Facebook’s recent disclosure that it mistakenly overstated the average length of time users watched videos on the site is “troubling” to Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA (Association of National Advertisers). Liodice’s ANA blog posting on Thursday (9/29) addressed the development, relating that Facebook has “not yet achieved the level of measurement transparency that marketers need and require.”
Liodice noted that Facebook metrics are not accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC); accordingly an audit of Facebook metrics has not been completed. “With more than $6 billion of marketers’ media being directed to Facebook, we believe that it is time for them–and other such major media players–to be audited and accredited,” wrote Liodice. “That is the standard of accepted practice that marketers and agencies have relied on for decades.”
In late 2015, continued Liodice, the ANA conducted a study of its members titled “The Critical Need for Accredited Third Party Measurement for Viewability of Digital Advertising.” The study concluded that “in a time of intense scrutiny on transparency and accountability,” it is vitally important that:
All digital media owners allow their inventory to be measured for viewability by a third party. The survey findings revealed that an overwhelming 97 percent of marketers believe that digital media owners should allow their inventory to be measured by a third party.
Internal viewability measurements employed by digital media owners should not be used for the purposes of conducting outside commerce.
Marketers and their agencies should only use third party vendors that have been accredited by the Media Rating Council for current industry-agreed viewability standards.
Internal viewability measurements used by digital media owners for non-commerce purposes should be MRC accredited or IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau) certified to help ensure comparability with commerce metrics.
ANA believes that these are the “table stakes” for digital advertising, affirmed Liodice. Fairness, equity, comparability and accountability should be the overriding principles that should govern all parties in the ecosystem. ANA does not believe there are any pragmatic reasons that a media company should not abide by the standards of accreditation and auditing.
Liodice concluded, “ANA encourages all marketers to insure that they are meeting the highest quality standards for accountability and measurement as they are building and executing their brand building media plans.”
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More