As recently reported in The Australian, the media agency Maxus have announced they are only buying display advertising on websites that are audited by the Audit Bureaux of Australia “with immediate effect”. This comes after a recent round of support for audits from media-buying agencies (such as GroupM and OMD) who have begun to give more buying preference to audited websites.

The key issue behind the stance from Maxus is that many publishers continue to report unaudited figures which may be unreliable due to the inclusion of publisher-generated traffic which inflates web audience figures.

“We’re getting to the point where nothing’s really happening (from an industry perspective), so we’re going to officially boycott sites that don’t adhere to the ABA’s web audit process,” Mr Gaines said. “It’s a bit hypocritical to go and spend money with publishers when you don’t know what you’re buying” he said.

Incoming ABA chief executive Paul Dovas welcomed the news, “The stance taken by Maxus heralds a new era in media accountability, where commitment and responsibility is measured by direct action.”

“The ABA Web Audit is the recognised industry standard for accountability.  We urge all media agencies to do the same and protect themselves by using audited data which delivers consistency, accuracy and comparability for advertisers and media buyers.”

Media-buyers can verify which sites are audited by looking for the ABA green tick in the Nielsen Market Intelligence reports or by viewing a publisher’s Audit Certificate [see example certificate].

See more coverage in:
* The Australian
* mUmBRELLa