First UKOM web data expected by January 2010

UK-- The first industry-agreed web audience measurement data from UKOM – the UK Online Measurement Company – will be delivered “no later than January 2010”, general manager Peter Bowman has said.

The company is in the process of selecting a partner who can supply the data using an existing user-centric measurement system, or create a new system – either of which would need to be aligned with the standards set by the now-defunct Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems (Jicims).

Jicims was abandoned last year when two of its four stakeholders – the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers – withdrew support as they were not able to commit to funding the £5m-a-year, three-year project.

But in spite of money worries, support for a unified online planning currency was there, Bowman said. At an industry summit in October delegates were asked for their opinion, and writing in a blog post yesterday, he said: “Nine out of ten attendees were certain that such an agreed planning system would tend to boost branded advertising. More than three quarters of delegates believed we should continue to pursue a conventionally funded ‘JIC', with a similar number supporting alternative structures if that route proved unrealistic.”

Jicims' two other stakeholders, The Internet Advertising Bureau and the Association of Online Publishers, are now equal shareholders in UKOM and are pursuing those alternatives. Discussions are ongoing with research companies who responded to Jicims' request for proposals last year, and Bowman said UKOM expects to be able to announce which agency it will partner with “before the end of Q2 2009”.

Author: Brian Tarran

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