The Association of National Advertisers is going after digital media from Amazon, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Foursquare because they do not have independent audits of ad campaigns.
“Embrace the transparency,” said Bill Duggan, exec VP, ANA. The ANA polled its members from the ad industry, and virtually all of them viewed independent audits of digital media as positive. The rest were neutral or likely had some privacy concerns about tracking consumers, Mr. Duggan said.
A K2 Intelligence study, conducted on behalf of the ANA from October 2015 to May 2016, reported that numerous non-transparent business practices were found to be pervasive in a sample of the U.S. media ad-buying ecosystem.
“We outlined specific actions marketers should consider to diminish or eliminate non-transparent and non-disclosed agency activities and to ensure that their media management processes are optimized,” said Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA.
Google and Facebook now agree to audits by the Media Rating Council, an advertising watchdog group. The rating council can authenticate ad campaign data – audience size and other measurements that determine rates and eschews the platform’s or publisher’s individual analysis.
Years – if not decades – of abuse by digital media online ads with fraudulent or inflated traffic claims and ambiguous view-ability standards about how the ads actually appear on screens, have caused national advertisers to demand changes.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
