The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), a 72-year-old firm dedicated to buttressing advertisers with sound research, has added 34 new members to its roster, most notably Facebook.

"Having Facebook as a new member is a clear indication that our initiatives regarding the value of understanding social media are resonating throughout every facet of our industry," claimed Chief Research Officer Joel Rubinson of ARF, adding Facebook would "[take] an active role in participating" in its initiatives.

Other new members include Hasbro, Eli Lilly, Kimberly-Clark, Mars, Novartis, UBS, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Cablevision (which presides over ABC Family, PBS Kids Sprout and Disney Kids), and Bain & Company. They join participating agencies like Adcentricity, Butler/Till, Global Hue and M:30.

Research firms have also joined: ADISN, Centris, Ensequence, e-Rewards, IMMI, Market Tools, Opinion Lab, ORCA (Opinion Research Center of Afghanistan), Research Now, The Advanced Marketing & Media Group (The AMM Group), and ThinkVine Solutions.

And finally, academic institutions include Berkeley College, The Media Management & Transformation Center at Jonkoping University (Sweden), and
The University at Albany (SUNY).

President/CEO Bob Barocci called the new entries "a powerful example that our broadening research outreach is truly making a difference to marketers everywhere." But it may simply be an indication of ARF's fervent desire to keep apace with the times. In 2007, the Foundation released The Online Advertising Playbook, a verbose attempt to position itself as a thought leader in the market.

The Playbook included loose guidelines on ad strategy, search, measurement, and e-commerce, among other topics. It has since been eclipsed by efforts by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which releases updated internet ad revenue forecasts and "living" (that is, revisable) guidelines every few months.