As MRC moves to cross-platform standard, weighted video duration stirs controversy

Geoffrey Precourt

The Media Rating Council (MRC), the industry body, is seeking to establish a new standard for the measurement of video ads.

The Media Rating Council (MRC) has issued the first draft of a new cross-platform standard, complete with new – and controversial – guidelines for video advertising.

“This has been many years in the making,” George Ivie, the MRC’s CEO/executive director, explained at the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) 2019 AUDIENCExSCIENCE Conference.

“Some people have been screaming at us, asking us why we're so slow … Other people are saying, ‘Slow down.’”

George Ivie, CEO/executive director, MRC

The most controversial aspect of the fledgling standard is the “duration-weighted viewable impressions” metric. While the MRC proposes holding off on that particular...

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