Online ad sales houses take stand on regulation

by Joe Lepper, Brand Republic 17-Nov-05

LONDON - Ten advertising sales houses including Adlink, 24/7 Real Media and MediaBrokers have formed a partnership to handle accreditation and regulation issues facing the industry.

A priority for the partnership called Internet Advertising Sales House is to promote self-regulation by developing a robust code of practice for the sector.

It will also work closely with third-party verification and certification body ABC Electronic to develop a robust accreditation system for members, called Accredited Inventory Management.

In order to be accredited, sales houses will have to prove they have in-house methods of self regulation and agree to random spot checks of publishers' sites to confirm where content is appearing.

MediaBrokers managing director James Aitken, who has been named chairman of IASH, said: "With the independent assurance ABC Electronic's new AIM auditing will provide, the sector can continue to promote growth and evoke further confidence from both advertisers and media buying agencies."

Another role of IASH will be to make rulings and handle publicity when breaches of the code occur. According to latest figures online sales houses delivered one in five internet ads.

Richard Foan, ABC Electronic managing director, said: "The development of a code of practice and rules of accreditation by IASH demonstrates a strong commitment by advertising sales house to deliver transparency within their sector, inspiring trust and continued support from media agencies and advertisers."

Other members of IASH are Ad2-one, Adviva, AdPepper, Blue Lithium, e-type, vcmedia and Unanimis.

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