Update: ComScore to agree audit timetable

Online audience measurement firm ComScore has committed to setting a timeline for a full audit and accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC) within 90 days.

The agreement was made last week at a meeting hosted by the Interactive Advertising Bureau with ComScore, its main rival NetRatings, and representatives of various US advertiser bodies.

ComScore is currently in the final stages of a pre-audit by the MRC, while NetRatings has completed its pre-audit and is beginning the full audit and accreditation process.

The IAB’s president Randall Rothenberg had challenged the two firms to submit to audits to get the bottom of why the ratings they produce differ from each other, and from websites’ own server logs.

In his initial open letter to the heads of NetRatings and ComScore, he criticised over-reliance on panel data.

The firms responded by underlining the importance of combining panel and server data, and the IAB acknowledged the role of both types of metric at last week’s meeting.

In today’s statement, Rothenberg called the two firms “heroes of the interactive marketing and media ecosystem”.

Author: Robert Bain

Related links:

NetRatings and ComScore commit to MRC audits

ComScore and NetRatings agree to meeting with IAB

IAB sets audit challenge for NetRatings and ComScore