BPA Interactive Announces Support of New Web Measurement Standards.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 1997--

Web Auditing Leader Calls On All Auditing Organizations To Join

in Support of New Industry Guidelines

BPA Interactive today announced its support of proposed guidelines published last week by the Internet Advertising Bureau's (IAB) Media Measurement Task Force. The document is designed to establish guidelines for the measurement of comparable online advertising data across Web sites. The IAB Task Force's published document, "Metrics & Methodology" has received endorsement from CASIE, the Coalition for Advertiser Supported Information and Entertainment.

"Metrics & Methodology" provides basic media measurement terminology that will be used by sites to report audience measurement and by third parties that verify site statistics. It also includes the metric used to define each term and an explanation of the methodology sites should use in gathering data.

According to Michael Marchesano, President and CEO of industry leader, BPA International, "These new guidelines represent a significant step forward in the effort to shape a consistent measurement system for online media that is acceptable to the entire community of advertisers and publishers. Adoption of these standards enables advertisers and publishers to speak the same language, and be guided by the same measuring stick."

Peter Black, Senior Vice President, Marketing of BPA, was a key member of the IAB Task Force's Research and Measurement Committee. According to Black, "As an independent, non-profit organization, we do not intend to dictate any single method of measurement. Instead, it is our mission to participate in the development of standards that are acceptable and meaningful to the entire industry." Black noted that IAB endorsed the identical methods of traffic measurement currently supported by BPA -- page requests, ad requests and click through ratio.

BPA's Marchesano noted, "All of these standards will only succeed if each and every industry leader is prepared to participate in the process without imposing any single methodology.

Marchesano added, "These new guidelines are a significant step forward in the on-going process by which the entire industry can work together to develop new standards consistent with the needs of the marketplace and shifting technologies."

BPA Interactive was established in 1996 as an operating division of BPA International. BPA International concluded its first year of Web Site auditing by establishing its leadership with more than 200 audits for 75 Sites, including the first independent, third-party verification of any Web Site in June 1996 for The Economist Group's d.comm Site.

CASIE is a joint task force of the Association of National Advertisers, Inc. (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA). The IAB measurement guidelines can be viewed at www.iab.net.

CONTACT: Sperling Greene Associates, Inc., New York 

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