 2021.

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