Announcing the Click Quality Council

I am pleased to announce the formation of the Click Quality Council.  Around twenty forward thinking advertisers and agencies will convene quarterly to review news, share ideas and comment on recent industry developments.  The complete list of members will be released prior to our first meeting in mid October.Why is this important?  Because developing click measurement standards is a critical initiative and something we have been working toward for a long time.  In March of this year I wrote in this blog, “We need search providers to accept responsibility and work to build an industry standard.”  That process is well underway with the IAB Click Measurement Working Group.  Yahoo!, Microsoft along with other leading companies had executives engaged and in person and actively participating at the first meeting.  This shows a strong commitment from these companies in the effort of solving this problem. I am in New York as I write this attending the MIXX and OMMA events and very pleased with the support we have been getting regarding the CQC.  The Business Week cover story made clear the risks involved in pay per click advertising.  We have been aware of those threats and continue to work full time on catching click fraud.  However, the real news is the progress being made together, as an industry, in developing standards to be enforced by independent third parties. Thanks to the advertisers and agencies that have stepped forward to help with the CQC.  I look forward to reporting our progress in the coming months. Tom Cuthbert