The American Association of Advertising Agencies has launched an effort it hopes will help convert all transactions between media buyers and sellers into a fully electronic system of communications, writes MediaPost (via MediaBuyerPlanner). The AAAA has been pushing for media industry guidelines for the electronic invoicing and ordering of airtime and ad pages, but companies have been working independently, with no common standards.

The project, called eBiz for Media Lab, will begin with a three-month trial; participants will conduct eBiz transactions in a controlled environment using standard message formats. Data is sent via "transaction hubs" that work with the traffic/sales and media buying systems.

To help the initiative along, four groups involved with the eBiz for Media Lab called for an end to the practice of notarizing invoices for the ordering of TV time - an outdated effort that is legally not necessary and has stood in the way of electronic invoicing, writes MediaWeek.

The four agencies are the AAAA, the Association of National Advertisers, the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association, and the Television Bureau of Advertising.