MRC finalizes Digital Video Ad Measurement Guidelines update

MRC Announces Release of Updated Digital Video Ad Measurement Guidelines

NEW YORK, NY — The Media Rating Council (MRC) announced today the release of an updated version of the IAB Digital Video Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines. The document, which was authored by MRC in consultation with the IAB Tech Lab’s Modernizing Measurement Task Force, was initially circulated in draft form for public comment in late 2017, and now is considered final.

The newly revised Digital Video Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines update the requirements for counting video ad impressions in a number of important respects. Not only are video ad counting practices now more fully aligned with those for digital display ads, the latter of which recently were updated to require a “begin to render” approach for base ad impression measurement, but the new video requirements also more fully address video-specific issues that have become more prevalent as the digital video ad ecosystem has evolved in recent years. Included among these is new guidance for measuring ad serving that utilizes Server Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) or Server-to-Server measurement approaches; consideration of progressive download and adaptive bitrate streaming implementations; and addressing video ads that appear in Over-the-Top (OTT) environments. Among the OTT-related concerns called out in these Guidelines are issues around measurement latency, continuous play measurement and reporting, “TV Off” measurement considerations, and OTT-specific inactivity rules and Invalid Traffic considerations. The newly revised guidelines also more fully address auto-play and forced duration disclosures.

“These updated guidelines are now equipped to address some critical issues in today’s video environments,” said George W. Ivie, MRC’s Executive Director and CEO. “Among these, the new guidance on OTT platform measurement will better enable us to validate and accredit quality measurement in that rapidly emerging space.”

MRC will allow for a one-year grace period for currently accredited measurement services to achieve compliance with these new guidelines, after which these requirements will be considered mandatory to maintain MRC accreditation.

The Digital Video Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines, which can be found at https://bit.ly/2KuYsgQ, represents the latest example of a newly established, routinized process to review and, as necessary, update existing measurement guidelines, which was created as an offshoot of the Making Measurement Make Sense (3MS) initiative.