2015: AGOF launches campaign success monitoring?

TLDR: new AGOF standard enables central tracking of reach, targeting and visibility in display advertising. Fantastic technical possibilities, will they be used? Transparency in digital media would be a big surprise. (A very big one.)

An inconspicuous press release from the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Online Forschung (AGOF) with the somewhat cryptic title "AGOF creates standard for ex-post viewing" announces the start of a project to monitor the success of online campaigns. The goal is a "standard for the measurement, control and evaluation of campaigns."

In the future, a new AGOF tracking code is to be incorporated not only on advertising media websites, as has been the case to date, but also directly in advertising media. The step is obvious. What does it mean for the future? Really so little that only absatzwirtschaft and Internet World Business pick up on the news?

"In a few months," AGOF said, all market partners would be able to use AGOF data "to check campaigns even during the runtime."

What the standard could do

Internet World says the following standards will soon be available in online advertising :
1. gross reach (ad impressions delivered)
2. net reach (uniques reached)
3. socio-demographic structures (target groups reached)

That's actually enough news for a quantum leap, but the article also suggests a "quick solution for viewability". That in turn means: viewability, viewing time...measured centrally. It would be technically possible, just like post-view tracking. Does the "ex-post" in the press release possibly mean exactly that?

It will be highly interesting to see how the market will react to the not insignificant new possibilities of AGOF Tracking. Perhaps new standards for online performance evaluation will release forces to devote themselves to the much demanded comparable proofs of impact. Then 2015 can be a good year for online and it does not have to shy away from the comparison with classic (anymore).