Ad groups unveil a new Data Transparency Label

Last May, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab began releasing for comment a new framework to set up a kind of “ingredients label” for sellers of audience segment data sets.

The idea was to provide answers about how offered data was sourced, its age, to what extent it had been modeled or manipulated, and related quality questions.

On Monday, a beta version of that label was released as a joint effort of ANA’s Data Marketing & Analytics (DMA) division, the IAB Tech Lab, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF).

Inside the audience data segment. The organizations said the label will show source, collection methods, segmentation criteria, recency and cleansing specifics, in four sections: Data Solution Provider and Distributor Information, Audience Snapshot, Audience Construction, and Source Information.

Additionally, a centralized database for the information is being established, as well as a compliance program. A tool at DataLabel.org will let viewers search, inspect and compare sample labels.

The visual layout of the new “data nutrition label” will mimic ingredient labels:

The Data Transparency “nutrition” label.

The beta version is open to comments for six months, and companies can test-drive the label for as many as 50 common syndicated audience segments from such data providers as Oracle Data Cloud, LiveRamp, Neustar, Lotame, Acxiom, Experian, TruSignal, Fluent and FullContact.

How this impacts advertisers. Since the advent of data-targeted advertising, advertisers have been largely flying blind as to the quality of data they were buying. This new effort at ad transparency puts the burden of disclosure on the data seller, although it remains to be seen if the compliance program will provide any penalties for violations.

About The Author

Barry Levine

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.