The Interactive Advertising Bureau says a group of top brand marketers are demanding audited numbers from interactive publishers.

BMW, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, HP, ING, Kimberly-Clark, Pepsi and Visa are among the top marketers that want audited numbers effective mid-2007, and measurement certified numbers in 2008, according to the IAB. Audited and certified numbers will be the only numbers used for payment against those marketers interactive advertising campaigns, the IAB said. Audited numbers ensure that ad impressions are being counted accurately; certified numbers indicate that the process supporting the ad counting is consistent and reliable.

"Across all media, ANA marketers are seeking transparency and accountability in measurement, and we support the IAB for leading the charge in the interactive industry," said Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers.

"As more and more dollars migrate over to interactive, it is imperative as an industry that we continue to strive for the highest levels of transparency and validity," said Greg Stuart, IAB CEO. "We are confident that this is just the beginning and other leading marketers will join this group presently."

The IAB announced the Global Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines in November 2004. The guidelines address marketer and agency concerns about the need for a standardized method of measuring interactive advertising.

The goal of this initiative is to establish a set of guidelines for consistent ad server measurement: a counting methodology, an audit procedure, and an auditing and certification process. Some large publishers and ad serving organizations have already completed audits and certification against the Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines, including AOL, Atlas, CNET, DoubleClick, Univision, the Walt Disney Internet Group, Weather.com and Yahoo.