• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, May 24, 2010

In an effort to identify key trends and behaviors among U.S. minorities, the Interactive Advertising Bureau on Monday announced the formation of a new Multicultural Council.

Replacing the former IAB Hispanic Committee, the IAB Multicultural Council will focus on key issues that impact marketing and advertising within the multicultural marketplace, including audience measurement, and ensuring that all segments of the U.S. population are accurately measured and accounted for in online media measurement.

"This council will drive a better understanding of the diverse populations and audiences that make up multicultural America, and help marketers use interactive media to reach these market segments," said Sherrill Mane, SVP of Industry Services at the IAB.

While few analysts would deny that a digital divide still exists in the United States, recent reports suggest that progress is being made to close the gap. For instance, Facebook -- once dominated by White and Asian users -- now has percentages of Black and Hispanic users that are equally proportionate to the U.S. population, according to recent research conducted by Facebook staff members, along with two graduate students from Cornell and Princeton.

Last May, comScore reported that about 21 million U.S. Hispanics were online, representing about 10.7% of all U.S. persons online. ComScore also found that the online Hispanic population in the United States was growing about three times as fast as the overall online population.

The new IAB council will also seek to educate marketers and agencies on how to create successful digital marketing strategies to reach multicultural markets, as well as equip multicultural publishers and agencies with tools to address the needs of marketers who want to reach multicultural markets.

"The Multicultural Council will provide our industry with an important forum where we can work towards critical marketplace improvements," said Mark Lopez, chief operating officer of Terra Networks, and co-chair of the IAB Multicultural Council. "We also want to further our efforts in educating marketers and agencies to innovate and connect with this growing audience."