MRC

Following years or analysis and months of vetting, the Media Rating Council has released an update of the invalid traffic (IVT) guidance for third-party measurement firms used by advertisers to avoid buying fraudulent ad inventory. The update, which began when the MRC began considering the impact of various browser and publisher privacy compliance updates a few years ago, expanded into other areas including new variants of domain spoofing, as well as property-level reporting due to the explosion of new questionable forms of publishing, especially so-called made-for-advertising (MFA) sites.

With the augmented reality advertising market expected to reach $14.5 billion in 2027 (up from $3.4 billion in 2022), the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Media Rating Council have added game creator Niantic’s Rewarded AR ads technology to the set of ad industry measurement guidelines that both companies first released in February. “The Augmented Reality advertising market is projected to generate $1.2 billion in revenue in the U.S. this year,” explained Zoe Soon, vice president of IAB’s Experience Center, in February, adding: “Thus, as an industry, we need to establish a greater consistency on how we define and measure AR advertising to foster fairness and transparency for buyers and sellers.”

The Media Rating Council has granted its first accreditation to a point-of-care advertising measurement for digital, place-based media network PatientPoint. The MRC said the accreditation was granted following its out-of-home and digital committees’ review of a “rigorous audit” by an independent CPA firm, which also included some new, “supplemental” auditing unique to the point-of-care medium with screens in waiting rooms and examination and treatment rooms of doctor’s offices, clinics and healthcare facilities.

It’s awarded accreditation for accurate and complete verification of national TV ad airings — a foundation for cross-platform ad-based measurement.

Hours after Nielsen issued a notice to clients Thursday reaffirming its support of Media Rating Council (MRC), it received its own endorsement from a strange bedfellow: Rival audience measurement service Comscore. “Comscore joins with Nielsen in support of MRC accreditation and their call for greater trust and transparency in the selling process and for currency that is informed by big data.” Comscore’s statement was issued just before OpenAP’s and the VAB’s “joint industry committee (JIC) began its upfront-style pitch on its ad currency certification plans to the ad industry in New York City Thursday afternoon.

Former Paramount Television Studios executive Jenna Santoianni has joined MRC as president of television. She will replace Elise Henderson who is leaving the company after a four-year stint. The personnel change comes on the heels of Scott Tenley’s elevation to CEO as part of a new executive structure the studio announced last week, with co-founders Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu assuming the new roles of chairmen. (Jonathan Golfman and Brye Adler continue as co-presidents of film and Amit Dey as head of nonfiction.)

Nielsen, which has been touting that Nielsen One, its new cross-platform measurement system, is on track, quietly informed clients last week that the “big data” on which the platform relies isn’t ready to be used to make transactions. Nielsen had planned to include its big data — information on viewing from set-top boxes and smart TVs — in its national TV ratings in September and have clients use it as currency in the scatter advertising market. Nielsen has been trying to get its new national ratings system incorporating big data accredited by the Media Rating Council but a meeting scheduled for today (Aug. 25) was postponed.

An arbitrator rules that the actor’s pattern of sexual harassment caused damage to MRC and flouted…An arbitrator rules that the actor’s pattern of sexual harassment caused damage to MRC and flouted contractual obligations.

The support came after the Media Rating Council suspended Nielsen’s accreditation, which prompted reaction in some quarters.

MRC has tapped NBCUniversal alum Adam Stotsky as president of the newly created MRC Live & Alternative, which will absorb the operations of Dick Clark Productions. MRC has slowly been phasing out the Dick Clark Prods. moniker. Stotsky will oversee a division that produces major awards franchises including the American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and ABC’s annual New Year’s Eve special Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

The Media Rating Council ripped Nielsen’s “deep-rooted, ongoing performance issues” in a statement. That followed Nielsen’s declaration that it would seek to take a hiatus from the Council’s accreditation process.

The respective parent companies of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter announced a joint venture Wednesday that effectively merges the two oldest and biggest show business trade publications, housing them in a joint venture controlled by Variety and Deadline owner Penske Media Corp.

The Media Rating Council (MRC) this morning published a notice advising media audience measurement services to have “objective criteria in place” to ensure they maintain “data quality in the face of unprecedented challenges presented by the current coronavirus crisis.”

In regards to recent changes Nielsen has made to its TV market measurements, the Media Ratings Council says its accreditation of these markets has remained unchanged.