AAM’s “Digital Insights” white paper series shares our findings from recent AAM research to shed some light on the challenges and opportunities media companies are facing in today’s digital landscape. The third paper, “From Chaos to Credibility,” addresses the issues with media measurement and focuses on some potential solutions. Here’s a preview of what we found:

The methods used to track users’ media engagement and activities are just as varied and fragmented as the devices themselves. A quarter of publishers use two or more solutions to evaluate user interactions with their content. The multiple options, solutions and methodologies for tracking user engagement contribute to the fragmentation challenges of digital measurement and lead to lack of standardized metrics in mobile.

In our research we also heard a clear desire for industry-wide collaboration for definitions and standards that all digital media could use to create a level playing field. The number of associations and vendors working toward solutions is just as fragmented as other areas of the digital arena. As an independent third party, AAM is able to maintain a neutral presence with numerous groups. There is a lot of collaboration happening in our industry and AAM is proud to share our members’ voices and gain feedback during these discussions.

Setting those guidelines and standards is the first step to bring order and comparability to digital media. The next critical phase is independent, third-party verification and timely reporting of data. Audits help ensure everyone is on the same page when buying and selling digital media. For buyers, it takes the guesswork out of the equation and provides confidence in the product. It ensures reliability because even if the data is sourced from different vendors, it still has to pass the rigorous inspection of an audit. And it ensures accountability among all participants in the process — vendors, publishers and buyers. As we come together as an industry to set standards across each channel and then agree to audits of those channels to provide confidence and comparability for buyers and sellers alike.

See how we can move as an industry from chaos to credibility in our infographic: