Late Ad Copy Policy Row Continues To Rage

The IPA is still at loggerheads with the IAB and the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) over the late ad copy policy, with the IPA stating the issue cannot be resolved without further industry-wide consultation.

The IPA believes that as the voice of internet media owners, the IAB cannot resolve this issue without engaging with agencies through IPA Digital, and with clients through their own trade body, ISBA.

Earlier this year, the IAB and AOP introduced penalties for agencies that fail to deliver their creative on time to try and put online on a par with more traditional media. The IPA supports this policy, however it believes it must be appropriate and implemented having consulted all relevant parties and, along with ISBA, has never indorsed the proposals.

Wayne Arnold, chairman of IPA Digital and managing director of Profero, said: “For any late copy policy to be successfully implemented it must be perfectly clear, consistently adopted and deemed reasonable by all key parties, namely clients, agencies and media owners. The current proposal achieves none of these.

“Consultation with the IPA as well as ISBA has been limited to say the least, despite our openness and ongoing invitations to contribute. Unsurprisingly each media owner seems to have taken a different interpretation of IAB and AOP recommendations. What should have been a positive move for the industry has instead been seen by many as a mess and cannot be endorsed by the IPA.”

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

IAB: 020 8683 955 www.iabuk.net

ISBA: 020 7499 7502 www.isba.org.uk