NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> 3rd party auditing
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> 3rd party auditing
Chris Bertchie (chrisb_at_townhall.com)
Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:27:26 +0000
Ray Taylor wrote:
> Anyone whose background is grown-up media will
> recognise the importance of 3rd party auditing.
>
> Currently, auditing of Web sites is a luxury, but it
> will at some point become essential because the serious
> buyers will demand it.
>
> One of the problems of the Web at present is the
> amateurish approach of many sites, including many of
> the big ad revenue generators. One of the advantages of
> auditing is that it will impose a professional
> discipline on the media owners and will help to
> gravitate the industry toward common standards of media
> information.
I grew up selling for audited publications. But while I agree that
3rd party auditing is important in "grown-up media", and it would be
nice to have a third party provide verification of traffic, ad
deliveries, etc., the Web is far from ready. It IS a very young
medium, and even a new print publication rarely has a publisher's
statement, let alone a true audit statement. Besides, there are no
auditing standards for the Web: Who should decide what information,
in what format, is usable? The buyers? The media? The audit
companies?
> It will also impose a cost. Although this may be a
> problem for media owners it will help separate the
> serious media propositions from the rest of the Web.
The fact that a site can't afford an audit doesn't mean it isn't a
viable media proposition: Not everybody wants to use the Web as
mass media. Ad revenue isn't yet spread across niche sites, because
not all viable prospects HAVE web sites yet; those that DO,
often don't know WHY they have a site. Everybody agrees that
targeted buys are a good thing, but the smaller sites with very
targeted audiences simply don't have a big enough pool to drink from
yet.
Perhaps the structure of the Web will gravitate toward web rings,
with smaller sites joining rings, and a collective fund paying for
audits.
'Web Rings' Emerge as Alternative to Search Engines"
Web Week
< http://www.webweek.com/current/markcomm/19971020-webrings.html >
Or perhaps the *hosting services* are a proper target for
audits, and should provide audited information for the small sites
they host. The Web's a different medium, after all: A publisher can
control the number of copies printed by the printer, can control the
number actually mailed out or delivered to newstands, and has the
addresses of subscribers and sales records to form the basis for an
audit.
The small Web publisher, on the other hand, can't control the server
stats if they don't own the server, or if they are pushing content
through a service. Or is my lack of technical background showing?
Another thing: If you buy space on per-click basis, and you track
the clicks from your end, do you care if the site is audited? If the
success your campaign is measured in number of sales, do you care
whether or not the productive site is audited? If you pay on a per-
inquiry, per-event, per-sale or transactional basis, do you care
whether or not the site is audited?
On the other hand, as a site, I'd certainly like a third-party audit
of sales for such a customer - and as the transactional pricing model
grows in popularity, there are bound to be third party service
bureaus that handle the transactions. (I don't know of any now, just
the "third party" distributor for an advertiser - talk about conflict
of interest!)
Chris Bertchie, Advertising Director
TOWN HALL < http://www.townhall.com >
214 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E.
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202-608-6019 Fax: 202-544-7330
Email: chrisb_at_townhall.com
Online Media Kit: < http:///www.townhall.com/media_kit >
