Agencies Disappointed With Service Levels Of Online Media Owners

The IPA has published the results of its bi-annual survey of online media owners, which reveals that despite minor improvements, agencies are still disappointed with the service levels of online media owners.

The survey is designed to highlight the levels of service that media owners provide and to outline where improvements can be made, with the aim of helping the growth of digital advertising, providing a collective voice for the industry and raising the digital standard in general, said the IPA.

It found that MSN.co.uk dominates the media owner rankings in the display sector, holding the rankings lead in nine of the 14 variables researched. In many cases MSN.co.uk maintains a significant lead over competitive owners.

Where MSN.co.uk does not lead the rankings Ad2One is the leader in terms of handling dispute resolution, Channel4.com in terms of providing creative solutions and understanding of how cross media opportunities can be exploited, Virgin Media in terms of ease of contact, and Times Online in terms of communication of direct client contact.

In the category asking respondents to rate media owners on their understanding of how cross-media opportunities can be best exploited, the traditional players scored highest.

Google remains the leading search media owner across the majority of attributes covered by the survey, whilst Miva remains the weakest.

Nigel Gwilliam, head of digital, IPA, said: “Search media owners have seen some rise in satisfaction levels but there is still considerable room for improvement. Whilst there are bright spots in the display market, we are disappointed to see overall levels of satisfaction have declined for a majority of media owners versus the previous survey in autumn 2007.

“The online ad market has grown nearly 40% year-on-year, let’s hope the bullishness in the market is not leading some media owners to be complacent about service.”

IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk