• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 8, 2017

Seeking to put some impetus on new standards for digital audience measurements released Thursday by the Media Rating Council (MRC), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has issued a call for industry discussion about their implications before they are fully adopted over the next year.

In a statement released Thursday, the IAB said it was speaking for itself, as well as the Association of National Advertisers, the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

It “strongly” encourages the industry to “talk about the impact of these changes and share ideas and solutions that enable a smooth transition over the next year as adoption of the complete new standard is implemented.”

Noting that the adoption period for the standard is “the full year of 2018,” the IAB noted: “While the new standards have been issued, the industry will need time to institute technical and process changes” to comply.

Specifically, the IAB singled out several technical aspects that need to be resolved, especially the concept of “duration weighting.”

“Over the next year the MRC will explore methodologies/data capture requirements in advance of the Cross Media Measurement Standards, and may more discretely refine the requirements for duration weighting,” the IAB stated.

“We strongly recommend that all parties refrain from making buyer/seller decisions based on duration weighting measures until consensus has been reached on implementation. During this period of time, all of our organizations will be providing webinars and other sessions to educate, inform required work and guide adoption overall,” it added.