• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 28, 2006

With buyers and sellers struggling to agree on effectiveness metrics for ads in on-demand media, the American Association of Advertising Agencies Monday issued new guidelines setting out some of its preferences.

Among the recommendations from the AAAA's Digital Video Innovation Committee is a call for greater specificity in data, including whether ads were viewed in real-time or fast-forward mode and whether viewers linked or clicked through to longer-form content. The group also called for an increased focus on rapid delivery of performance data, preferably within 24 hours, and for a third-party research firm to verify the accuracy of the data.

The AAAA first issued guidelines for on-demand media in 2004. But with consumer adaptation of technologies--such as VOD, DVRs, mobile-phone content, and broadband video--on the rise, committee members felt a need to update them.

"Consumer acceptance of digital devices is increasing at a rapid rate, and we're concerned that the advertising platform may not be developing as quickly--at least in terms of the metrics, which are needed as standards of accountability and performance," said Russ Booth, committee chair and MediaCom's director of analytics.

A status report on implementation of the guidelines is expected some time this year, followed by successive updates.

"There's a sense of urgency," Booth said. "We need these guidelines now more than ever."

Booth added: "These are the types of metrics we need going forward: We need to know the universe counts...we need to be able to count impressions, we need to understand what 'trick-plays' are occurring, and we need to understand (all this) from a verifiable third-party perspective."