Online media grows up
2004-04-30 15:23
Cape Town - The internet publishing industry took a great stride forward on Thursday, as it announced that the country's top online publishers have all adopted a single measurement standard.
The Online Publisher's Association (OPA), which represents the top 15 Internet publishers in South Africa, incorporating approximately 90% of the country's advertising spend, has adopted the RedSheriff measurement platform to present online media planners and buyers with a consolidated view of online audiences and demographics.
The internet industry has long been plagued by inconsistency in audience reporting, with publishers not being able to compare measurement across different methodologies.
For advertisers, the new measurement system will present a single currency for web measurement. The ability to combine audience figures with demographic data allows for precision targeting, allowing delivery to the exact target market.
Russell Hanly, managing director Media24 Digital, said: "This is a very positive step forward for online media. Publishers have put aside their differences to take a unified step towards giving advertisers a clear and coherent view of our audiences, so that the country's advertisers can take full advantage of this targetable, interactive medium to reach their target markets."
The new reporting system works by collecting site-centric data from each of the member publishers, via a single tagging method implemented to a single standard across the board. This data is then collected and ratified by RedSheriff, a third party, and presented to the industry in a single clear, online interface.
Media planners and buyers using the interface can compare audiences across sites by demographic information to find the perfect target audience for their product.
As well as Media24 Digital, the company that owns News24 and partner sites, SuperSport, Mweb, M&G Online, IOL, Iafrica and others are all members of the OPA - for more information on the OPA visit www.opa.org.za
RedSheriff is owned by Nielsen//NetRatings.