MRCLocation-BasedAdvertisingMeasurementGuidelines

March2017FinalVersion1.0

Sponsoringassociations:MediaRatingCouncil(MRC)InteractiveAdvertisingBureau(IAB)MobileMarketingAssociation(MMA)

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TableofContents1 Overview and Scope ................................................................................................. 4 1.1 Guidelines Development Method .........................................................................................................5 2 Glossary of Terms .................................................................................................... 5 3 Top-Line Measurement ........................................................................................... 10 3.1 Unique Device and Users ...................................................................................................................10 3.2 Location Measurement .......................................................................................................................11 3.3 Place Measurement ............................................................................................................................11 3.4 Physical Visitation and Dwell Time ...................................................................................................12 3.5 Ad Impression Assignment ................................................................................................................13

3.5.1 Viewable Definition .....................................................................................................................13 3.5.2 IVT Filtration ..............................................................................................................................14

4 Location-Based Universe Estimates – Basis for Projection ............................... 14 4.1 Universe Estimates .............................................................................................................................14 4.2 Coverage .............................................................................................................................................15

4.2.1 Device Identification ...................................................................................................................16 4.2.2 Accounting for Duplication .........................................................................................................17

5 Data Preparation and Quality Checking ............................................................... 17 5.1 Digital Audience Reach Guidelines ...................................................................................................17

5.1.1 Adjustment of Uniques ................................................................................................................18 5.1.2 Accounting for Duplication .........................................................................................................19

5.2 Time Data Collection .........................................................................................................................20 5.2.1 Validation Procedures .................................................................................................................21

6 Location-Based Advertising Measurement Guidelines – Technical Details ..... 25 6.1 Tracking of Advertising Access – Technical Details .........................................................................25

6.1.1 Client-Initiated (and Viewable) ...................................................................................................25 6.1.2 Script-Based Tracking Method/Assets ........................................................................................26

6.2 Tracking of Device and User Location (Sources and Assignment) Technical Details ......................26 6.2.1 Measurement Techniques ............................................................................................................26 6.2.2 Tracking Method – Panel Methods, etc. .....................................................................................31

6.3 Tracking of Place (Sources and Assignment) Technical Details .......................................................32 6.4 Measurement on Applications ............................................................................................................34 7 Enhancing Tracking Accuracy .............................................................................. 34 7.1 Enhancing Advertising Tracking Accuracy .......................................................................................34 7.2 Filtration for Invalid Traffic ...............................................................................................................35 7.3 Internal Traffic ...................................................................................................................................35 7.4 Inactivity Considerations and Limits .................................................................................................35 7.5 Targeting ............................................................................................................................................36

7.5.1 Privacy and Consumer Perception .............................................................................................36 8 Reporting Parameters ............................................................................................ 37 8.1 General Parameters ............................................................................................................................37 8.2 Time ...................................................................................................................................................37 8.3 Qualification of Data Adjustment Procedures ...................................................................................38 8.4 Minimum Reportability Standards .....................................................................................................39 8.5 Data Retention Requirements .............................................................................................................39

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9 Disclosure Guidance .............................................................................................. 39 10 Auditing Guidelines .............................................................................................. 42 10.1 General .............................................................................................................................................42 10.2 U.S. Certification Recommendation ................................................................................................42 10.3 International Certification Recommendation ...................................................................................43 11 References ............................................................................................................. 43

12 Supporting Associations and Participating Organizations .............................. 43 13 Contact Us ............................................................................................................. 45

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1 OverviewandScopeThisdocumentpresentsguidelinesforthemeasurementofdigitallocation-basedadvertisingincludingmeasurementorassignmentofdeviceanduserlocationforphysicalvisitationandadvertisingexposure(includingstaticdevicessuchasdesktopPCs,connectedTVs,OTTdevices,aswellasmobiledevicessuchastablet,smartphones,etc.)aswellasplacemeasurementasareferencepointforphysicalvisitationandlocation-basedtargeting.ThedocumentwaspreparedfortheuseandbenefitofthemediaIndustry,especiallythoseconstituentsthatanalyzeaudiencevolumesbasedonlocationattributesorthoseentitiesthatseektoanalyzephysicalvisitationorfoottraffic.Itshouldbenotedthatthe“best”methodsandapproachestomeasuretheaudienceofanymediaaredrivenbythenatureofthemedium,itsenvironment,itsmode(s)ofdeliveryandhowitsaudienceconsumesandinteractswiththemedium.ThisisespeciallytrueofLocation-Basedmediaduetothediversenatureofthelocations,environmentalfactorsforeachlocationandtheavailablemeasurementtechniquesfortheseuniqueenvironments.Thisdocumentestablishesadetailedsetofmethodsandcommonpracticesforentitiesthatmeasureanduselocation-basedmetrics.TheseGuidelinesareintendedtoestablishanddocumentgoodpracticesofmeasurement;improvepracticesanddisclosuresusedbypractitioners;andalsoprovideeducationtousersoflocation-basedmeasurementdatafromallsegmentsoftheIndustry.Thisdocumentalsoestablishesarecommendationandabenchmarkforauditprocesseswherebythepracticesanddisclosuresoflocation-basedmeasurementorganizationscanbevoluntarilyvalidatedbythirdparties.Insummary,ourgoalsforthisdocumentareasfollows:

• Provideforaconsistentsetofdefinitionsforkeyelementsoflocation-based

measurement• Recommendminimumdisclosureswhichshouldbeprovidedtomeasurementdata

users• Provideaclearstatementofrecommendedresearchoperatingpracticesandqualityand

describeminimumrequirementsaswellasbestpractices• Encourageexperimentationandadvancestoimproveaudienceresearchquality

Specifically,theseGuidelinescoverthemethodsusedformeasurementofdigitallocation-basedadvertisingincluding:(1)establishingtheappropriateuniverseinformationforprojectionofmeasurements,(2)establishinglocationwithappropriatequalityandgranularity,(2)establishingplaceandvisitationwithappropriatequalityandgranularity(3)providingguidanceandreferencesforthepossibleuseofdatasources,(4)assigningormeasuringlocationthrough

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methodssuchaspanels,oracombinationofmethodswithsufficientqualityandgranularity,(5)guidanceoninternalcontrols,qualitycontrolandothermeasurementpracticesconsideredbestpractices(includinginvalidtrafficfiltration),(6)guidanceonappropriateweighting,projection,calculationandreportingprocesses,and(7)considerationsfordisclosureandauditingguidance.ThisdocumentshouldbeconsideredinconjunctionwiththeIAB’sMobileLocationDataGuideforPublishers,publishedFebruary2016,aswellastheMMA’sDemystifyingLocationDataAccuracywhitepaper,publishedOctober2015,whichdescribegeneralprinciples,measurementframeworkanddefinitionsforutilizinglocationdataforMobileandCross-Platformadvertising.TheMRCstudiedthesedocumentswhilecompletingthesemeasurementguidelines.Finally,theseguidelinesaremeanttorepresentspecificsupplementalguidanceforlocationmeasurement,tobeappliedinconjunctionwiththeMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandards.Measurersoflocationaudiencearerequiredtoalsoapplythesestandards.Withregardtocross-mediacomparabilityconsiderations,theMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsrepresentthedigitalinputintoaCross-MediaAudience-BasedMeasurementStandard.

1.1 GuidelinesDevelopmentMethodTheGuidelinescontainedinthisdocumentoriginatedfromaprojectledbytheMobileMarketingAssociation(MMA)andtheInteractiveAdvertisingBureau(IAB)facilitatedbytheMediaRatingCouncil(MRC),withtheparticipationofalargegroupofdigitalmediacontentproviders,advertisingagencies,advertisers,vendors/consultants,measurementorganizationsandotherinterestedorganizations.TheseGuidelineswerealsobereviewedandapprovedbymajorbuyer-sidetradeorganizations(4As,ANA)andtheirconstituentsandprovidedtothepublicthroughaformalperiodofpubliccommentpriortoformaladoption.ThefinalGuidelineispublishedandavailableontheMRCwebsiteandwillbere-assessedperiodicallytoensureitremainsapplicableovertime.

2 GlossaryofTermsAccuracy(LocationorPlace)–Theabilityordegreetowhichameasurementcanascertaintheactuallocationofadeviceoruserand/orplaceandvisitationcorrectly(thedifferencebetweenmeasuredandtruelocationorplace).Accuracyisanestimateofhowlikelythemeasuredlocationrepresentsthetruelocationofthedevice/user/place/visitationandPrecisionishowspecificandgranularameasurementoflocationisstated(intermsofdecimalpoints,etc.).Accuracyandprecisionareindependentconcepts,butbotharenecessarydisclosuresforlocationmeasurement.

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AdCampaign–Acollectionofmessagesfromanadvertiserorclientthatisdesignedtorunduringaspecificintervaland/orwithinasetofmediaoutlets(Source:CIMMLexicon2.0).Altitude–ZcoordinatesorelevationdatathatmaybeincludedwithGPSlatitudeandlongitude(XandY)coordinates.Multipleplaceswithinthesamelatitudeandlongitudecoordinates,butatvaryinglevelsofelevation(suchasinmulti-levelbuildings).Audience–AudienceactivitygenerallyconsistsofcountsofInternetusersaccessingcontentand/oradvertisingthroughoneormoreInternetapplicationssuchasabrowserorabrowser-equivalent[ormobileapplication],filteredtoremovesuspectedInvalidTraffic(Source:IAB).AudienceComposition–Theaudiencebreakdownofaggregated,segmentedcharacteristics,oftenreportedasapercentage,basedonsuchelementsasage,gender,income,education,householdcharacteristicsetc.(Source:IAB).Inadditiontodemographiccharacteristics,AudienceCompositionmayalsoincludebehavioralvariablessuchassitevisitation,purchaseactivity,location,etc..Browser(orWebBrowser)–Asoftwareapplicationforretrieving,presenting,andtraversinginformationresourcesontheWorldWideWeb.Caching–Memoryusedtotemporarilystorethemostfrequentlyrequestedcontent,filesorpagesinordertospeeditsdeliverytotheuser.Cachescanbelocal(i.e.onabrowser)oronanetwork(Source:IAB).Asdiscussedinthisdocument,IABmeasurementguidelinesrequirecertaincachebustingtechniquesdesignedtominimizetheimpactonmeasurementaccuracyofcachedmeasurementassets.ClientUser–Amobiledevicethatinteractswithanapplication,essentiallyexecutingorotherwisereviewingtheapplication.ThenumberofUsers(people)orthedemographiccharacteristicsoftheUsersinteractingwiththeapplicationthroughtheClientUserisnotnecessarilyknown.Cookie–Asmallpieceofinformation(i.e.,programcode)thatisstoredonabrowserforthepurposeofidentifyingthatbrowserduringaudienceactivityandbetweenvisitsorsessions.Cookiesaretypicallysettoexpire.Somecookiesareintendedtoremainonthebrowsertemporarily(forexample,duringasession)andsomearepersistentinthattheyareintendedtoberetainedforlongerperiods.(Source:IAB)

Coverage–Theextentorareacoveredbysamplingoradatasourcerelativetothepopulationmeasured.Withinthisdocumentcoverageisusedwhendiscussingprojectingaudienceestimatesbasedonasubsetorsampleofthemeasuredpopulationaswellasthedegreetowhichaparticulardatasetorsourcerepresentsameasuredpopulation.DataFusion–Combiningdatafromtwoormoredifferentsourceswherethedatamergesandbecomesblendedintoanewdatasource(Source:CIMMLexicon2.0).

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DataIntegration–Combiningdatafromtwoormoredifferentsourceswhilehavingthedatamaintainitsindividualdatabaseintegrity(Source:CIMMLexicon3.0).DataNormalization(alsoCalibration)–Wheretherearetwoormoredisparatedatapointswithinadataset,combiningtheminsuchaswaythatmaintainsdataintegrityandaccuracywhileimprovingusability(Source:CIMMLexicon3.0).Duplication/De-Duplication–TheinstanceswhereaUnique(Cookie,Browser,Device,Household,Respondent,UserorVisitor)isexposedtothesamecontentoradvertisementmorethanoncewithinthesamedatasetormeasurementperiod.De-DuplicationisthedataeditingtechniqueusedtoremoveDuplicationfromreportedprocesseddataorreportedresults.Frequency–ThenumberoftimesanadisdeliveredtothesameBrowser(oruser)inasingleSessionortimeperiod(Source:IAB).Theaveragenumberoftimestheunduplicatedhomesreachedareexposedtoascheduleofcontentwhetheranad,aprogram,avideoorascheduleofspots(Source:CIMMLexicon3.0).Geo-fencing–Amethodofassigningreportedlocationfromamobiledevicetoaspecificplace.Geo-fencingmayinvolveeitherPoint-RadiusorBoundarymethodologies.InPoint-Radiusmeasurement,amid-pointandacircleofaspecifiedradiusestablishedaroundthelatitudeandlongitudeofaplace,withthedatalocationpointswithinthatcircleactingasarepresentationoftheplaceitself.InBoundarymeasurement,acomplexpolygonorboundaryisestablishedthatisgenerallyamorepreciseandgranularrepresentationoftheconfinesoftheplace,withthedatalocationpointswithinthepolygonactingasarepresentationoftheplaceitself.Inactivity–Indigitalmediareferstospecificinactivityrules,bywhichauservisitisterminatedandthusexcludedfromadditionalcontributionstoTimeSpentafterapre-determinedlevelofconsecutiveminutesofinactivity(Source:IABAudienceReachMeasurementGuidelines).Impressions–AnAdImpressionisgenerallyameasurementofexposuretoanadthatmeetsestablishedminimumthresholdsforqualityandthetermsandconditionsestablishedbetweenasellerandabuyer(Source:IAB).ValidAdImpressionsmustmeettheminimumrequirementsoftheIABMeasurementGuidelinesfortheapplicablecreativetype(Display,RichMediaorVideo)anduserenvironment(desktopbrowser,mobilewebandapplicationenvironments).MobileDevice–Ahandset,tablet,orothercommunicationdevice(generallyrunningamobileoperatingsystem)usedtoaccesstheInternetwirelessly,usuallythroughamobilecarrierorWi-Finetwork.PanelData–Aselectedcrosssectionofopt-inconsumersorviewerswhosebehaviorandusageismeasuredoveraperiodoftimeasagrouporsetofsubgroupswiththeintenttoformopinionsandtrendsabouttheirbehaviors(Source:CIMMLexicon3.0).

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PersonallyIdentifiableInformation(PII)–Datathatcanbeusedtoidentifyaspecificindividual.Thisincludesnames,addresses,emailaddresses,phonenumbers,amongothers(Source:CIMMLexicon3.0).Anyinformationaboutanindividualmaintainedbyanagency,including(1)anyinformationthatcanbeusedtodistinguishortraceanindividual'sidentity,suchasname,socialsecuritynumber,dateandplaceofbirth,mother'smaidenname,orbiometricrecordsand(2)anyotherinformationthatislinkedorlinkabletoanindividualsuchasmedical,educational,financialandemploymentinformation(Source:NIST,GuidetoProtectingtheConfidentialityofPII).Referstoinformationsuchasanindividual‘sname,mailingaddress,phonenumberore-mailaddress(Source:IAB).Precision–Thelevelofgranularityoflocationmeasurement,typicallyreflectedinthenumberofdigitsfollowingthedecimalpointsuchasinlatitudeandlongitude.Whilehigherprecisionisrequiredforaccuratelocationmeasurement,thenumberofdigitsfollowingthedecimalshouldneitherbeequatedwithsuperioraccuracy,nordoesitnecessarilyreflectthereproducibilityofthemeasurement.Proximitytechnology,likebeacons,maymeasureprecisionindistancetoaknownsensor/context.Precisionishowspecificandgranularameasurementoflocationisstated(intermsofdecimalpoints,etc.)andAccuracyisanestimateofhowlikelythemeasuredlocationrepresentsthetruelocationofthedevice/user/place/visitation.Precisionandaccuracyareindependentconcepts,butbotharenecessarydisclosuresforlocationmeasurement.ProbabilitySample–ArandomselectionmethodtocreateasamplethatisdesignedtobestreplicatethegreatercensusorUniversebeingmeasured.Eachselectioninthesamplemusthavethesameprobabilityofbeingchosenwithinrelativesamplingstrataforsampleselection.ProximityTargeting–Deliveringadsbasedonusers’real-timelocation,typicallydefinedasproximitytospecificplace(s)(Source:MMA).Placeandproximityistypicallydefinedaspartofgeo-fencingtechniquesdiscussedaboveandthroughoutthisdocument.Reach–Theamountofunduplicatedhomesoraudience,expressedeitherasapercentageorinthousandswhohaveviewedortuned[consumed]atleastonceduringatimeperiodorprogramoranypieceofcontent(Source:CIMMLexicon3.0).Uniqueusersthatvisitedthesitemeasuredoverthecourseofthereportingperiodorthetotalnumberofuniqueuserswhowillbeservedagivenad(Source:IABAudienceReachGuidelines).Recency–Inthecontextofthisdocument,referstothetimebetweencollectionofdataandthepassingoruseofthatdata.RegistrationData–Datacollectedviaaprocessforsitevisitorstoenterinformationaboutthemselves.Sitesuseregistrationdatatoenableorenhancetargetingofcontentandads.Registrationcanberequiredorvoluntary(Source:IAB).

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Session–Asingleapplication-useeventthatspansanunspecifiedperiodoftimeofconstantorongoingapplicationactivitybyaUserthroughtheClientUser.SessionsareterminatedbyUseractionsindicatingtheclosingoftheapplication,orbyinactivitylevelsthatmeetorexceeddefinedthresholds.Sessionsaregenerallyapplicabletothecalculationofreachmetrics(Source:IABAudienceReachGuidelines).

Speed–Therateatwhichadeviceoruserismoving.Speedcanbeinferredindirectlyfrommobileaccelerometerandgyroscopicmeasurements,butgenerallyrequireslongitudinalanalysisoflocationovertime.Targeting–Atechniqueusedbyonlinepublishersandadvertiserstoincreasetheeffectivenessoftheircampaignsbasedonbehaviorordemographiccharacteristicsincludinglocation[byfocusingadvertisingimpressionsagainstapre-determinedsub-setoftheuniverseorthe“target”;targetingmaybebasedondemographics,behavior,orothermeasurablecharacteristics].Behavioraltargetingusesinformationcollectedonanindividual‘swebbrowsingbehaviorsuchasthepagestheyhavevisitedorthesearchestheyhavemade(aswellaspatternsofappusageandsocialmediaactivity)toselectwhichadvertisementstobedisplayedtothatindividual(Source:IAB).

TimeSpent/DwellTime–Theamountofelapsedtimefromtheinitiationofavisittothelastaudienceactivityassociatedwiththatvisit.(Source:IABAudienceReachGuidelines).

UniqueCookies,Browsers,DevicesandUsers(Various;SourceIABAudienceReachGuidelines):

Machine-BasedMeasures:

UniqueCookies–Acountofuniqueidentifiers(Cookies)thatrepresentsunduplicatedinstancesofInternetactivitytoInternetcontentoradvertisingduringameasurementperiod.

UniqueBrowsers–AnidentifiedandunduplicatedCookiedBrowserthataccessesInternetcontentoradvertisingduringameasurementperiod.

UniqueDevices–AnunduplicatedcomputingdevicethatisusedtoaccessInternetcontentoradvertisingduringameasurementperiod.

People-BasedMeasures:

UniqueUsersorVisitors(bothtermsareacceptableandequivalent)–AnidentifiedandunduplicatedindividualInternetuserwhoaccessesInternetcontentoradvertisingduringameasurementperiod.

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Note:Locationmeasurementgenerallyinvolvesassigninglocationtoauniquedeviceorusereitherforattributionofadexposure,location-basedtargetingofadvertisementsorcorrelationtoplacemeasurementforthepurposeoffoottrafficandvisitationmeasurement.WhiletheIABAudienceReachGuidelinesestablishcertainlevelsofuniquemeasurement,locationassignmentshouldonlybedoneatthedeviceor,morepreferably,userlevel(notatthecookieorbrowserlevel).SpecialconsiderationshouldbegiventouseofWi-Filocationmeasurementtechniqueswhendeterminingpeople-basedmeasures(IPswitchingandVPN/Firewall/Proxyconsiderationsmayimpactdataaccuracyandavailabilityandshouldbeconsideredindataqualitycontrolandvalidationprocedures).Seesection5.1ofthisdocumentforfurtherdiscussiononconsiderationofuniquesandpeople-basedmeasurementandsection6.2.1fordiscussionoflimitationsandconsiderationsofWi-Fitechniques.

Universe–Thetotalpopulationincludedinthemeasuredframe.UrbanDensity–Theconcentrationofvenues/placeswithinphysicalareasorcloseproximityaswellasmulti-levelbuildingsmadeupofvaryingdiscreteplacesthatmayimpactlocationandplacemeasurement.Visit–Physicalvisitationorfoottrafficresultsfromtheintersectionofuser-devicelocationandplacemeasurement.Generally,measurementofuser/devicelocationthatfallswithintheboundary(viageo-fencingorothermeans)establishedwithplacemeasurementisusedtoderivevisitation,however,considerationshouldbegiventonotonlythedatacollectiontechniquesandfieldsusedtodeterminelocation,butalsoothervalidationandqualitycontrolconsiderationssuchasaltitudeforplaceswithmultiplefloorsaswellasspeedorlongitudinalanalysisoflocationtodifferentiateavisitfroma“drive-by”orothertypesofmomentaryproximitynotmeetingtherequirementsofavisit.ViewableImpression–AnAdImpressionthatmeetscertainpixelandtimethresholds(minimum50%ofthead’spixelsfor1or2continuoussecondsfordisplayandvideo,respectively)inordertoqualifyasaViewableImpression.Thesethresholdsaredesignedtoaddgreaterassurancethattherewasan“opportunitytosee”theadbytheuserbeyondassurancethattheadwasproperlyservedandrenderedbythedevice.SeetheMRCViewableImpressionMeasurementandMRCMobileViewableImpressionMeasurementGuidelinesforguidanceonViewableImpressions.

3 Top-LineMeasurement

3.1 UniqueDeviceandUsersSpecificmachinebasedtrackingofusers–suchasuniquebrowsersorcookies–shouldbespecifiedanddistinguishedfromactualuser(person)basedtracking(whichrequiresmoreadvancedadjustments,registration,etc.).

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De-duplicationofusertracking(into“uniques”)forreachmeasurementsisdesirable–butisrecognizedtobeadifficultmetrictocaptureaccurately.Ifameasureislabeled“unique”de-duplicationisrequired.Itiscriticalthatthoroughdescriptionsofhow“users”areactuallydeterminedandhowde-duplicationduringmeasurementperiodsisaccomplishedareprovidedtousersofuniqueusermeasurements.WerefertheuseroftheseguidelinestopriorIABguidanceonAudienceReachMeasurementswithregardtothehierarchyofuniquemetrics(cookies,browsers,etc.).Seesection5.1forfurtherdetailonclassificationofuniquesforthepurposeofassigninglocation.Trackingmethodsshouldbesubjecttointernaltestingandvalidationuponoriginalimplementationaswellasperiodicinternalverificationtesting.Trackingmethodsanddisclosureswillbethesubjectofintenseproceduralverificationifexternalcertificationissoughtbythemeasurementorganization.

3.2 LocationMeasurementLocationmeasurementgenerallyinvolvesassigninglocationtoauniquedeviceorusereitherforattributionofadexposure,location-basedtargetingofadvertisementsorcorrelationtoplacemeasurementforthepurposeoffoottrafficand/orvisitationmeasurement.WhiletheIABAudienceReachGuidelinesestablishcertainlevelsofuniquemeasurement,locationassignmentshouldonlybedoneatthedeviceor,morepreferably,userlevel.Asaresult,alocationmeasurementvendormusthavearobustmethodologytoidentifyanddeduplicateuniquedevicesand/orusersforsuchassignment.Seesection5.1forfurtherdetailonclassificationofuniquesforthepurposeofassigninglocation.Locationmeasurementmayinvolvevarioustechniquesanddatasources,whichincludetheuseofbeacons,GPS,Wi-Fi,CellAntennaeTrilateration,IPAddressesandRegistrationdataaswellasotherfirst-partydatasuchasopt-inpaneldataandsocialmediacheck-ins.Thevariouscapabilitiesandlimitationsofeachmethodologyarediscussedfurtherwithinthisdocument.User/devicelocationmayrepresentpointintimelocationormaybeusedtodeterminehomelocationandsuchdistinctionshouldbedisclosedtousersaspartofmethodologicalanddefinitionaldisclosures.

3.3 PlaceMeasurementPlacemeasurementinvolvesthedeterminationofthephysicallocationofabusinessorotherplaceforthepurposeofcorrelatingthislocationtouser/devicelocationmeasurementtoderivefoottrafficorvisitationdataaswellastotargetusers/devicesbasedonproximitytoaspecificplaceorlocation.Suchplacemeasurementgenerallyinvolvesgeo-fencing(orestablishmentofa“virtualbarrier”),whichmaybedonemanuallyviadirectmeasurementorbeaconplacementbyameasurementvendor,aswellasviaacquisitionorsubscriptiontoalocationdirectory,mapping

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serviceorthird-partydata.Geo-fencingmayinvolveeitherPoint-RadiusorBoundarymethodologies.InPoint-Radiusmeasurement,amid-pointandacircleofaspecifiedradiusestablishedaroundthelatitudeandlongitudeofaplace,withthedatalocationpointswithinthatcircleactingasarepresentationoftheplaceitself.InBoundarymeasurement,acomplexpolygonorboundaryisestablishedthatisgenerallyamorepreciseandgranularrepresentationoftheconfinesoftheplace,withthedatalocationpointswithinthepolygonactingasarepresentationoftheplaceitself.Ineachcase,itisimportanttovalidatethatthegeo-fencerepresentationaccuratelyreflectsnotjustthelocationanddimensionofthephysicalplace,butaccountsforhowamobiledevicewouldreportitslocationwhenatthatplace,toensurecorrectconclusionsaboutvisitation.Ingeneralgeo-fencingcannotrepresentmulti-storystructures.Placemeasurementmayalsoincludeprobabilisticassignmentbasedonuser-behaviormeasurementviatheabilitytosurveyusersabouttheirlocationduringperiodsofbehaviororthroughuseofcheck-ins(suchasthroughsocialmediaactivity).Whileuseofsuchtechniquesmaybeviable,whenproperlysupported,itshouldberecognizedthatauserdevice'sreportedlocationmaynotcorrespondtotheirphysicallocationonamapandassuch,placemeasurementmaynotaligncompletelywiththemaplocationanddimensionsoftheplace.Asaresult,useofprobabilisticassignmenttechniquesforestablishingplaceboundariesrequiresempiricalsupportandappropriateaccuracy/precisiontolerances.Ameasurementvendormustdisclosethespecificmethodologies(suchasthemethodofgeo-fencingoruserassignment)employed(andtheportiondataforwhicheachisusedifamixed-methodologyisused)aspartofmethodologicalreferencematerials.

3.4 PhysicalVisitationandDwellTimePhysicalvisitationorfoottrafficresultsfromtheintersectionofuser-devicelocationandplacemeasurement.Generally,measurementofuser/devicelocationthatfallswithintheboundaryorgeo-fenceestablishedwithplacemeasurementisusedtoderivevisitation,however,considerationshouldbegiventonotonlythedatacollectiontechniquesandfieldsusedtodeterminelocation,butalsoothervalidationandqualitycontrolconsiderationssuchasaltitudeforplaceswithmultiplefloorsaswellasspeedorlongitudinalanalysisoflocationtodifferentiateavisitfroma“drive-by”orothertypesofmomentaryproximitynotmeetingtherequirementsofavisit.Theserequirementsarediscussedfurtherthroughoutthisdocument.DwellTimeortimespentinaparticularlocationorplaceisgenerallytheamountofelapsedtimefromtheinitiationofavisittothelastaudienceactivityassociatedwiththatvisit.DwellTimecanbereportedonthebasisofdevicesensordata,registrationorpanelparticipation,butinconceptshouldrepresenttheactivityofasingleuserforasingleaccess.GranularityofmeasurementandfrequencyofdatacollectionshouldbeconsideredwhencollectingDwellTime(seeSection5.2.1forfurtherguidanceoncollectionfrequency)andreportingofsuchdatashouldbenomoregranularthanthelevelmeasured.InactivityRules(seesection5.2)andSpeed(seesection5.2.1)shouldbeconsideredwhenmeasuringDwellTimeandfactoredinto

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empiricallysupportededitrulesappliedtocollectedtodata.

3.5 AdImpressionAssignmentAnAdImpressionisgenerallyameasurementofexposuretoanadthatmeetsestablishedminimumthresholdsforqualityandthetermsandconditionsestablishedbetweenasellerandabuyer.Impressionsinvolvethemeasurementofresponsesfromanaddeliverysystemtoanadrequest,whichisfilteredforInvalidTrafficandisrecordedatapointaslateaspossibleintheprocessofdeliveryofthecreativematerialtotheuser’sbrowserordevice.Inanapplicationenvironment,thisincludesthemeasurementofanadvertisingexposureoccurrence,containedwithinreal-timeorstoredandtransmittedapplicationuseactivityrecords,Client-initiated,sourcedfromafullydownloaded,opened,initializedapplicationinanapplicationSessionwithaClientUser.ADigitalVideoImpressionisthemeasurementofresponsefromadigitalvideoaddeliverysystemtoanadrequestfromthedigitalvideocontenthost.Avaliddigitalvideoimpressionmayonlybecountedwhenanadcounter(loggingserver)receivesandrespondstoanHTTPrequestforatrackingassetfromaclient.Thecountmusthappenaftertheinitiationofthestream,post-buffering,asopposedtothelinkeddigitalvideocontentitself.Specifically,measurementshouldnotoccurwhenthebufferisinitiated,rathermeasurementshouldoccurwhentheaditselfbeginstoappear(beginstoplay).ValidImpressionsmustmeettheminimumrequirementsoftheIABMeasurementGuidelinesfortheapplicablecreativetype(Display,RichMediaorVideo)anduserenvironment(desktopbrowser,mobilewebandapplicationenvironments).SeetheapplicableIABMeasurementGuidelines(DesktopDisplay,MobileWeb,MobileApplicationandVideo)forfurtherdetailsofImpressionmeasurementguidance.

3.5.1 ViewableDefinitionAnAdImpressionmustmeetcertainpixelandtimeexposurethresholds(minimum50%ofthead’spixelsfor1or2continuoussecondsfordisplayandvideo,respectively)inordertoqualifyasaViewableImpression.Thesethresholdsaredesignedtoaddgreaterassurancethattherewasan“opportunitytosee”theadbytheuserbeyondassurancethattheadwasproperlyservedandrenderedbythedevice.SeetheMRCViewableImpressionMeasurementandMRCMobileViewableImpressionMeasurementGuidelinesforguidanceonViewableImpressions.WhileImpressionsmaybemeasuredincross-mediaenvironments,ViewableImpressionsaretheminimumrequiredqualifyingmeasurementunitfordigitalaudience-basedmeasurementincludinglocationassignmenttoimpressions.

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3.5.2 IVTFiltrationAllmetricssubjecttoauditbyMRCorcertificationauditorsareexpectedtocomplywiththeMRC’sInvalidTrafficandFiltrationGuidelinesAddendum.Thisincludeslocation-basedmetrics,whichshouldbefilteredforknownGeneralInvalidTraffic(GIVT)asrequiredbythoseguidelines.Furthermore,likeothermetrics,applicationofSophisticatedInvalidTraffic(SIVT)detectionprocessesisstronglyencouragedforlocation-basedmetrics.WhileapplicationofSIVTdetectionprocessesarestronglyencouragedformonetizedtraffic,digitalaudienceandpersonslevelmeasurementrequiresahigherdegreeofprecisionandaccuracy.Assuch,digitalaudiencemeasurementandreportingrequiresfiltrationinclusiveofbothGIVTandSIVT.LocationmeasurementappliedtoaudiencereportingmustincludeSIVTfiltration,however,locationmeasurementasaserviceorfunctionalitywithoutaudiencereportinggenerallycanbelimitedtoGIVTfiltration.However,whilelocation-basedmeasurementvendorsmayhavetheabilitytoutilizegranulardatatoconductGeneralandSophisticatedInvalidTrafficdetection,third-partyaggregatorsorusersofAPIdatamaybelimitedintheirvisibilityintogranulardataandthereforelimitedintheirabilitytofilter.Insituationswheresuchpartiesutilizedatafromupstreamplatformsorlocation-baseddatacollectorswithaccreditedfiltrationtechniques,thisshouldbeconfirmedanddisclosedbytheaggregatorwithnofurtherrequirementforadditionalfiltration.Howeverwheresuchaccreditedupstreamfiltrationtechniquesareeithernotpresentorunknown,suchpartiesshouldmakereasonableeffortstoeitherobtainplatformdatathatallowsthemtocomplywiththeseguidelinesorperformadditionaldownstreamanalyticalprocedurestoserveasaproxyformoregranularanalysis.Itisnotsufficienttosolelyrelyonlocation-baseddataattributesandactivityasanInvalidTrafficfiltrationsource.SeetheIVTAddendumformoredetailsonrespectiveresponsibilitiesconcerningIVTfiltrationbythoseinthead/measurementchain.

4 Location-BasedUniverseEstimates–BasisforProjection

4.1 UniverseEstimatesGenerallyademographic/geographicuniverseorcoveragedefinitionstatedonthebasisofpopulationamountsisrequiredfordigitalaudiencemeasurement.Thesemaybecustomized(orlimited)basedonthespecificattributesofthemeasuredaudience.ThesourceusedforsuchuniversedefinitionsmustbereferencedandshouldbefromgenerallyacceptedandpreferablyauditedindependentIndustryorgovernmentalthird-partysources,butmayalsobederivedbymeasurementvendorsdirectlyaspartofhighqualityobservationorsurveys.Thesefiguresarecriticalfortheprojectionofaudiences.Thisdatashouldbeupdatedatregularperiodicintervalsandpreferablybestatedonabasisthatcorrespondstotheaudiencetargetsandweightingvariablesbeingemployedbythemeasurementorganization.Anyadjustmentstouniverseestimates(suchasenumerationsurveystoupdatethemorobtainmoregranularestimatesthanavailablefromgenerallyacceptedsource)shouldbesupported

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byempiricalevidence(ifbasedonmodelorprojection),subjecttorobustqualitycontrolanddisclosed.TheUniverseusedforcalculatingaGRPmustbebasedonthetotalaudiencemeasured.TheUniversemustbeconsideredwhendeterminingthecoverageofmeasurements(seesection4.2below)aswellaswhenprojectingmeasurementestimates.UseoftotalUSpopulationispreferred(forUSmeasurement)giveneventualinputintocross-mediaaudience-basedmeasurement(totalpopulationisrequiredforcross-mediaGRPs).However,incertaindigitalmeasurement,specificpopulationsubsetsmaybeused(suchasaspecificgeographicsegmentofthepopulationwithlocationmeasurement,theInternetpopulationfordigitalonlymeasurementandthemobilepopulationformobile-onlymeasurement).Wherespecificpopulationssubsetsareutilized,abilitytoaccess(suchasdigitalaccess)shouldbeconsideredandaccountedfor.TheUniverseusedinGRPcalculationsandestimateprojectionsmustbeappropriateforthemeasurementandbefullydisclosedtousers.

4.2 CoverageDigitaladsandcontentcanbeconsumedfromabrowserorfromwithinadigitalapplication.Bothconsumptionmethodscanbemeasuredthroughcensus-likecountingtechniques,essentiallytrackinginstancesofconsumptionthroughtrackingassetssuchasaJavaScripttag,beaconorapplicationcode(suchasanSDKorAPI)forallmeasurableaccesses.Inthesecases,despitetheinferenceofcomplete“census”therearelikelytobecertainlimitationsofcoverage(incompatibletypesofplayersorbrowsers,functionalitylimitationsincertainmobiledevices,etc.)aswellasotherpotentialmeasurementinstrumentlimitationsamongasubsetofthepopulation(suchasnon-EnglishspeakersifacollectioninstrumentisEnglish-only).Itisimportantforthemeasurementuserstofullyunderstandthetruecoverageofthereportedestimatesandwhatmaybeexcludedfromthemeasurementorganization’sabilitytomeasure.Therefore,thecoverageof,andmateriallimitsorexclusionsto,coverageofdigitalaudiencemeasurementsisrequiredtobedescribedbythereportingentity.Anylimitations(includinganythatresultinsystematicbiases)inmeasurementoftheintendedUniverse(eitherinsamplingsuchasgeographicareas,demographicsegments,languagesandcertainrespondenttypesnotsample/measuredorduetotechnicallimitationsofmeasurement)shouldbefullydisclosedandquantified(whereknownandquantifiable).Measurementorganizationsmustperiodicallyandcontinuouslyassessanymeasurementlimitationsandresultingbiases.Measurementorganizationsareencouragedtoconsideradditionalindustryguidelinesinthisarea.Additionally,measurementorganizationsseekingMRCaccreditationarerequiredtoadheretorelevantMRCMinimumStandardsinthisarea.Measurementorganizationsshoulddisclosetheoperatingsystemsandmajorbrowsertypesthatarenotmeasurableusingmetersand/ormeasurementassets.Theimpactofthese

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exclusionsonthereportedmeasurementsshouldalsobeestimatedanddisclosedifthemeasurementorganizationisprojectingitsresultstotheentireuniverseofbrowsersand/orusers,regardlessofoperatingsystemorbrowsertype.AsdiscussedintheIABMobileApplicationMeasurementGuidelines,mobileapplicationscanhavevaryingcoverageacrosstheuserpopulationbecauseofpopularity,distributionmethods,hardwareandoperatingsystemcompatibilitylimitsorotherfactors(suchasplatformavailability).Thereforeitisimportantthatin-appmeasurementconsiderthecoverageoftheapplicationitself.Thisisparticularlyimportantifanyformofsamplingisusedinthemeasurementofapplicationimpressionsorothermeasuredmetrics.Limitationsincoverageshouldbeconsideredindecisionsaboutprojectabilityofsampledresultsoriginatinginapplications.Theseguidelinesrequiredisclosure(and,ifprojectionisused,quantification)ofapplicationcoveragetousersofadvertisingmeasurements.Digitalaudiencecanbemeasuredthroughtakingsamplesofconsumersand/ordevicesandprojectingtheactivitiesofthesesamplestothepopulationofusersand/ordevices.Thisistraditionallyknownaspanel-basedorsamplebasedmeasurement.HereinwereferencetheIAB’sAudienceReachMeasurementGuidelinesasanexistingsourceofacceptablepracticesforthistypeofmeasurement.Additionally,theMinimumStandardsforMediaRatingResearch,publishedbytheMediaRatingCouncil,arealsoapplicabletothistypeofmeasurementmethodology.MeasurementorganizationsseekingMRCaccreditationarerequiredtoadheretorelevantMRCMinimumStandards.Forsamplebasedmeasurementofanykind,themeasurementorganizationshouldbediligentaboutensuringvalidprojectionsaremadeandthatthesampleisrepresentativeofthepopulationtargetedformeasurement.Methodsforweightingoradjustingdatatoensureprojectabilityshouldbesupportedbyempiricalstudy,andtheseempiricalstudiesshouldbeupdatedperiodically.Standarderrorsaroundsample-basedprojectionsshouldbedisclosed.

4.2.1 DeviceIdentificationMeasurementvendorsarerequiredtoidentifydevicesusedtoaccessdigitaladsandcontentincludingdeterminingdevicetype,platformandoperatingsystem.Enumeratingaudiencesbydeviceshouldbeusedasaninputintodeterminingcoverageoftheuniversemeasured.Further,deviceaudiencemeasurementandcoveragedeterminationsshouldbeconsideredintechniquestoaccountforduplication,asdiscussedbelow.Thesourceusedfordeviceclassificationmustbedisclosed,supportedandsubjecttoperiodicreviewandupdate.Suchclassificationshouldbegranularenoughtodistinguishdifferentdevicetypeswithinmanufacturerorplatform.Insituationswhereameasurementvendorassignsadefaultdeviceforsessionsorimpressionsforwhichdevicecannotbedetermined,suchassignmentsshouldbedisclosed,quantified(ifmaterial)andempiricallysupported.SeetheMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsforfurtherguidanceinthisarea.

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4.2.2 AccountingforDuplicationAusershouldonlybecountedonce(unduplicatedthroughdirectmeasurementoranalysisofoverlap)foruniquemeasurement,despitethefactthatausercanhavemultiplevisitsduringareportingperiod.Furthermore,inallinstancesrelatedtothereportingofaudiencemeasurement,theuseofthequalifierword“Unique”shouldbelimitedonlytoreferencestorecordsthathavebeende-duplicatedwithintheentirereportingperiod.Seesection5.1.2forfurtherguidanceonthetechnicalaspectsoftrackingusersanduniquesaswellasaccountingforduplication.SeetheMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsforfurtherguidanceinthisarea.

5 DataPreparationandQualityChecking

5.1 DigitalAudienceReachGuidelinesTheclassificationdetailsofuniquemeasurementsmustbeproperlyexplainedforreportingpurposesbymeasurersofaudience(includinglocation),becauseunderstandingthenatureoftheunderlyingdatausedasthebasisforthereporteduniquemeasurementisafundamentalpartofproperlyusingthemeasurement.Therefore,eachreportingentityisrequiredtoprominentlylabelonthefaceofanyreportthatincludesuniquemeasurements,orthroughaprominentlyavailablelinkingmechanismonthefaceofthereport,thebasisforthecalculationoftheuniquemeasurementinvolved.Discretedetailsofthebasisofthecalculationshouldbeincludedinmethodologicalsupplements.Whilethebasesusedforthesemeasurementsinmobilein-applicationenvironmentsmaydifferfromthoseusedfortraditionalandmobilewebenvironments,thesameprincipleofprominentdisclosureshouldapply.Atminimumoneofthefollowingtermsshouldbeutilizedwhendescribingthefoundationforthereachmeasures:Machine-BasedMeasures:•UniqueCookies•UniqueBrowsers•UniqueDevicesPeople-BasedMeasures:•UniqueUsersorVisitors(bothtermsareacceptableandequivalent)WhiletheIABAudienceReachMeasurementGuidelinesestablishcertainlevelsofuniquemeasurement,digitalaudienceassignment(includinglocation)shouldonlybedoneatthedeviceor,morepreferably,userlevel.Asaresult,alocationmeasurementvendormusthavearobustmethodologytoidentifyanddeduplicateuniquedevicesand/orusersforsuchassignment.Itiscritical,andacompliancerequirement,thatthemeasurementorganizationdoesnotmisrepresentmachine-basedmeasurementsaspeople-basedmeasurements.Themeasure’s

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statusaseitherapeople-basedoramachine-basedmeasureshouldbeclearlydisclosed.Inherentinthisdisclosurerequirementisarecognitionthatderivingunduplicatedaudiencepeople-basedmeasuresfromdigitalactivityandotherresearchisthemostdifficultofthemetrics;however,itisalsoinherentlythemostvaluabletousersofmeasurementdata.Innoinstanceshoulda“uniques”metricberepresentedinreportingandelsewhereas“UniqueUsers”withoutappropriatefoundationinameasurementofpeople.SeetheIABAudienceReachGuidelinesaswellastheMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsforfurtherguidanceongeneraldigitalaudiencemeasurement.

5.1.1 AdjustmentofUniquesWhileitispossibleforcensus-basedmeasurerstoproducecountsofUniqueUsersundertheIABAudienceReachGuidelines,thethresholdofmeasurementdifficultyforachievingthismeasureinacensus-basedenvironmentisquitehigh(generallybecauseofthedifficultyofbeingabletoidentifyacookieasauniquepersonpersistentlyduringthemeasurementperiod).Themeasurementorganizationmayutilizealgorithmsandotherdataadjustmentprocedures,utilizingmeanssuchascookies(ormobileadvertisingIDsanduniquedeviceidentifiers),aswellasotherpossibleidentificationmethodssuchasonlineorofflinestudies,tocalculateUniqueBrowsersandUniqueDevices.Likewise,census-basedmeasurersmaysimilarlyhaveproceduresthatultimatelycanresultinaUniqueUsermetric.However,inordertoreportaUniqueUser,themeasurementorganizationmustutilizeinitsidentificationandassignmentprocessesunderlyingdatathatis,atleastinareasonableproportion,attributeddirectlytoaperson.Forinstance,datacollectedfromregistrantsisonepossiblesourcethatcanbeutilizedincreatingaUniqueUsersmeasurebyacensus-basedmeasurementorganization,ifregistrantsrepresentareasonableproportionofthetotaluser-baseandwhenappropriatescientificprojectionmethodsareusedfornon-registrants.Activityoftrackedusersshouldoriginatefromactualrecordsofuseractivityorcollectionproceduressourcedfromusers.Ifthisdataisinferred,thenatureandextentofinferenceaswellastheinferencetechniquesshouldbedisclosed.Iflocationinformationisgatheredfromusersdirectlythroughregistration,panels,surveysorothertechniques,thesemethodsshouldbedisclosed.InnoinstancemayacensusmeasurementorganizationreportUniqueUserspurelythroughalgorithmsormodelingthatisnotatleastpartiallytraceabletoinformationobtaineddirectlyfrompeople,asopposedtobrowsers,computers,oranyothernon-humanelement.AmeasurementorganizationmayusepassivetechniquestoassociateUniqueUserstoinferavirtualhouseholdasastand-alonereportingunitorforthepurposeofcross-mediacombinationsorcomparisons.Forexample,IPaddressesmaybeusedtolinkusersandinferahousehold,butaresubjecttomanychallengesthatmustbeaccountedfor.SuchuseofIPaddressesmustaccountforavailability,granularityandreliabilityofcollectedIPaddressdataas

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wellashouseholdmembersordevicesthatneverconnecttotheseIPaddressesandalsogueststhatmaynotbepartofthehousehold,butdoconnecttotheseIPaddresses.Further,deviceportabilityandthepotentialforadevicetoconnecttomultipleIPaddressesmustalsobeaccountedfor.Inferencesusedtodeterminehouseholdsfromuserrecordsmustbeempiricallysupported,disclosedanddemonstratedtobemateriallycomplete.Further,totheextentthatmodelsareusedtoadjustuniques,itiscriticalthatrobustempiricalsupportisusedtodevelopthesemodelsandthatsuchmodelsaregranularenoughtoaccountfordifferencesinmediausage(indigitalthisincludesbutisnotlimitedtositecategory,differencesbydevice,language,locationandlocalconsiderationssuchasmaintainingthediversityoflocalaudiencebehaviors).Thesemodelsshouldbesubjectedtoongoingvalidationandanylearningdataorsourceoftruthusedshouldbeempiricallysupportedandconsiderandreflectthepopulationbeingmeasured.

5.1.2 AccountingforDuplicationAusershouldonlybecountedonce(unduplicated)foruniquemeasurement,despitethefactthatausercanhavemultiplevisitsduringareportingperiod.Furthermore,inallinstancesrelatedtothereportingofaudiencemeasurement,theuseofthequalifierword“Unique”shouldbelimitedonlytoreferencestorecordsthathavebeende-duplicatedwithintheentirereportingperiod.Thefoundationfortheinitiationofuniqueusercountingisameasurableincidenceofaudienceactivity,unduplicatedforthatuser,respectively,andrelatedtotheapplicableweb-site,propertyorapplication,duringthereportingperiod.InadditiontoaccountingforduplicationwhenreportinguniqueaudiencemetricssuchasReach,whendeterminingcoverageofthemeasureduniverse,ameasurementvendormustaccountforduplicationacrossdevicesorplatformswithinthesameuniverse.Measurementvendorsareencouragedtodevelopandutilizerobusttrackingassetsthatcanidentifyusersacrossdevicesandplatformsforpurposesofde-duplication.Alternatively,vendorsmaymeasuredeviceorplatformaudiencesindependentlyandestimate/removeduplicationacrossthem.Suchtechniquesmustbeempiricallysupportedanddisclosed.Itiscriticalthatthoroughdescriptionsofhow“users”areactuallydeterminedandhowde-duplicationduringmeasurementperiodsisaccomplishedareprovidedtousersofuniqueusermeasurements.Trackingmethodsshouldbesubjecttointernaltestingandvalidationuponoriginalimplementationaswellasperiodicinternalverificationtesting.Trackingmethodsanddisclosureswillbethesubjectofintenseproceduralverificationifexternalcertificationissoughtbythemeasurementorganization. Itislikelythatmethodsforlinking“identity”(individualsandhouseholds)acrossdigitaldevicesandplatformstoaccountforduplicationrequirerobustassetsandtechniques.Further,accountingforduplicationacrossmediawillneedtoaccountforuniquesituationssuchasconcurrentusageand“casting”(useofamobiledevicetobroadcastcontenttoTVs).Withregardtocross-mediacomparabilityconsiderations,asstatedabove,thisdocumentrepresents

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thedigitalinputintoaCross-MediaAudience-BasedMeasurementStandard,whichwillsoonfollow.Aswasdiscussedabovewithregardtoadjustinguniques,totheextentthatmodelsareusedtoaccountforduplication,itiscriticalthatrobustempiricalsupportisusedtodevelopthesemodelsandthatsuchmodelsaregranularenoughtoaccountfordifferencesinmediausage(indigitalthisincludesbutisnotlimitedtositecategory,differencesbydevice,language,locationandlocalconsiderationssuchasmaintainingthediversityoflocalaudiencebehaviors,wherereportingisatthelocallevel).Thesemodelsshouldbesubjectedtoongoingvalidationandanylearningdataorsourceoftruthusedshouldbeempiricallysupportedandconsiderorreflectthepopulationbeingmeasured.SeetheMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsforfurtherguidanceinthisarea.

5.2 TimeDataCollectionLocationmeasurementdataaccuracymayvarydependingonwhetherthedatacollectiontechniqueconsistsofsnapshotorpointintimedatacomparedtobehavioralanalysesovertime.Passivelymeasured(otherthanfirst-partydata)locationdatarepresentinghomeorworklocationmayrequireobservationofseveraldatapointsovertimeinconjunctionwithbehavioralanalysistoassign“home”or“work”location.Measurementorganizationsshouldseektoestablishrobustdatacollectionandeditingrulesincludingaminimumlevelofqualitydataobservationswhenassigninghomeorworklocationbasedonpassivelycollecteddata.Activelycollectedorfirst-partylocationdata(suchasregistrationdata)shouldbeperiodicallyrefreshedoranalyzedfor“freshness”.SeeSection6.2.1forfurtherdiscussionofregistrationdataandrequiredqualitycontrol.Furthermore,measurementorganizationsshouldconsiderestablishingempiricallysupportednumberandlengthofplaceconnection,proximityminimums,orotherqualifyingcriteriaoreditruleswhenmeasuringpointintimelocationandvisitationwhichshouldbedisclosedandperiodicallyassessed.Likewise,ifadvertisinginformation(suchasbidrequests)isusedtoassignlocation,thetimelagbetweenad-exposureandproximityindicationshouldbeconsidered.Measurementorganizationsshouldinstitutespecific“inactivityrules,”bywhichausersessionisterminatedandthusexcludedfromadditionalcontributionstoTimeSpentafterapre-determinedlevelofconsecutiveinactivity.Inactivityrulesthatresultintheterminationofalocationsessionorvisitareencouragedandshouldbefullydisclosedbythemeasurementorganization;thesedisclosuresshouldincludeboththetimethresholdsutilizedtotriggertheinactivityrules,aswellastheamountoftimespenttobecreditedinthosesituationswheretheinactivityruleisactivated.Itisexpectedthatinactivityrulesmaybemodifiedinthefuturebasedonevidencefromempiricalstudyoftheevolutionofusers’browsinghabits.Formobileapplicationmeasurement,inactivityrulesmaybebasedonapplicationidle,whichisgenerallydefinedbytheapplicationdeveloperbasedontimesincelastinteractionandcanresultinan

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applicationrunninginthebackgroundorbeinginactive.Deviceidleorpowerstateshouldalsobeconsideredforinactivityrulesandthemechanismsusedtodetectinactivitymaybeuserconfigurable.Theseinactivityrulesmayvarybasedonthetypeofapplicationinvolved.Forinstance,someapplicationsaredesignedforlongperiodsofinactivity(suchaslong-formvideo,orscoreboards,tonametwoexamples),inwhichcasealongerinactivitythresholdmaybemoreappropriatethaninanothersituationwherelongerperiodsofinactivityarenotnormallytobeexpected.Or,asanotherexample,whileanapplicationthatisnotinfocusonthescreenwouldusuallybeconsideredinactive(ifoutoffocusforthepre-definedinactivityduration),incertainlimitedcases,suchaswithapplicationsthatcontainaudioads,theinactivityrulesmayallowfortheapplicationsessiontobeconsideredasstillactive.Inallcases,inactivityrulesappliedmustbefullydocumentedanddisclosed.Themobileenvironmentmayallowfordifferingoptionsfordetermininguseractivitythanareavailableintraditionalonlineenvironments,andtheseshouldbeleveragedinmakinginactivitydeterminations.Forinstance,screendimsanddarks,orscreentouches,canbeusedinhelpingtomakeinactivitydeterminations.ThebasisfordeterminingTimeSpentatalocation(ismeasuredaspartofvisitation)shouldbedisclosedtodatausers.Likewise,disclosuresshouldalsoincludeinformationonthemethodsusedtodeterminetheprecisetimeatwhichasessionisterminated,anditscontributiontothecalculationofTimeSpentforthatsession.

5.2.1 ValidationProceduresGeneralItislikelyindustryorganizationssuchasMMA,IABorotherswillhelpadministertools,resourcesandliststhatwillallowforuniformapplicationofcertainlocationvalidation.Totheextenttheseresourcesariseinthemarketplace,locationmeasurementvendorsareencouragedtoconsidertheiruseandapplicationinthecontextofvalidationandlocationdataquality.Measurementvendorsshouldapplyrobustvalidationandqualitycontroltechniquescontinuouslytocollectedandreporteddataincludingcleaningandeditingfunctionality.Suchtechniquesshouldbeperiodicallymonitoredandassessed.Accordingly,validatedlocationmeasurementprecisionandaccuracyinformationshouldbedisclosedinlocationmeasurementreports.

Accuracygenerallyreferstotheabilityordegreetowhichameasurementcanascertainactuallocation,placeandvisitationcorrectly(thedifferencebetweenmeasuredandtruelocationorplace;relativeaccuracyofspecificdataandtechniquesarediscussedfurtherinthisdocument).Precisionreferstothelevelofgranularityoflocationmeasurement,typicallyreflectedinthenumberofdigitsfollowingthedecimalpointinlatitudeandlongitude(forGPSmeasurement).

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Proximitytechnology,likebeacons,maymeasureprecisionindistancetoaknownsensor/context.Forexample,alatitudeandlongitudecomprisedoftwodecimalpointsmaypinpointamobileuser’slocationtowithinapproximatelyonekilometer,whilefourdecimalpointsmayenableaccuracytowithinapproximatelytenmeters(5decimalplacesenablesaccuracyofapproximatelyonemeter).Whilehigherlevelsofprecisionmayallowformoreaccuratelocation,placeandvisitationmeasurement,thenumberofdigitsfollowingthedecimalshouldneitherbeequatedwithsuperioraccuracy,nordoesitnecessarilyreflectthereproducibilityofthemeasurement.Measurementvendorsareencouragedtoobtainfirst-party“groundtruth”dataunderconditionsascloseaspossibletothoseinreal-worldusetoverifyaccuracyofmeasurementagainstsuchdata.Accuracyisanestimateofhowlikelythemeasuredlocationrepresentsthetruelocationofthedevice/user/place/visitationandPrecisionishowspecificandgranularameasurementoflocationisstated(intermsofdecimalpoints,etc.).Accuracyandprecisionareindependentconcepts,butbotharenecessarydisclosuresforlocationmeasurement.However,collectionofmoreprecisedatamayimpactdevicedatausageandbatterylifeandmayleadtolatency(asmoredeviceresourcesmaybedevotedtomorerobustmeasurementtechnology)inbothmeasurementanduserexperience.Measurementvendorsarerecommendedtousethemostprecisemeasurementthatisfitfortheintendedpurposeofitandtodisclosetherelativeprecisionofcollectedandmeasureddataaswellasanylimitationsorimpactsonaccuracysuchprecisionmayexhibit.Further,measurementvendorsshouldemployvalidationproceduresatasprecisealevelastechnicallyfeasiblecommensuratewithreportedprecision.AndroidandiOSLocationServiceAPIs,includeparametersforaccuracy,timeofreading,speed,altitudeetc.,andvendorsarehighlyencouragedtocollectandutilizeasmanyorallofthesewherepossible.Sensordatathatcanbeobtainedviasmartphonessuchasaccelerometer,compassandgyroscopedatashouldalsobecollectedandconsideredwherefeasible.Pollinggranularityorcollectionfrequencyinfluencestheaccuracyoflocationandvisitation(includingDwellTime)measurement.Whiletheseguidelinesdonotmandateaspecificminimumcollectionfrequencyforlocationandvisitationmeasurement,vendorsarerequiredtoadoptcollectionfrequenciesandmeasurementgranularitythatatleastsupportsthelevelofgranularityofreporting.Second-levelgranularityofDwellTimebasedonatleast200millisecondpollinggranularity,isencouragedconsistentwiththerequirementsrelatedtotimethresholdmeasurementwithintheMRCMobileViewabilityGuidelines.Ifthemeasurercanempiricallyvalidatethatpollingatalessfrequentintervalthanevery200milliseconds(includingtheuseofbackoffpolling,ordifferentialandlessfrequentpollingforcertainenvironments,contentandconditionsandinconsiderationofuserexperienceanddevicebatterylife)willresultinnomaterialdifferencesin

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measurement,thislessfrequentintervalisallowablefor.Ifameasurerchoosestopollatalessfrequentintervalthan200millisecondsorutilizebackoff,thesupportforthisapproachmustberevalidatedonatleastanannualbasis,andthispracticemustbeprominentlydisclosed.Urbandensity(concentrationofvenues/placeswithinphysicalareasorcloseproximityaswellasmulti-levelbuildingsmadeupofvaryingdiscreteplaces)canimpactlocationsignalsandaffectaccuracy.Vendorsshouldincludeconsiderationofavailableurbandensitydata(suchasCensusdataaswellaswhetheraplaceisaresidenceorabusiness)andemployvalidationproceduresthatfocusonprecisionofcollecteddatawithregardtotherelativeaccuracyoflocationandvisitationmeasurementindenseareas.Inareaswherebusinessesaretightlyclustered(e.g.,malls),inadditiontolocationdistance,valuablesignalsforinferringtheplaceofvisitcanbederivedfromothersensorsonadevicesuchasaccelerometer,gyroscope,compass,aswellastheWi-Fisignalstrengthofnearbyrouters.AltitudeWithregardtomulti-levelbuildingsoraltitude,measurementvendorsshouldcollectandincludealtitudedata(orotherdatatodisambiguateplacesondifferentfloorsofthesamebuilding)wherefeasibleandconsiderthiswhenvalidatingandprocessingreportedresults.Thepresenceorabsenceofsuchdataatapreciselevelcanhaveadirectimpactontheaccuracyoflocationandvisitationmeasurement.ZcoordinatesorelevationdataincludedwithGPScoordinatesmaybelessprecisethanlatitudeandlongitude(XandY)coordinatesduetothenatureoftheGPSsystem(satellitecollectionorientationofthisdata).Limitationsofthisdatashouldbeunderstoodandconsideredwhenfactoredintomeasurementwithanyknownlimitationsdisclosedtousers.Altitudedatamayalsobeusedtodetermineeditrules(empiricallysupported)thatmaybeappliedtovalidateorfilterdatatoavoidvisitationfalsepositivesversusactualvisitors.SpeedMeasurementvendorsshouldalsouseaspeedordurationindicatortoimproveassignmentwherefeasible,especiallywhenusingradiusbasedboundaryandproximitymethodologiesforvisitationortargeting.Speedcanbeinferredindirectlyfrommobileaccelerometerandgyroscopicmeasurements,butgenerallyrequiresanalysisoflocationovertime,withreasonablemeasurementfrequency.Speedanddurationdatashouldbeusedtodetermineeditrules(empiricallysupported)thatmaybeappliedtovalidateorfilterdatatoavoidvisitationfalsepositivessuchas“drive-bys”orothertypesofmomentaryproximitynotmeetingtherequirementsofavisit,versusactualvisitors.Speedanddurationeditrulesshouldbesupportedbyempiricalanalysis,correlatedtothepurposeanduseofdataandbefullydisclosed.Useofrawaltitudedatawithoutappropriateeditingisdiscouraged,butmaybenecessaryinsituationsofdatasparsenessorinfeasibilityofmoreprecisemeasurement.Insuchsituations,theconditionsnecessitatingrawaltitudedatausageshouldbefullydisclosedtousers.

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CoordinategranularityanderrorsDatavalidationshouldalsoconsiderinaccuratecoordinateinterpretationswhenusingalternateorlessprecisedatafields.LocationdatathatistranslatedintolatitudeandlongitudecoordinatescouldcomefromavarietyofsourcesasGPSorWi-Fi,IPandregistrationdata.Measurementvendorsshouldincludeconsiderationofthenumberofcoordinatedigits(minutesandseconds)or“coarseness”insourcedataandalsoemployrobustdataqualityandcleaningprocedurestoaccountfortruncated,transposedormislabeledcoordinates,aswellasincompleteorcorruptdata.Staticorhardcodedcoordinatespassedfromapplicationsshouldnotbeusedfordynamiclocationmeasurement.Likewise,theuseofcentroidorthecenter-pointsofgeographicareassuchaszipcodes,DMAs,orstatesshouldnotbeusedtorepresentpreciselocationandvisitationunlessintendedtobereportedatthesamegranularity(market-level).First-partyfreshnessTheuseoffirst-partyorregistrationdatashouldbesubjecttoperiodicreviewandupdatealongwithappropriaterecencyor“freshness”rulessuchastimetolivepolicies.MeasurementvendorsutilizingregistrationdataareencouragedtoemployleadingpracticessuggestedbytheCouncilforResearchExcellenceorCRE(http://researchexcellence.com/files/pdf/2015-02/id97_can_publisher_data_play_a_role_4_3_12.pdf)whendesigningregistrationcollectionandmaintenanceprocedures.Suchpracticesinclude,butarenotlimitedto:

• Dataedits/validationsatthetimeofcollectiontodetermineiftheresponseisvalidinthecontext(e.g.,avalidZIPcodebasedonreferencetoaUSPSdatabase).

• Reviewofdeclareddataforillogicalorsuspectresponses.Forexample:– Selectionof12345,90210,orothercommonZIPcodesforlocation.– Selectionofthefirstoptioninanydrop-downselectionfield,etc.

• Datavalidationtechniquesinitiatedbyandfocusedonuserchangestotheirprofiledata.

• Cross-validationtechniquesemployingexternaloralternatedatasources.• Definedprocesstoaddressdataconflictsacrosscollectionmethodologiesandparties.

– Dataqualityproceduresthatpre-identifypotentialconflictsamongmultiplesources,andapolicysuchasadatahierarchy.

• Abilityofuserstoreviewtheircollecteduserdata,sotheycanupdateorcorrectit,ifnecessaryorpossiblyremoveitfromtheirprofile.

• Adata“TimeToLive”(TTL)policythatconsidersthedifferentdatatypes,association(firstorthirdpartysources)andderivation(declaredorinferred)foreachelementandestablishesaTTLforthatdata,atwhichpointthedatamusteitherberefreshedordiscarded.

• Centralizedfunctiontooverseedatacollection,qualityanduseacrosstheorganization,suchasaresearchorCRMfunction.

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OtherValidationConsiderationsMeasurementvendorsshouldconsiderwhetherotherdatavalidationprocessesshouldbeincludedaspartofroutineandongoingdatainspection,validationandediting.Suchconsiderationsmayincludeblacklistingknowninvalidoroutofboundscoordinates,knownbaddevicesorapplicationsaswellaspatternandoutlieranalysisrelatedtooverorunder-representedlocationsandusers.AlllocationmeasurementdatashouldbesubjecttoinvalidtrafficfiltrationasrequiredbytheMRCInvalidTrafficDetectionGuidelines.Additionally,measurementorganizationsshouldseektoestablishrobustdatacollectionandeditingrulesincludingaminimumlevelofqualitydataobservationsaswellastimeboundswithinwhichdataobservationsareconsideredvalid.Measurementorganizationsarealsoencouragedtomakeuseofallavailablesourcesoflocationandplacedataandestablishrulesforeitheraminimumlevelofsourcesinagreementorhowtotreatandweightsourcesthatmaybecompetingorcontradictorywithrespecttotherelativelevelofaccuracyandprecisionofeachsource.Allsuchrulesshouldbeempiricallysupportedandfullydisclosed.

SeetheMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsforfurtherguidanceandrequirementsrelatedtodataeditingandvalidationofaudiencedata,includinglocation.

6 Location-BasedAdvertisingMeasurementGuidelines–TechnicalDetails

6.1 TrackingofAdvertisingAccess–TechnicalDetails

6.1.1 Client-Initiated(andViewable)Theseguidelinesrelyonthecentralconceptthatcountingshouldinitiateontheclientside,nottheserverside(measurementcountingmayhappenattheserversideaslongasitisinitiatedbasedonclient-sideevents.),andthatcountingshouldoccurascloseaspossibletothedeliveryofanadvertisementorcontenttothemeasureduser.Recordsevidencinglongitudinalconsumptionofcontentduringthemeasuredtimeperiodshouldbebasedonactiveuseraffirmation,oratminimumperiodicconfirmationwiththedevicethatcontentandadscontinuetobedeliveredwithanopportunitytosee(forexample,remainviewable).Filtrationandinvalidtrafficdetectionmethodsarenecessarytoensurethatinvalidactivitiesareexcludedfrommeasurementcounts.CachingandPre-Fetch/Pre-Renderactivitymustbeappropriatelyaccountedfortoensurethatcontentnotactuallyaccessedbyauserisexcludedfromcounts.Adsthatareblockedatthedevicelevelthroughtheuseofadblockingtechnologyshouldnotbeincludedinimpressionorviewablecounts.Seesection7forfurtherguidance.

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Allcountedactivitythatcontributestoaudiencemeasurements(includinglocation)shouldmeetparametersoftheMRC’sViewableImpressionMeasurementGuidelines,toensureopportunitytoseeispresent.AdorcontentimpressionactivitynotmeetingIndustryqualitystandards(filtration,viewableparameters,etc.)shouldhaveassociatedaudienceactivityremoved.

6.1.2 Script-BasedTrackingMethod/AssetsFordigitalmeasurementofadvertising,measurementmethodsmayincludeatrackingassetsuchasatag.ThefollowingdetailsarekeycomponentsofexistingIABMeasurementGuidelines:

1. AnadimpressionmayonlybecountedwhenanadcounterreceivesandrespondstoanHTTPrequestforatrackingassetfromaclient.Permissibleimplementationtechniquesinclude(butarenotlimitedto)HTTPrequestsgeneratedby<IMG>,<IFRAME>,or<SCRIPTSRC>.Forclient-sideadserving,theadcontentitselfcouldbetreatedasthetrackingassetandtheadserveritselfcoulddotheadcountingaslongascountingdoesnotoccuruntiladcontenthasbeenloaded.

2. Theresponsebytheadcounterincludesbutisnotlimitedto:

a. Deliveryofa“beacon,”whichmaybedefinedasanypieceofcontentdesignated

asatrackingasset.Beaconswillcommonlybeintheformofa1x1pixelimage,buttheseguidelinesdonotapplyanyrestrictionstotheactualmedia-typeorcontent-typeemployedbyabeaconresponse.

b. Deliveryofa“302”redirectorHTML/JavaScript(whichdoublesasatracking

asset)toanylocation,and

c. Deliveryofadcontent

6.2 TrackingofDeviceandUserLocation(SourcesandAssignment)TechnicalDetails

6.2.1 MeasurementTechniquesActivityoftrackedusersshouldoriginatefromactualrecordsofuseractivityorcollectionproceduressourcedfromusers.Ifthisdataisinferred,thenatureandextentofinferenceaswellastheinferencetechniquesshouldbedisclosed.Iflocationinformationisgatheredfromusersdirectlythroughregistration,panels,surveysorothertechniques,thesemethodsshouldbedisclosed.

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Asdiscussedabove,accuracygenerallyreferstotheabilityordegreetowhichameasurementcanascertainactuallocationandvisitationcorrectly(relativeaccuracyofspecificlocationdataandtechniquesarediscussedfurtherinthisdocument).Precisionreferstothelevelofgranularityoflocationmeasurement.Ingeneral,higherlevelsofprecisionallowformoreaccuratelocationandvisitationmeasurement.Organizationsgatheringuserinformationshouldhaveregularinternaltestingofaccuracyandtheseprocessesshouldbesubjecttoaudit.Generallyaverylowtoleranceforerrorexistswithprimaryreportedcharacteristics(forexample,ageneralexpectationoflessthan5%error).Iferrorratesareexpectedtobeinexcessofexpectationsforthesecharacteristicstheseestimatederrorratesshouldbedisclosed.MeasurementofdeviceanduserlocationmayuseGPS,Wi-Fi,IPAddress,CellAntennaTrilaterationandRegistrationDatatoproduceLongitude/Latitudecoordinates.Somesourcesaremoreaccuratethanothers,andthemethodaswellasrelativeaccuracyofeachshouldbedisclosed.Thefollowingmeasurementtechniquesaredescribedintermsoftheirrelativeaccuracy:Datapassedinanadorbidrequest:Measurementvendorsmayalsouselocationdatapassedaspartofbidoradrequests(suchasOpenRTB)whenassigninglocationorvisitation.ProtocolssuchasOpenRTBmayincludeinformationaboutanimpression,UserorDevice.TheOpenRTBspecdefinesGeoobjects,whichrepresentphysicallocationsthatcanbeattachedtodataobjects,butUserandDevicelocationinformationmaydifferforthesamerequestandshouldbeinspectedandanalyzed.Locationparameterspassedmayrepresentcurrent,home,workorlast-knownlocationormayrepresentthelocationofafixedpointsuchasacellularnetworkantennaoreventhegeographiccenterofacity.Thesevaluesshouldbeunderstoodandconsideredappropriatelyinmeasurementandreporting.Further,thetypeofattribute(methodofcollection)andrelativeaccuracyandprecisioncanbeincludedandshouldbefactoredintolocationdeterminationwhereavailable.Asadorbidrequestdatamaybesubjecttomanipulationandmaycarrydifferinglevelsofaccuracyandprecision(dependingonthesourceandmethodusedtoderiveandtransmitlocationdata),itshouldalsobesubjecttorobustvalidationeditrules/qualifyingcriteria.Theuseofmultipledatasourcestocorroborateandinspectadorbidrequestdataandaccuracy/precisionparameterrequirementsisencouraged.Vendorsusingadorbidrequestdataforlocationdeterminationarestronglyencouragedtoalsoemployalternatedatasetsandalgorithmstodetectpatternsofinaccurate/fraudulentlocationdataandfilteritout,withempiricalsupportanddisclosure. Therecencyofthelocationmeasurement(orlastfetchtime),andwhetheritindicatescurrentlocationorthelastwell-knownlocationshouldbeconsideredanddisclosed.Datafrom

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individualpublishers/appsshouldbeinspectedtoensuretherearenoanomaliesandforaccuracysincedifferentpublishers/appsmayreportlocationfromdifferentsourcesorwithdifferentaccuracyand/orprecision.Theactualnumberofactivedevicesreportingadorbidrequestdataorusersobserveddaily,weekly,ormonthly,thefractionoftimetheyareobservable,andthenumberofmeasuredvisitsshouldbedisclosed.Where,how,when,andwhataccuracyverificationdataiscollectedandhowitisusedshouldbedisclosedtousers.BeaconsBeacons,ordevicesthatbroadcastidentifiers(generallyBluetoothlowenergysignals)thatcantriggercertainactionsinabeacon-enabledapponamobiledevice,maybeusedfortargetingandvisitationmeasurement.Suchmeasurementmaybeveryaccurateandprecisedata,withinamatterofmeters,butconsiderationofscale(abilitytoinstall,manageandmaintainbeaconequipment)shouldbepartofuseofsuchinformation.Robustonboardingandmonitoringofplacedeterminationshouldbeappliedtosuchdataandvendorsshouldapplysuchproceduresconsistentlytoallmeasuredplaces.Suchproceduresinclude,butarenotlimitedto:

• Formalizedanddocumentedconfiguration,onboardingandinstallationprocedures.• Initializationchecksandverificationprocedures.• Formalizedanddocumentedtechnicalguidesandreferencematerialsforboth

installationtechniciansandclientusers.• Arobustequipmentmanagementsystemthatincludesdeployedbeaconinventoryby

hardwareandfirmwareversion(whereapplicable).• Ongoingmonitoringandtestingprocedures.• Formalanddocumentedhardwareandfirmwareupdateprocedures.• Abilitytotrackandmangeuser-setparameters(recordedandincludedindata

transmissionsbacktothemeasurementorganizationifchanged).• Qualitycontrolprocedurestoensuredatatransmissionsfromapplications(whether

real-timeorbatched)arecomplete,accurateandprotectedfrommodification.• Systemstoensureerrorsanddatarejectedforqualitypurposesarelogged,evidence

supportingtheerrorisretainedanderrorsarefollowedupontocorrectpotentialcasesofsystematicorrecurringissues.

• Formalizedanddocumentedobsolescencepolicies.Further,unsecurebeaconsmaybesusceptibletomanipulationorhijacking.Assuch,vendorsdeployingbeaconsshouldtakestepstoensureunauthorizedpartiescannotusetheirinfrastructure.ThesestepsincludetheuseofuniqueIDs,preventingthedecodingofbeaconinformation(suchasthroughrotatingencryptionkeys),andutilizingsecureandprivatepasswords.

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GPSDeviceandapplicationlocationservicesthatfeatureGPSmaybeutilizedforuseranddevicelocationandmaybecollectedthroughuseofanAPIorSDK.ConsistentwiththeIABAudienceReachGuidelines,specificmachinebasedtrackingofusers–suchasuniquebrowsersorcookies–shouldbespecifiedanddistinguishedfromactualuserbasedtracking(whichrequiresmoreadvancedadjustments,registration,etc.).De-duplicationofusertracking(into“uniques”)forreachmeasurementsisdesirable–butisrecognizedtobeadifficultmetrictocaptureaccurately.Ifameasureislabeled“unique”de-duplicationisrequired.Itiscriticalthatthoroughdescriptionsofhow“users”areactuallydeterminedandhowde-duplicationduringmeasurementperiodsisaccomplishedareprovidedtousersofuniqueusermeasurements.WerefertheuseroftheseguidelinestopriorIABguidanceonAudienceReachMeasurementswithregardtothehierarchyofuniquemetrics(cookies,browsers,etc.).Seesection5.1forfurtherdetailonclassificationofuniquesforthepurposeofassigninglocation.Trackingmethodsshouldbesubjecttointernaltestingandvalidationuponoriginalimplementationaswellasperiodicinternalverificationtesting.Trackingmethodsanddisclosureswillbethesubjectofintenseproceduralverificationifexternalcertificationissoughtbythemeasurementorganization.GPSdatamaybeveryaccurateandprecisedata,capableofidentifyinguserlocationtowithin10-100meters,butisdependentonqualitycontrolandmonitoring.ThequalityofaGPSsignaldegradessignificantlyindoorsorinlocationsthatdonothaveanunobstructedviewofmultipleGPSsatellites.Suchlimitationsshouldbeconsideredanddisclosed.Further,measurementvendorsshouldcollectandincludealtitudedatawherefeasibleandconsiderthiswhenvalidatingandprocessingreportedresults.Thepresenceorabsenceofsuchdataatapreciselevelcanhaveadirectimpactontheaccuracyoflocationandvisitationmeasurement.GPSdatacollectionmaybebatteryanddataintensiveandvendorsareencouragedtooptimizesuchtechniquestominimizeimpactonmeasurementlatencyanduserexperience.Wi-FiUseofWi-Filocationmeasurement(whereavailable)canalsobeveryaccurateandpreciseandmaybecapableofidentifyinguserlocationtowithin30-100meters.Suchdatamaybebettersuitedformicro-locationmeasurementindoorswhencomparedtoGPSandisnotsubjecttoprovider/carrierlimitationscomparedtoothertechniquessuchasCellAntennaTrilateration(discussedbelow).However,IPswitchingandVPN/Firewall/Proxyconsiderationsmayimpactdataaccuracy(theformerduetoinconsistencyindatapointscollectedandthelatterinmis-assigninglocationtodevicesorusersthatareobfuscatedorgrouped)andavailabilityandshouldbeconsideredindataqualitycontrolandvalidationprocedures.Likebeacon

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measurement,robustonboardingandmonitoringofplacedeterminationshouldbeappliedtoWi-Fidataandvendorsshouldapplysuchproceduresconsistentlytoallmeasuredplaces.CellAntennaTrilaterationTheuseofcellularnetworklocationandAntennaTrilaterationbetweencelltowersisgenerallylessaccurate(maximumresolutiongenerallyattheziporneighborhoodlevel)thanothertechniqueslistedabove.TheavailabilityandcapabilitiesofsuchdatamaybesubjecttoaspecificwirelesscarrierandlimitationstocertaincarrierswillimpactthecoverageofCellAntennaTrilaterationtechniques.Therelativecoverageofwirelesscarriersandanyapparentlimitationsshouldbedisclosedtousersviapenetrationdataorgeographiccoverageinformation.Further,CellAntennaTrilaterationmeasurementmaybesusceptibletogapsintransmissionorsignalloss,particularlyduringdrivingorcommuting(speedshouldbeconsidered).Measurementvendorsshouldconsiderthesefactorsinvalidatingandcleaningsuchdata.Theuseofcentroidorthecenter-pointsofgeographicareassuchaszipcodes,DMAs,orstatesshouldnotbeusedtorepresentpreciselocationandvisitationunlessintendedtobereportedatthesamegranularity(market-level)absentothersignalstorefinethisdata.IPAddressesTheuseofmobileIPaddressedisgenerallynotaccurateorpreciseformobilelocation(thisdatamaybemoreaccurateandpreciseforlocationofstaticdevicessuchasdesktopPCs,connectedTVsorOTTdevices)andissubjecttoVPNchallengessuchasVPNspoofingorcorporateIPs.DatacenterIPsshouldbefilteredfrommeasuredtrafficconsistentwithMRCInvalidTrafficDetectionAddendumguidance.IPaddressesmayalsobebasedonanapplicationserver,whichcanvarysignificantlyfromtheactuallocationofadeviceoruser.IPaddressesmaybemappedtocountry,city,state,postalcode,andcarrierinformationthroughanIP-to-geodatabaseorgeo-locationvendor,butitisrecommendedthatsuchdatasetsandvendorsbeauditedandMRCaccrediteddatasources.RegistrationandOtherFirst-PartyDataTheuseofregistrationdatamaybeusedtodeterminelocation,butgenerallysuchdataislimitedtotheestablishmentofhomeorworklocationasopposedtoactualpoint-in-timelocation.Theuseoffirst-partyorregistrationdatashouldbesubjecttoperiodicreviewandupdatealongwithappropriaterecencyor“freshness”rulessuchastimetolivepolicies.MeasurementvendorsutilizingregistrationdataareencouragedtoemployleadingpracticessuggestedbytheCouncilforResearchExcellenceorCRE(discussedaspartofvalidationproceduresinSection5.2.1ofthisdocument)whendesigningregistrationcollectionandmaintenanceprocedures.

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Firstpartydatasuchasopt-inpaneldata(seeconsiderationsforpanelsbelow)andsocialmediacheck-insmayalsobeusedtodetermineuserlocation,butsuchdatamaysubjecttohumanerrorandfalsificationthatrequiresrobustcontrolsanddataqualitycontrolanalysis.BehavioralanalysisHomeorworklocationmayalsobederivedbasedonanalyzingaspecificuser’slocationhistory.Analysisofgeo-behavioralpatternstoinferlocationshouldbeempiricallysupportedanddisclosed.Theuseofthird-partydata(purchasedata,mediaconsumption,carownershipetc.)maybejoinedtobehavioraldatatoassignlocation.Thesourceofsuchthird-partyordataintegrationdatashouldbeknownandisencouragedtobeauditedandaccredited.Seethefollowingsectionsrelatedtospecificdataintegrationconsiderations.

6.2.2 TrackingMethod–PanelMethods,etc.Syndicatedmeasurementorganizationshavecomplexmethodologiesforselecting,recruiting,andmaintainingpanels(orothermethodsofuser-trackingbasedmethodsofassignment,forexampledataenrichmentmethodsbasedontrackedactivityanduserlinkages);collectingdata;editing;projectingandweightingdataandreportingaudienceactivity.Onestrengthoftheseorganizationsistheabilitytoassignaudienceactivitytousersandtheknowndemographyofusersinapanelorsomeotheruser-assigneddatasource.Thisinformationisgatheredthroughacombinationofmanualandautomatedtechniques,someofwhichcaninvolvedirectcontactwithpanelistsandsomeinvolvetheuseofsoftwaremeteringtechniquesorotherdata-collectionmethodssuchasSDKswithinapplicationsordataenrichmentprocesses.Whetherornotaformalpanelexiststhroughdirectcontact,selection,andrecruitmentofusers,allofthefollowingconsiderationsapply.Forinstance,trackingmethodsrelyingonlarge-samplesofuserscanbehaveeffectivelylikeapanel.Biasesexistinwhogeneratessuchactivityandhow.Therateatwhichusersgenerateactivityindifferentgeographicareasorspecificplacesmayvary,mimickingpanelresponseratelimitations.Wheresamplesareusedthesampledesignmust,toareasonabledegree,accuratelyreflectthestatisticalpopulationtargetedformeasurement(suchascertaingeographicordemographicsegmentsmeasured).Ineachreport,thestatistical(target)populationstowhichmeasurementsareprojectedmustbeclearlydefinedandthesamplebaseforthereportingofanyseparateaudiencedatamustbedisclosed. Similartocensus-based,client-initiatedtrackingmethods,thequalityoftheuserassignmentprocess(logging,activityassessment,etc.)iscriticaltomeasurementaccuracy.Thefollowingotherareasarecriticaltoaccuracyamonguserassignedtrackingmeasurementorganizationsarerequiredtobeconsidered:

• Completenessofframeforselectionofpanelists• Completenessofassignmentdata-source(ifnon-panel)• Panelistselectionprocedure• Panelistcharacteristicupdating

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• Panelrefreshandturnover-replacementprocedures• Panelcooperationandincentivetechniques• Panelrepresentationversuspopulation• Panelcalibrationmethods• Measurementcoverageissues(inclusiveoflocalconsiderationswhereapplicable)• Characteristicassignmenttechniques,includingmodeling,ascription,etc.• In-tabulationqualificationrules• Accuracyofsoftwaremetersand/orotherdatacollectiontools• Completenessofdatacollection• Informationprocessingcontrols• Reasonablenessandsupportfordataediting,adjustment,modelingand/orascription

techniques• Reasonablenessandsupportforweightingvariablesandmodels• Appropriatenessandqualitysourceofuniverseestimatedata• Accuracyofdatacalculationsandreporting• Overallratesofresponse• Disclosureofstandarderrors

Iforganizationsuseadataenrichmentprocesstoassignlocation,staticdeviceinformationshouldnotbeusedandthefollowingadditionalmattersmustbeconsidered.

• Completeness• Coverageofdataintegrationsource• Accuracyofdataintegrationsourcedata• Testingandqualitycontrolofdatatransferbetweenthemeasurementserviceanddata

integrationsource• Privacyconsiderations,ifpassivetothepublic• Assessmentofanyadjustments,ifany,thatneedtobemadeofthedataintegration

sourcedata• Processesforon-boardingandterminatingdataintegrationsourcesaswellasdisclosing

thesechangestocustomers.Disclosureandauditingisstronglyrecommendedforthesecomplexsyndicatedmeasurementorganizations.SeetheMRCDigitalAudience-BasedStandardsforfurtherguidanceandrequirementsrelatedtopanelsandDEPwhenusedasasourceofaudienceassignment,includinglocation.

6.3 TrackingofPlace(SourcesandAssignment)TechnicalDetailsPlacemeasurementinvolvesthedeterminationofthephysicallocationofabusinessorotherplaceforthepurposeofcorrelatingthislocationtouser/devicelocationmeasurementtoderivefoottrafficorvisitationdataaswellastotargetusers/devicesbasedonproximitytoaspecificplaceorlocation.

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Suchplacemeasurementmayinvolvegeo-fencing(orestablishmentofa“virtualbarrier”),whichmaybedonemanuallyviadirectmeasurementorbeaconplacement(discussedabove)byameasurementvendor,aswellasviaacquisitionorsubscriptiontoalocationdirectoryorthird-partydataandothermeans.Geo-fencingmayinvolveeitherPoint-RadiusorBoundarymethodologies.InaPoint-Radiusmeasurement,acircleofdataisutilizedwithacertainradiusaroundlatitudeandlongitudecoordinatesofaplace.InBoundarymeasurement,acomplexpolygonorboundaryisestablishedthatisgenerallyamorepreciseandgranularrepresentationofaplaceIneachcase,itisimportanttovalidatethatthegeo-fencerepresentationaccuratelyreflectsnotjustthelocationanddimensionofthephysicalplace,butaccountsforhowamobiledevicewouldreportitslocationwhenatthatplace,toensurecorrectconclusionsaboutvisitation.Ingeneralgeo-fencingcannotrepresentmulti-storystructures.Placemeasurementmayalsoincludeprobabilisticassignmentbasedonuser-behaviormeasurementviatheabilitytosurveyusersabouttheirlocationduringperiodsofbehaviororthroughuseofcheck-ins(suchasthroughsocialmediaactivity).Whileuseofsuchtechniquesmaybeviable,whenproperlysupported,itshouldberecognizedthatauserdevice'sreportedlocationmaynotcorrespondtotheirphysicallocationonamapandassuch,placemeasurementmaynotaligncompletelywiththemaplocationanddimensionsoftheplace.Asaresult,useofprobabilisticassignmenttechniquesforestablishingplaceboundariesrequiresempiricalsupportandappropriateaccuracy/precisiontolerances.Regardlessofwhichmethodologyisused,locationderivedfromdevice-levellocationservicesshouldbeusedtoidentifyuser’sdevicelocationwithrespecttogeo-fencedlocationsandlessprecisedata,suchasIP,shouldbeavoided.Considerationofscaleshouldalsobepartofuseofsuchinformation.Robustonboardingandmonitoringofplacedeterminationshouldbeappliedtosuchdataandvendorsshouldapplysuchproceduresconsistentlytoallmeasuredplaces.Anyinferencesusedinlocationorvisitationmeasurementwithregardtoplacedatashouldbethoroughlytestedandsupportedaswellasdisclosed.Placedatamaybesubjecttomanipulation(hijacking)andallplacedatashouldbesubjectedtofiltrationasrequiredbytheMRCInvalidTrafficDetectionAddendum.Thecapabilitiesandlimitations(precision/accuracy)oftherespectiveplacemethodologyshouldbedisclosed.PlacedatabasesLargethird-partydatasets,mapsorplacedatabasesmayalsobeusedtodetermineandmapphysicalplacelocationandboundaries.Vendorsthatutilizesuchinformationshouldconsiderthepotentiallimitationsofsuchdatabases(andwhether/howtheyalignwiththeprovider'slocationmeasurementapproach),includingout-of-dateandincompleteinformationandcoverage.Vendorsusingsuchdatasourcesareencouragedtomakeuseofmultipleindependentsourcesofdata,withformalizedandempiricallybasedprocedurestohandleandresolveconflictsordiscrepanciesamongthesesources.Third-partyorDemographicEnrichment

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Provider(DEP)datashouldbeknownandisencouragedtobeauditedandaccredited.SeeothersectionsofthisdocumentrelatedtospecificDEPconsiderations.

6.4 MeasurementonApplicationsTheapplicationmeasurementorganizationshouldhavesufficientcontrolstodeterminethat:

• Theapplicationwasdownloaded,openedandinitializedasdesignedonthatClientUserpriortothemeasuredSession.

• Theapplicationitself(ormeasurementassetswithinit)wasfunctioningasintendedduringthesession.

Applicationtransactionrecords,canbederivedandtransmittedtotheapplicationmeasurementorganization:(1)onareal-timebasisduringapplicationexecution,(2)inbatchedgroupsthataretransmittedperiodically(inwholeorinpart)duringanon-lineapplicationSessionor,(3)firststoredduringoff-lineapplicationuseandlatertransmittedduringasubsequenton-lineSession(notnecessarilyassociatedwiththesameapplication)oftheapplicableClient-User.SeetheIABMobileApplicationMeasurementGuidelinesforfurtherguidancerelatedtoapplicationmeasurement,particularlyAPIandSDKmeasurement,whichshouldbeappliedtomeasurementvendorsutilizingthistechnologytomeasurelocation.

7 EnhancingTrackingAccuracy

7.1 EnhancingAdvertisingTrackingAccuracyFormeasurementoflocationassociatedtoadexposure,existingkeyconceptsofadimpressioncountingshouldbefollowed,asdetailedinpreviouslyissuedIABMeasurementGuidelines.Theseinclude:

• Client-InitiatedCounting• Mobilemeasurementfordownloaded,opened,andinitializedapplications• Inclusionofoff-lineapplicationactivityduringacampaignreportingperiod• FiltrationofInvalidActivitycommensuratewithMRC’sInvalidTrafficDetectionand

FiltrationGuidelines• CacheBustingTechniques• DifferentiateSignificantAuto-RefreshversusHuman-InitiatedActivity• DifferentiatePre-FetchandPre-RenderActivity(fromtraditionalservedactivityand

eachotherwherepossibleandcountsadsonlyaftertheyappearonauser’sbrowser)• DifferentiateImpressionsOut-Of-FocusorwithObstruction(forviewability)• DisclosingMaterialInternalTraffic(ifnotfiltered)• FullDisclosureofmeasurementmethodsandkeymetricsbyPublishers,Portals,Ad-

Servers,AdNetworksandExchanges

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o Inthecontextofviewablemobileadimpressions,thisprincipleoftransparencyofmeasurementprocessestodatausersshouldapplytoallmeasurersofviewablemobileimpressions,including3rdpartymeasurers.

7.2 FiltrationforInvalidTrafficFiltrationofsiteorad-servingtransactionstoremoveinvalidactivityishighlycriticalforaccurate,consistentcounting.AllmetricssubjecttoauditbyMRCwillbeexpectedtocomplywiththeMRC’sInvalidTrafficandFiltrationGuidelinesAddendum.Thisincludeslocation-basedmetrics,whichshouldbefilteredforknownGeneralInvalidTraffic(GIVT)asrequiredbythoseguidelines.Furthermore,likeothermetrics,applicationofSophisticatedInvalidTraffic(SIVT)detectionprocessesisstronglyencouragedforlocation-basedmetrics.WhileapplicationofSIVTdetectionprocessesisstronglyencouragedformonetizedtraffic,digitalaudienceandpersonslevelmeasurementrequiresahigherdegreeofprecisionandaccuracy.Assuch,digitalaudiencemeasurementandreportingrequiresfiltrationinclusiveofbothGIVTandSIVT.LocationmeasurementappliedtoaudiencereportingmustincludeSIVTfiltration,however,locationmeasurementasaserviceorfunctionalitywithoutaudiencereportinggenerallycanbelimitedtoGIVTfiltration.

7.3 InternalTrafficMeasurementorganizationsshouldhaveprocedurestosegregateallinternallygeneratedactivity(thatofthemeasurementorganizationandtheorganizationundermeasurement)whichdoesnotrepresentlegitimateconsumptionorotherwisevalidinternettraffic–forexample:softwaretesting;tagtestingbypublisher,agenciesandadvertisers;corporatemandatedtransactionsthatmaydrivetrafficunnaturallyhigh,etc.Theseactivitiesareconsideredinvalidtrafficforadvertisingcommercepurposesifmaterial.Testingcomputerenvironmentsshouldbelogicallysegregatedfromproductionenvironmentsastonotcommingletestandproductiontransaction.Specifictolocationmeasurement,secretshoppersorotherknown“unnatural”locationandvisitationdatashouldalsobesegregated.Materialinternaltrafficnotfilteredshouldbefullydisclosed.

7.4 InactivityConsiderationsandLimitsAnapplicationSessionismeasuredfromthestartoftheapplicationtotheend-timeofuseoftheapplication,aslongastheapplicationdoesnotencounterinactivity(seetheIABMobileApplicationMeasurementGuidelines)ofapre-definedduration.AsnotedintheIABMobileApplicationMeasurementGuidelines,theseinactivityrulesmayvarybasedonthetypeofapplicationinvolved;forinstance,someapplicationsaredesignedforlongperiodsofinactivity(suchaslong-formvideo,orscoreboards,tonametwoexamples),inwhichcasealongerinactivitythresholdmaybemoreappropriatethaninanothersituationwherelongerperiodsofinactivityarenotnormallytobeexpected.Inallcases,inactivityrulesappliedmustbefullydocumentedanddisclosed.

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Themobileenvironmentmayallowfordifferingoptionsfordetermininguseractivitythanareavailableintraditionalonlineenvironments,andtheseshouldbeleveragedinmakinginactivitydeterminations.Forinstance,screendimsanddarks,orscreentouches,canbeusedinhelpingtomakeinactivitydeterminations.

7.5 TargetingTargetingisdefinedasdeliveringadsbasedonusers’location,typicallyinvolvingproximitytospecificplace(s).Itiscriticallyimportantthattheaccuracyandprecisionoflocationdataaswellasthesourceandmeaning(real-timelocationvs.homeorworklocation)isdisclosedandconsideredwhenusingsuchdatatotargetadvertising.Empiricallysupportedproximityrangesshouldbeestablishedforlocationtargetingandtheserangesshouldbedisclosedtousers.Further,vendorsenablingdeliveryoflocation-targetedadsshouldincludefirst-partyverification(suchasuserprompts)oflocationtogaugeeffectivenessandfurtherfine-tunemeasurement.Theresultsofsuchverificationproceduresshouldbedisclosedtousersofthedata.Developmentofthesefunctionsisencouraged;however,privacyregulationsshouldbeconsidered.Privacyregulationsastheyemergeshouldbemonitoredandstagedfortheapplicationmeasurementorganizationassoonasknown.Publiclyavailableprivacypolicydocumentsareencouraged.

7.5.1 PrivacyandConsumerPerceptionVendorsandpublishersmustmakeeffortstoobtaintheenduser’spermission,andtoprovideconcise,clearprivacypolicynoticesdescribinghowtheirappproductsand/orwebservicesuseandsharedataandwhattheconsumer’schoicesare.Useofclearopt-inpracticesisrequiredandvendorsareencouragedtoestablishfirst-partyrelationshipsforcollectionoflocationdatawherefeasible.Entitiesemployingmobileweblocationcollectionmustincludethefunctionalitytoprovidepromptswhenvisitingawebsiterequestingcurrentlocationdata,withaclearopt-inaswellasthewebsitehostname,andtheoptionfortheconsumertoacceptordenypermission.Entitiesusingmobileapplicationlocationservicesmustgettheuser’spermissionviaapop-upatapplicationinitializationorduringuseandrequestthisaccessagaineachtimeauserchangesthepermissioninthelocationservicessettingwithinthedevicesettings.Apublisherorvendormustclearlystateintheirprivacypolicywhytheyarecollectingthisinformationandhowitmaybeshared.Ifrespondentshavebeenledtobelieve,directlyorindirectly,thattheiranonymitywillbeprotected,theirnames,addressesandothersuchidentifyinginformationshallnotbemadeknowntoanyoneoutsidethemeasurementserviceorganization.Measurementorganizationsareencouragedtoconsideradditionalindustryandregulatoryguidelinesinthisarea.Specifically:

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TheIAB’sMobileLocationDataGuideforPublishers:(http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IAB_Mobile-Location-Data-Guide-for-Publishers_Feb2016-Revised.pdf)TheDigitalAdvertisingAlliance’sSelf-RegulatoryPrinciples:(http://www.aboutads.info/principles)TheNetworkAdvertisingInitiative’sCodeofConduct:(http://www.networkadvertising.org/code-enforcement/code)Additionally,measurementorganizationsseekingMRCaccreditationarerequiredtoadheretorelevantMRCMinimumStandardsinthisarea.Privacyregulationsmustbeconsidered.Privacyregulationsastheyemergemustbemonitoredandstagedforthemeasurementorganizationassoonasknown.Finally,ifavendororapplicationcollectsdatathatisintendedtobeusedforbehavioralanalysistodeterminehomelocationorotheruserlocationheuristics,thismustbemadeknowntousersaspartofpermissions,termsandconditionsandprivacypolicies.Trackinglocationthroughoutadayandcombiningsessionstodeterminelocationhasprivacyimplicationsthatmustbeconsideredindisclosuresanduser-facingpoliciesortermsandconditions.

8 ReportingParameters

8.1 GeneralParametersGeneralreportingparameters(dayparts,weekparts,timezones,etc.)provideforconsistencyandcomparability.Theseshouldbebasedonthelogicalapplicationofinformationabouttheusagepatternsofthemedium.Inordertoprovideformorestandardizationindigitalmediameasurementreporting,thefollowinggeneralreportingparametersarerecommended.Notethattheseareonlyseveralofthepossiblereportingparametersthatmaybeused.Ifparametersinadditiontothesearereported,similarrulesshouldbedefinedandapplied.ManyofthesehavebeenspecifiedonaconsistentbasiswithpriorMRC/IABmeasurementguidelines.

8.2 TimeDay—12:00midnightto12:00midnightTimeZone–Fulldisclosureofthetimezoneusedtoproducethemeasurementreportisrequired.Itispreferable,althoughnotacurrentcompliancerequirement,forcertifiedmeasurementorganizationstohavetheabilitytoproducemeasurementreportsinaconsistenttimezonesobuyerscanassessactivityacrossmeasurementorganizations.ForUS-based

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reportsitisrecommendedthatreportsbeavailableonthebasisoftheEasternTime,fornonUS-basedreportsthisisrecommendedtobeGMT.Daypart—Digitalmediausagepatternsneedfurtheranalysistodeterminetheusefulnessofestablishingeffectiveandlogicalstandardizedreportingdayparts(suchasworkinghoursandnon-workinghoursnormalizedacrosstimezones).Weencouragesuchanalysistodeterminetheneedforstandardizationofthismeasurementparameterbasedonmarketplaceneedsandbehaviors.Totheextentthataudiencemeasurementisspecifictoamediavertical(e.g.,TV),measurersareencouragedtoconformtoexistingandstandardizeddayparts(e.g.,broadcastday),especiallywithregardtocross-mediacomparisonsorGRPs.However,itislikelythatmedia-agnosticmeasurementwillneedtobefurtherstudiedtodeterminetrafficandusagepatterns.Digitalspecificdaypartsshouldbesupportedbyempiricaltrafficanalysis.CustomdaypartsshouldbefullydisclosedWeek—MondaythroughSundayWeek-parts—M-F,M-Sun,Sat,Sun,Sat-SunMonth–Threereportingmethods:(1)TVBroadcastmonthdefinition.Inthisdefinition,theMonthbeginsontheMondayoftheweekcontainingthefirstfullweekendofthemonth,(2)4-weekperiods–(13peryear)consistentwithmediaplanningforothermedia,or(3)acalendarmonth.Forfinancialreportingpurposes,amonthisdefinedasacalendarmonth.

8.3 QualificationofDataAdjustmentProceduresSection5ofthisdocumentdiscussedvariousdatapreparationandqualitycheckingproceduresthatmaybeappliedtolocation-baseddata.SuchproceduresmayresultinEditingorAdjustmenttorawdata.DataEditingandAdjustmentprocedurescanbecriticaltoprocessinglocationmeasurementdata.Theseprocedurescanbeapartofbestpracticesforensuringcompleteandconsistentmeasurementresultsovertime.However,thespecificdataadjustmentandeditingparametersusedshouldbesupportedbyempiricaljustificationbasedonpriorstudy.Thevolume/extentofeditingandadjustmenttooriginallycollectedtrafficandrespondentdatashouldbedisclosed,wherethisvolumeismaterialtothetotal(generallyifthatexceeds5%ofrecords).Thesedisclosuresshouldbegranularbytypeandreportedonthebasisofweightedandreportedcharacteristic.Ifeditingoradjustmentratesareonlyperiodicallymeasured,thismeasurementshouldbefrequentenoughtobepertinenttoreporteddata.

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8.4 MinimumReportabilityStandardsMeasurementvendorsareencouragedtoestablishempiricallysupportedminimumrequirementsforreporting(forspecificmeasuredpropertiesormetrics)andifestablished,arerequiredtodisclosetheminimumrequirements.

8.5 DataRetentionRequirementsDetailedcollecteddata(preandpost-processing)supportingdigitallocation-basedmeasurementshouldberetainedforasufficientperiod–atleastoneyearafterthereleaseofdata.Obfuscatedortruncateddatamaybemaintainedtosatisfythisrequirement,shouldtherebePersonalIdentifyingInformation(PII)orprivacyconcerns,butshouldbeavailableinatransparentmannertoaccreditation/certificationauditorsandatadetailedleveltoallowreprocessingofreportedestimateswherenecessary.Differentmetric/transactiontypesandvaryingrisksassociatedwithtransactiontypesshouldbeconsidered.PIIlegalrestrictionsmaydictateeliminatingoneormoreofcollectedfieldsfromretainedrecordsoralteringthecontentoffieldsforidentityprotectionpurposes.Further,privacyorcontractualrestrictionsonrawdatamaystipulateshorterretentionperiods.Suchrestrictionsmaystillallowforalternativelevelsofretentionthatarestillsufficienttosupportreprocessingofdata.Inthesecasesdeviationsshouldbesupportedbythemeasurementorganization’sprivacypolicyandshouldbeavailableforreviewbyauditors.

9 DisclosureGuidanceLocationsreportedcanbetheactualphysicallocationofthecontentconsumerorthehomelocation.Ifassumptionsaremadeaboutphysicallocationsofaudiencemembersordevices,theseshouldbedescribed.Accuracyofassumptionsmadeshouldbeestablishedbyempiricalstudyanddisclosedtousersofmeasurementdata.Ifelectronicmeansareusedtoestablishthelocationofaudiencemembers,theaccuracyofthesefunctionsshouldbeestablishedanddisclosed.Thesemethodsshouldbevalidatedtobeappropriatelyaccurateatthelevelsofgranularitybeingreported.Userdisclosuresshoulddistinguishhowplacedataisassignedaswellastherelativeperformanceofamethodology.Also,wheremixedorhybridassignmentmethodologiesareused,vendorsshoulddisclosewhatpercentageofassignmentisusedforeachrespectivemethodaspartofgeneraldisclosures.

Userdisclosurematerialsshouldoutlinetheassignmentmethodologyindetailincludingtheuseofprobabilisticassignment(usingproximityoralgorithmicapproaches)ordeterministic(usingactualvisitation)assignment.Digitallocation-basedmeasurementorganizationsshoulddisclosetheirlocationmeasurementactivityrecordingprocesstobuyers,sellersandotherusersofthemeasurementdata.An

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organization’smethodologyforaccumulatingdigitaladvertisinglocationmeasurementsshouldbedescribedtousersofthedata,includingmethodsforcalculatingunitaudienceswhereapplicable.Specifically,thenatureofcountsand/ormeasurements,methodsofsamplingused(ifapplicable),datacollectionmethodsemployed,dataeditingproceduresorothertypesofdataadjustmentorprojection,calculationexplanations,reportingstandards(ifapplicable),reliabilityofresults(ifapplicable)andlimitationsofthedatashouldbeincludedinthedisclosure.Further,privacyandsecuritypolicies,userpermissionmethodsandprotectionofcollecteddatadiscussedaspartofsection7.5.2shouldbeprominentlydisclosedtousersofthedata.Thefollowingpresentsexamplesofthetypesofinformationdisclosed:NatureofDigitalAudience-BasedMeasurements

•Name/TypeofLocationActivityIncludedintheMeasurement•NameofMeasurementReport•TypeofMeasurementsReported

o TimePeriodsIncludedo DaysIncludedo UniverseEstimatesandCoverageEstimatesusedforProjectiono BasisforMeasurement(MeasurementUnit)o GeographicAreaso SignificantSub-GroupingsofData

o Demographiccategories•FormatsofReportedData•SpecialPromotionsImpactingMeasurements•AuditingAppliedandDirectionstoAccesstoAuditReport•Sampling/ProjectionsUsed

o SamplingMethodsUsedo ExplanationofProjectionMethods

DataCollectionMethodsEmployed

•MethodofDataCollectiono CacheBustingTechniquesEmployedo First-PartyorRegistrationo ExposureorAssignmentLevelDatao AudienceDataSourceso ViewableCriteriaEmployed,i.e.,MRCViewableImpressionGuidelineso AudienceQualifiers,InclusionSpecifics,etc.

•TypesofDataCollectedo CensusTagging,Surveys,Diary,Observations,ElectronicMeasurements,etc.o FrequencyofCollectiono ProcedurestoDetectandReportPre-fetch/Pre-renderaswellasAuto-

Play/Auto-Refresh(whereapplicable)

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•ContactswithUsers(ifapplicable)•ResearchonAccuracyofBasicData

o LatencyIssueswithPeriodicMeasurement,AsApplicable•RateofResponse(ifapplicable)

EditingorDataAdjustmentProcedures

•CheckingRecordsforCompleteness•ConsistencyChecks•AccuracyChecks•RulesforHandlingInconsistencies•CircumstancesforDiscardingData•FiltrationProcedures•HandlingofPartialDataRecords

o AscriptionProcedures

ComputationofReportedResults•DescriptionofHowEstimatesareCalculated

o Illustrationsaredesirable•WeightingTechniques(ifapplicable)•VerificationorQualityControlChecksinDataProcessingOperations•Pre-ReleaseQualityControls•ReprocessingorErrorCorrectionRules

ReportingStandards(ifapplicable)•RequirementsforInclusioninReports,BasedonMinimumActivityLevels• DemographicandGeographicBreaksReported

ReliabilityofResults•SamplingError(ifapplicable)•ValidationofAccuracyandPrecisionanddisclosuresrelatedtothese

Dataretentionrules•Maintainingsufficientdataorprocessesthatallowforaudittrail

LimitationsonDataUse•Non-samplingError•ErrorsorUnusualConditionsNotedinReportingPeriod•LimitationsofMeasurements

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10 AuditingGuidelines

10.1 GeneralThirdpartyindependentauditingisencouragedforalldigitallocation-basedmeasurementsusedinthebuyingandsellingprocess.Thisauditingisrecommendedtoincludecountingmethods,measurementmethodsandassignmentforlocationandprocessing/controlsasfollows:

1. CountingMethods:Independentverificationofactivityforadefinedperiod.Countingmethodproceduresgenerallyincludeabasicprocessreviewandriskanalysistounderstandthemeasurementmethods,analyticalreview,transactionauthentication,validationproceduresandmeasurementrecalculations.

2. Panel/Census/AssignmentMethods:Independentverificationofactivitytoassignlocation.Theseproceduresgenerallyincludeprocessreviews,methodstoensureaccuraterepresentation,qualifiersappliedandtestingofapplicationofthesequalifiersforinclusioninaudiences,transactionauthentication,validationofweightingandprojectionproceduresandmeasurementrecalculations.

3. Processes/Controls:Examinationoftheinternalcontrolssurroundingallphasesofthemeasurementprocess.Processauditingincludesexaminationoftheadequacyofappliedcountingandqualificationtechniques.

Althoughauditreportscanbeissuedasinfrequentlyasonceperyear,someaudittestingshouldextendtomorethanoneperiodduringtheyeartoassureinternalcontrolsaremaintained.Auditreportsshouldclearlystatetheperiodscoveredbytheunderlyingaudittestingandtheperiodcoveredbytheresultingcertification.

10.2 U.S.CertificationRecommendationAlldigitallocation-basedmeasurementproductsusedinthebuyingandsellingprocessarerecommendedtobecertifiedascompliantwiththeseguidelines,atminimumannually.Thisrecommendationisstronglysupportedbythe4Asandothermembersofthebuyingcommunity,forconsiderationofmeasurementsas“currency.”InadditiontoMRC,thereareanumberofothercertifiersandtypesandlevelsofcertificationavailabletoorganizationsinvolvedinmediameasurement.Anumberofdigitallocation-basedproductsexistintheUSandsomeoftheseproductshavebeenaccreditedbytheMRCinsomefashion.Uponfinalizationoftheseguidelines,inadditiontotimelyevaluationofeachoftheseproductsforcompliance,areconciliationprocesswilllikelyneedtotakeplacethataccountsforthedifferentialdatacollection,editingandprojectiontechniquesemployedbytherespectivevendorsandthepotentialimpactsonreportedestimates.

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SpecialAuditingGuidanceforAdvertisingAgenciesorOtherBuyingOrganizations:Ifbuyingorganizationsmodifyorotherwisemanipulatemeasurementsfromcertifieddigitallocation-basedaudiencemeasurementorganizationsuponreceipt,auditingoftheseactivitiesshouldbeconsidered.

10.3 InternationalCertificationRecommendationTheMRCencouragesnon-U.S.measurersofactivitytoadoptthepracticesspelledoutintheseguidelines.Whilecertificationregimesmayvaryonacountry-by-countrybasis,weencouragemeasurerstobeauditedforcomplianceannuallybyindependent,third-partyauditingorganizations.

11 References http://www.iab.com/guidelines/iab-mobile-location-data-guide-for-publishers/https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AudienceReachMeasurementGuidelines.pdfhttp://www.mmaglobal.com/documents/demystifying-location-data-accuracyhttp://www.researchexcellence.com/files/pdf/2015-02/id97_can_publisher_data_play_a_role_4_3_12.pdfhttp://www.aboutads.info/principleshttp://www.networkadvertising.org/code-enforcement/code

12 SupportingAssociationsandParticipatingOrganizationsAbouttheInteractiveAdvertisingBureau(IAB)TheInteractiveAdvertisingBureau(IAB)empowersthemediaandmarketingindustriestothriveinthedigitaleconomy.Itiscomprisedofmorethan650leadingmediaandtechnologycompaniesthatareresponsibleforselling,delivering,andoptimizingdigitaladvertisingormarketingcampaigns.Together,theyaccountfor86percentofonlineadvertisingintheUnitedStates.Workingwithitsmembercompanies,IABdevelopstechnicalstandardsandbestpracticesandfieldscriticalresearchoninteractiveadvertising,whilealsoeducatingbrands,agencies,andthewiderbusinesscommunityontheimportanceofdigitalmarketing.Theorganizationiscommittedtoprofessionaldevelopmentandelevatingtheknowledge,skills,expertise,anddiversityoftheworkforceacrosstheindustry.Throughtheworkofitspublic

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policyofficeinWashington,D.C.,IABadvocatesforitsmembersandpromotesthevalueoftheinteractiveadvertisingindustrytolegislatorsandpolicymakers.Foundedin1996,IABisheadquarteredinNewYorkCityandhasaWestCoastofficeinSanFrancisco.AbouttheMobileMarketingAssociation(MMA)TheMMAistheworld’sleadingglobalnon-profittrademobilemarketingassociationcomprisedofmorethan800membercompanies,fromnearlyfiftycountriesaroundtheworld.Ourmembershailfromeveryfactionofthemobilemarketingecosystem,includingbrandmarketers,agencies,mobiletechnologyplatforms,mediacompanies,operatorsandothers.TheMMA’smissionistoacceleratethetransformationandinnovationofmarketingthroughmobile,drivingbusinessgrowthwithcloserandstrongerconsumerengagement.AnchoringtheMMA’smissionarefourcorepillars;tocultivateinspirationbydrivinginnovationfortheChiefMarketingOfficer;tobuildthemobilemarketingcapabilitiesformarketingorganizationsthroughfosteringknow-howandconfidence;tochampiontheeffectivenessandimpactofmobilethroughresearchprovidingtangibleROImeasurement;andtoadvocateformobilemarketers.Additionally,MMAindustry-widecommitteesworkcollaborativelytodevelopandadvocateglobalbestpracticesandleadstandardsdevelopment.AbouttheMediaRatingCouncil(MRC)TheMRCisanon-profitIndustryassociationestablishedin1963comprisedofleadingtelevision,radio,printandInternetcompanies,aswellasadvertisers,advertisingagenciesandtradeassociationswhosegoalistoensuremeasurementservicesthatarevalid,reliableandeffective.MeasurementservicesdesiringMRCAccreditationarerequiredtodisclosetotheircustomersallmethodologicalaspectsoftheirservice;complywiththeMRC'sMinimumStandardsForMediaRatingResearch;andsubmittoMRC-designedauditstoauthenticateandilluminatetheirprocedures.Inaddition,theMRCmembershipactivelypursuesresearchissuestheyconsiderprioritiesinanefforttoimprovethequalityofresearchinthemarketplace.Currently,approximately110syndicatedresearchproductsareauditedbytheMRC.Formoreinformation,visitwww.mediaratingcouncil.org.ParticipatingWorkingGroupOrganizations:4info inMarket RTBiQIncA+EOleCommunications Joingo,LLC SchurzCommunicationsAcxiom Joule SenseWhereAdara KatzMediaGroup SitoMobileAOL KTVN-SarkesTarzian SkyhookAOL-Convertro LocalSearchAssociation(LSA) StarcomMediaVestGroupApple Mbooth TABOnlineAuditedMedia MECGlobal TenthAvenue/JouleBeebyClark+Meyler MediaGeneral TheMarketingArm

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CBSInteractive Medialets TheWeatherCompanyChapellAssociates Meredith ThinknearbyTelenavcomScore Microsoft TribuneBroadcastingCriteo MNI TritonDigitalCuebiq Mobext TurnerBroadcastingEY MobileMarketingAssociation(MMA) txtsignal.comEyeCorpMedia Near UbimoFacebook Nielsen UnacastFactual NinthDecimal UnivisionFederatedMedia OneMobile VerizonWirelessFleishmanHillard Pandora VerveMobileFoursquare ParkourMethod VMobGasBuddy Placecast WalmartGimbal Placed WalmartStores,Inc.Google PlaceIQ WeatherChannelHavasMedia PromoMap XAdHorizonMedia RadioResearchSymposium(RRC) YextIAB RazorFish YPIgnitionOne Reveal

13 ContactUsIAB:EricJohn,SeniorDirector,Mobile&Video917-282-6341eric@iab.comMRC:RonPinelli,VPDigitalResearchandStandards212-972-0300rpinelli@mediaratingcouncil.org MMA:LeoScullin,VPofIndustryPrograms917-439-5059leo@mmaglobal.com