OMD mandates third-party verification for mobile ads

Advertising agency Omnicom Group's OMD unit is instructing mobile content publishers to obtain third-party verification for their mobile display ad campaigns in an effort to enable more consistent reporting between the wired web and its mobile counterpart, effectively minimizing potential discrepancies and in turn saving money for both advertisers and publishers. According to ClickZ, the OMD policy change means mobile ads must now run through a server like DoubleClick DART, DFA, Atlas or Eyeblaster--this method of third-party ad serving offers agencies precise reporting on which creative within the campaign was served, enabling a greater depth of optimization and consumer targeting as the campaign goes on.

ClickZ adds that the other ad-serving method used by a number of mobile ad networks is known as server side included, or SSI, in which ad delivery is handled by the ad network and pinged back to the third-party ad server. With SSI, the agency does not receive specific information on what creative ran, only that the publisher served an ad. "We went through the same situation on the agency side for PC-based advertising," said mobile ad firm JumpTap's CMO Paran Johar in an interview with ClickZ. "I think this is a great testament to the success of mobile advertising. [OMD] are throwing down the gauntlet that they are requiring ad networks and publishers to account for publisher data."

For more on the OMD mandate:
- read this ClickZ article [1]

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