ManSavesDog

I have been reading some recent comments on the accountability of media where some media even lay claim to having the opportunity to be “the most accountable medium”. Accountability is clearly the topic of the day given the increasing need to understand value of advertising and the recent public debate over TV research methodologies.

I’d suggest that much of this current debate is fueled by the more accountable world that many marketers are currently getting via their online marketing efforts.

Accountability can be viewed in two veins. One, what is the confidence that a consumer saw an ad. Two, what measurable direct action did the consumer take as a result of that ad.

Based on my 20 years in the advertising/marketing area (two of which were as an agency media researcher studying media measurement), I would suggest that any media that chooses to claim accountability is politely, absurd.

Television for years has rejected measuring commercials and still thinks that the programming audience is representative of whether a consumer saw an ad. Magazines like-wise think that because a consumer can recognize a magazine cover is an ad impression. This is not to disparage Nielsen or MRI; however, to suggest that accountability is anywhere near possible given the current methods in today’s environment is just fooling ourselves. Radio, Outdoor all share similar issues.

Online, however, does measure that a consumer requested a page where an ad was delivered. Ads DO NOT occur in an Online environment when the consumer is in another room or sometimes not even home, as in the case in TV or

This is not to say that all Online Measurement is perfect because it isn’t yet. However, we are getting much closer, especially given some recent work on-going with the Media Ratings Council, the AAAA’s and the ARF.