Nielsen//NetRatings Blows Off IAB

A couple of months ago, the Interactive Advertising Bureau publicly called out Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore (in effect, the entire online measurement industry) for not being audited and standardized.  IAB, N//NR, and comScore met and hashed it out.  A whole bunch of acronyms showed up.  Steps were taken.  Press releases sent.  Now, several months later, N//NR has taken the wind out of those sails and is poised to motor by the whole IAB regulation ship by declaring engagement to be king and setting out to measure it.

My suspicion is that IAB, along with all the metrics vendors, will get in line behind Nielsen.  And why not?  The institution of PVs/UVs is under attack from all angles, and marketers know this.  The job of N//NR et al is to provide publishers with numbers they can use to improve their own business practices and to sell inventory.  Engagement numbers will soon be the best numbers for doing that.