Preliminary contract discussions between UKOM and Nielsen are now underway regarding the commercial and technical elements of the online media planning tool, which is on course to be ready by January next year.

“It remains UKOM’s objective that a final announcement will be made in July on the official status of a unified base planning currency for the medium,” the company said in a statement.

UKOM was set up earlier this year to replace the Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems, which was abandoned when two of its four stakeholders – the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) – balked at funding a full-scale JIC-model measurement system.

The remaining stakeholders – the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Association of Online Publishers – continued to pursue alternatives, and four tenders were received at the end of March from Gemius/Ipsos, GfK, ComScore and Nielsen Online.

IAB chief Guy Phillipson said: “Nielsen have met all of the critical requirements of the brief, offering improvements over and above what is currently available in the market. And whilst we are confident that we can introduce an advanced system with transparency comparable to traditional media surveys, it’s now essential that we work with all the industry stakeholders to make it happen.”

UKOM says it has enlisted both the IPA and ISBA to help facilitate discussions and constructive debate between all relevant parties within the marketing community “to ensure there is full agreement and budget to make the system a reality”.