• by Masha Geller , April 11, 2001

Don't do a double-take. The Internet Advertising Bureau is taking on a new, more contemporary name. Meet the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The name change is an attempt to attract a wider variety of members to the organization. And they're changing membership requirements to go with the new name.

In an effort to concentrate on building confidence in and promoting the value of interactive advertising and marketing, the IAB will expand its membership eligibility to include all companies actively engaged in the sale of interactive advertising and marketing. That means that interactive TV and wireless advertising firms can now join the organization.

IAB Chairman Rich LeFurgy, said, "The timing is right as we are in fact mirroring the development of our member companies' efforts to embrace all of the major digital interactive advertising platforms, including the Internet, wireless and interactive television."

Optimistically, he added that Interactive media will "continue to grow and be an ever-increasing component in the daily lives of billions of people."

The decision, however, also means that the IAB is dropping those companies that were affiliated with the industry but didn't necessarily buy or sell media - technology suppliers and measurement and research firms.

Robin Webster, newly-elected President & CEO of the IAB, said that the former Associate and Affiliate members "are amply represented by other active trade and industry associations, all of whom the IAB work with on a regular basis."