AANA and ANA warning to Facebook: major advertisers worldwide will be urged to cooperate and crack misreporting problem to achieve independent accountability in the digital space

The AANA has put out a statement in response to Facebook’s recent misreporting revelations, with a warning that if Facebook and others don’t move voluntarily to an independent verification, it will require the major advertisers around the world to cooperate and crack this problem and achieve independent accountability in the digital space.

The statement:

Media is traditionally the single largest marketing expense for a brand owner and marketers need to be able to make and defend these investments with confidence. For decades, advertisers have relied upon a standard of accepted practice for traditional media that requires independent reporting and verification of their audiences and their usage patterns, which have typically been supported by all competitors in a specific media category.

It is this third party verification that Facebook is currently lacking. The latest revelations by Facebook cast a cloud of doubt over how reliable Facebook’s data and self-reporting is.

Equipping advertisers to achieve transparency in the media buying ecosystem has been high on the AANA’s agenda this year as it has been with our counterparts around the globe, like the Association of National Advertisers in the U.S.

The AANA believes the over-riding principles of comparability and accountability should govern all players in the media ecosystem. The AANA is encouraged by Facebook’s willingness to address the issue with third party providers and will await more detail. The AANA sees no reason why Facebook should not abide by the standards of independent verification and auditing that more traditional media players have signed up to for decades in order to assure advertisers of their media investments.

If Facebook and others don’t move voluntarily to an independent verification, it will require the major advertisers around the world to cooperate and crack this problem and achieve independent accountability in the digital space.

The AANA is in conversations with the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) in the US and supports their efforts to encourage Facebook to accept independent verification.