Digital Ad-ID Standard Gets Backing

A new industry standard for identifying all advertising regardless of media got a boost this week when three prominent advertisers--Procter & Gamble, Ernst & Young, and PepsiCo--committed to supporting the Ad-ID system.

The digital system will use metadata to let advertisers quickly access everything about an ad, from the agency that created it to where it's scheduled to run. Ad-ID eventually will provide cross-media campaign tracking, return-on-investment analysis, and real-time verification that ads ran according to plan. Ad-ID replaces an analog system that was developed more than 30 years ago for television advertising but that hasn't been applicable to other media. P&G was instrumental in creating that system.

The commitment from P&G, Ernst & Young, and Pepsi should send a message to those who aren't yet familiar with the system that it has value, says Barbara Bacci Mirque, senior VP of the Association of National Advertisers, which developed the system with the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Says Mirque, "A lot of companies are looking to what the industry leaders are doing."