Setting out the future for digital audience measurement

Data science and digital tech have captured the attention of the ad business – but don’t forget about the people, writes UKOM’s Douglas McArthur.

I have chaired UKOM, the UK Online Measurement company, for five years – and what a lot of change there has been.

When UKOM signed its first contract for the supply of online audience measurement data, the iPad hadn’t been launched and we gathered our data from one desktop audience panel. Mobile audience measurement wasn’t seen as necessary by the ad industry.

In talking of the industry’s attitudes, I am not hazarding my unsubstantiated opinion. UKOM is the industry-governed currency for digital audiences. Our Board is comprised of the Internet Advertising Bureau and the Association of Online Publishers with ISBA and the IPA participating in an ex-officio role. So I really am talking about the industry.

Today, five years on from the desktop panel, we have needed to add extra panels for each of iOS mobile, iOS tablet, Android mobile panel, and Android tablet panel.

And it isn’t just a case of measuring audiences to new platforms and devices – although that is often difficult and expensive. The prime challenge for measuring real people is the overlap among the device usage by real people.

The industry needs people-based multiplatform measurement because reach and frequency are still the critical fundamentals for brand advertisers, who want to know how their multi-platform campaign reaches their “people” targets, and how often, across all possible platforms and with what engagement.

Digital traditionally does machine measurement well, but with the explosion in the number of IP devices we have access to, measuring machines alone is no longer a reasonable proxy for measuring people.

At the same time, digital media is now comfortably the single largest channel in terms of consumer consumption and adspend. It follows that it should be best-placed (and carries the responsibility) to provide the foundation of robust measurement and understanding of cross-media audiences.

I believe it is true to say that thanks to the hard work (and lessons learnt from mistakes) of UKOM, the industry’s digital audience measurement solution is well placed and capable in that respect.

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I sometimes hear data companies saying that their data makes panels unnecessary. I disagree.

Our objective is to set and oversee the delivery of a credible industry standard for digital audience measurement. That means quantifying audiences in terms of people, not just browsers or machines.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a fan of the data feeds that are now available. In UKOM’s work with comScore we use a lot of data inputs from outside our panels to establish measurement standards where people and their machines meet: decoding the mass of computer-generated data with the help of nationally-representative surveys and panels, to provide the truest possible digital audience measures.

Personally, I think that panels will become more important.

So much technology underpins digital media investment and there is a worrying trend of technological gangsters attempting to subvert this through fraud. We must not create a digital marketplace with a mistrust of digital audience delivery. Panels of real people will continue to play a role in validating that reported audiences are “real” and to be trusted.

And how is UKOM going to address this more complex future?

We plan some significant product improvements to keep up with this fast-changing market:

– Expanded demographics for mobile and tablet
– Multi-platform reach and frequency reporting to allow site planning across desktop, mobile and tablet
– Multi-platform audience duplication and cross visitation reporting, i.e. tracking users across sites on multiple platforms
– Online video reporting will be expanded to include video viewing on mobiles and tablets

At the same time, UKOM is excellently placed and stands ready and able to work with other industry research bodies to further the ambition of comprehensive, cross-media audience measurement.

UKOM is substantially increasing its budget and, for the first time in our six-year history, appointing a CEO and Ian Dowds starts in the role on 7 September.

Ian has held senior leadership positions across the ad business – both digital and traditional , agency and publisher – from TV buying to programmatic digital. His arrival heralds a profoundly significant step-change for UKOM as it enters the next phase of its life.

Ian will ensure that UKOM remains at the heart of digital and mobile media planning and buying, utilising the very best and most robust of traditional panel based data alongside that from the ever-evolving world of machines and devices.

From what the industry is telling us, both are required to deliver what is needed to advertisers, agencies and publishers for a true standard measure of advertising audience planning and delivery.