ABC re-launches Spiders & Robots service for industry

ABC UK has this week re-launched its Spiders & Robots service in an effort to reduce inflated ad impressions and site traffic counts, offering a more realistic picture for both publishers and advertisers.

Implementation of the International IAB/ABC Spiders & Robots List is expected to be a key step to prevent non-human traffic being counted in web analytics and will provide a more “transparent and accurate measurement” for ad impressions and site traffic claims.

“Accurately accounting for human user-intended activity is fundamental to comScore’s measurement of audiences, and our traffic filtration processes are therefore designed to exclude activity that is not initiated by humans in accordance with the standards published by JICWEBS and the IAB,” said Larry Goldstein, vice president, research audit services at comScore.

“The International IAB/ABC Spiders & Robots List is a critical resource toward this end, providing a central repository where search engines and others committed to transparency have declared themselves. ABC/IAB’s globally coordinated resources provide a significant benefit as compared to individual measurement companies duplicating their efforts.”

Richard Foan, group executive director, communication and innovation, ABC said that delivering global standards for local markets through initiatives like this Spiders & Robots is “key to the growth in confidence in digital advertising.”