Should Media and RoI Measurement be Independent for Transparency?

    Media, RoI

    There is ever-increasing anxiety among the advertising community about the lack of mutual independence between media and measurement of its effectiveness?

    The pressure on marketers to increase marketing ROI is multiplying. Advertisers and marketers are demanding deeper insights and more involvement in how publishers, ad-tech partners, and agencies spend on their behalf.

    They need to understand the return and the outcome of every ad dollar spent. With this determined measurement mindset becoming the new norm – social and digital companies like Google and Facebook are beginning to introduce in-house attribution strategies and tools.

    But, do marketers really need or want these attribution tools?

    Can businesses actually measure what they sell free of any bias?

    The brand marketers’ perspective on the attribution market is highly nuanced. They are glad and relieved that the marketing ecosystem is waking up to the need for an upgraded and sound attribution model that would answer the big ROI questions, solving ROI problems within their organizations.

    But, there is another concern among the advertising community about the lack of separation and mutual independence between media entities and the measurement of their effectiveness. Media companies announcing and launching newly upgraded attribution tools further intensify these concerns.

    Logically, there is a high chance of a conflict of interest among the attribution models owned by different media companies. This approach to attribution is akin to TV channels proclaiming high viewership, without any third-party verification agency such as Nielsen or BARB. Advertisers are asking, if the TV can have independent verification channels and metrics, then why other platforms should not apply the same logic to measurement.

    After brand safety and viewability, the stage is all set for independent, third-party, and media-agnostic attribution tool.

    Independent third-party verification remains the hottest topic of discussion among the marketing communities and circles. As marketers demand enhanced transparency for their digital and social media campaigns, independently verifying viewability and brand safety has become a standard expectation across agencies, advertisers, and media companies.

    This initiative would ensure a significant decrease the ad fraud caused by falsified traffic and inventor, little to no brand associations with the negativity, less ad wastage, and lack of integrity on the online ad space – such as hate speech, fake news, racism, and more.

    These independent verification standards and tools for enhanced viewability, transparency, and brand safety are already considered the industry standard. Separate measurement and attribution is the next frontier for forward-looking marketers and advertisers.

    Such efforts will end the era of the ‘walled gardens’ of measurements and media.

    As marketers wipe out the walled garden approach to the often-conflicted relationship between measurement and media, the role of independent attribution and verification tools is becoming crucial. However, for the third parties to deliver precisely what brands need, the entire marketing ecosystem is going to have to advocate and exercise open technology with greater transparency and data exchange between ad tech partners and the media. Marketers across industries realize, accept, and advocate that it is time for adopting independent attribution tools.