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IAB and 4A’s Release Finalized “Standard Terms and Conditions Version 3.0″ for the Interactive Industry

Otilia Otlacan | March 4, 2010

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Focus Turns to Adoption for the Digital Ecosystem

CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) announced that the “4A’s/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions Version 3.0” (Ts&Cs) have been finalized and are ready for adoption throughout the interactive industry. This is the first update to the voluntary standard advertising contract since 2002 and includes critical components that take into consideration how interactive advertising platforms have evolved. This contract will become the standard by which media companies and agencies or advertisers expedite the most common types of interactive media buys.

The changes from Version 2.0 represent the input of more than 100 finance, legal, sales and buying leaders from a cross-section of media companies and agencies who volunteered to help improve the protracted, time-consuming negotiations that had plagued interactive advertising. The announcement was made at IAB’s third Annual Leadership Meeting, Ecosystem 2.0: Revenue the Next Wave, in Carlsbad, California, where leaders from across the digital media landscape have converged to address the most critical issues facing the industry.

“This took an extraordinary amount of effort from leaders across the interactive advertising ecosystem,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB. “We are now doing everything we can to educate our members on the benefits of this voluntary standard and are confident that the industry sees the great benefit of streamlining the interactive buying process.”

“These revised Ts&Cs answer the current needs of the industry and take into account important newer platforms, such as social media,” said Nancy Hill, President and CEO of the 4A’s. “Implementation of the new document throughout the industry will help us all realize the important efficiency improvements we have been looking for.”

Buyers and sellers of interactive advertising have found themselves burdened with protracted, time-consuming negotiations and lengthy addendums for the past several years. To remove these frictions and delays, and work toward a standard document that could be utilized by all industry stakeholders, the IAB and 4A’s launched a joint Ts&Cs Taskforce in April 2009 to create this new version of the Ts&Cs. The document now encompasses the breadth of advertising platforms and tools that are currently utilized in the creation of an interactive advertising campaign, including performance-based advertising and user-generated content platforms. This contract will become the standard by which media companies and agencies or advertisers expedite the most common types of interactive media buys.

In addition to including new interactive platforms, the “4A’s/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions for Interactive Advertising Version 3.0” contain updates across the following key areas:

Data usage
Third-party ad-serving, tracking, and billing
Billing and payment terms
Cancellation terms
Editorial adjacencies
Late creative
Indemnity
As part of the process of educating the marketplace and encouraging adoption, the IAB and 4A’s held two joint webinars for its members. A recording of one of those webinars can be found at: http://www.iab.net/member_center/1524/member_seminars

Additionally, the Taskforce has released “An Educational Guide to the 4A’s/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions Version 3.0,” which documents the rationale behind both the new and unchanged language. The 4A’s and IAB strongly urge all those who review the new version to read the Educational Guide first. Both the Educational Guide and the Ts&Cs can be found at www.iab.net/tscs3

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 460 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.

About the 4A’s

The 4A’s is the national trade association of the advertising agency business. The 1,196 member agency offices it serves in the United States employ 65,000 people, offer a wide range of marketing communications services, and place 80 percent of all national advertising. The management-oriented association helps its members build their businesses, and acts as the industry’s spokesman with government, media, and the public sector. For more information, please visit www.aaaa.org.

Otilia is the founder and editor of AdOperationsOnline.com, launched in 2008. She currently provides online business consulting through her company, RightFit Media, and blogs about all things online at www.otiliaotlacan.com.

Otilia Otlacan

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