Seven West Media joins IAB board
Seven West Media’s chief digital officer, Clive Dickens, is the latest appointment to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) board.
Seven’s appointment to the board follows its decision to sell its 50% stake in Yahoo7 to joint venture partner Oath, earlier this year.
Dickens joins the IAB board on behalf of Seven
Yahoo7’s chief revenue officer, Paul Sigaloff, still sits on the board. Sigaloff, who will be promoted to managing director of Oath Australia and New Zealand, will remain on the board once the transaction has been completed as a member of the new entity.
Seven West Media now joins members News Corp, REA Group, Carsales, Google, Simpsons Solicitors, Fairfax Media, Nine and Facebook.
Dickens said it was the “right time” for Seven to join the board.
“Our digital business has evolved significantly during the last two years and we have built one of the largest live streaming ad-funded Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) platforms in Australia, so the time is right for SWM to join the IAB board,” he said.
“Seven believes in a strong IAB, and values its role in creating a stable and vibrant digital industry through its important work in areas including independent measurement, standards and global best practice,” Dickens said.
“We believe we have a valuable contribution to make to the IAB, and are looking forward to playing an even greater role in the future of the Australian digital industry.”
Interim CEO of IAB Australia Gai Le Roy added: “We are delighted with Seven West Media’s decision to step up its involvement with IAB Australia and join the board.
“We are fortunate to continue to attract engaged and active board members who are committed to demonstrating and improving the way digital advertising delivers on business objectives for Australian businesses.”
Seven’s appointment to the board is the latest in a number of changes for the IAB. Earlier this year, Telstra exited the board, which Mumbrella understands members pay $150,000 each year for a place on.
This year also saw the appointment of a new IAB Australia chair, News Corp’s managing director of digital revenue, Cameron King. Previously, the board was led by News Corp’s chief digital officer, Nicole Sheffield. Following her departure from News Corp, she was replaced as chair by King.
This year, CEO of the IAB Australia, Vijay Solanki, also abruptly left the business.
At the same time as the IAB Australia changes, its preferred provider of online audience measurement, Nielsen, came under scrutiny.
Earlier this year, a number of disputes with Nielsen occurred over methodology and the slow progression and roll out of its products. Following issues with measurement related to Google AMP and https, Fairfax Media withdrew from Nielsen’s digital content ratings. BBC Worldwide also withdrew from the solution.
One of the main concerns was to do with the disparity between unique audience in Digital Ratings Monthly (DRM) and Digital Content Ratings (DCR). Publishers also expressed concerns about Nielsen’s decision to use Facebook’s video measurement, and contribute those audience views to total audience. Since then, the IAB Australia has endorsed DCR monthly as the industry recognised metric.
Earlier this month, the IAB Australia decided it would not endorse the secondary crediting for video in Nielsen’s DCR.
