• by January 1, 2000

Standardization - the Emerald City of the advertising world. We've been looking for it since the beginning of time - or at least since the beginning of cyberspace. And have we found it? Well, maybe it's safe to say we've found the yellow brick road. But there's still the Wicked Witch to melt.

Yesterday, FAST Europe announced that online advertising guidelines are now endorsed by most of the key players in the European online advertising industry. Over the past year, FAST Europe has worked to define precise standards for ad models, audience measurement and ad targeting, which are ready to be implemented.

The guidelines were developed by groups of industry players and later modified on the FAST Europe website by a broad cross-section of industry stakeholders. You can read the full text of the guidelines on the FAST Europe site - http://www.fasteurope.org - as well as vote and voice your opinion.

Marco Tinelli, CEO of Grey Interactive Europe and Dela Quist, Director of European Sales at Excite Europe, stated that "this will enable us to work more efficiently, focusing on delivering a great experience for consumers and more value to advertisers, which all means more business for everybody."

However, these guidelines remain voluntary and will be useful only when all parties involved choose to obey them. As Stanislas Coouteaux, the FAST Europe Coordinator, said "This is not the end of the road. We must continue to raise awareness and support the guidelines within the Industry so that they are implemented in day-to-day business practice."

Some remain less enthusiastic. As Bruce MacEvoy, director of ad research at Yahoo!, said in a USA TODAY article "The strength of the Internet is that it is built on an open flow of ideas. For that reason alone, I don't expect a single standard to emerge."

Well, maybe someday... somewhere over the rainbow...