REDMOND, Wash. — May 9, 2007 — Today at the eighth annual Strategic Account Summit, Microsoft Corp. announced that its process for the measurement of ad impressions has received accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC), indicating that MSN® complies with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s Ad Impression Measurement Guidelines and the MRC’s Minimum Standards for Media Rating Research. Through compliance with these guidelines and standards, MSN provides critical assurance to advertisers and agencies about the accuracy and standardization of campaign measurements and when and how an ad impression is counted online.
The guidelines developed by the IAB, with the assistance of the MRC, represent a significant innovation in the advertising industry. This is the first time that any advertising medium has developed a standard that measures the delivery of the ad itself to a consumer’s browser, as opposed to other measures that focus on the programming or content.
“One of our objectives this year is to maximize the effectiveness and accountability of advertising industry standardization for our customers,” said Bill Shaughnessy, general manager, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions at Microsoft. “These standards will help to free the market of existing confusion about how ad impressions are counted and satisfy the needs of our global media-buying community by offering consistent and accurate data.”
“In addition to actively supporting the MRC process, MSN and its leadership team have been important members of the development team and supporters of the IAB guidelines for years,” said George Ivie, CEO and executive director of the MRC. “The MRC accreditation of MSN provides assurance to the online advertising community that MSN is measuring and reporting ad impressions in accordance with the industry guidance and that they are seeking to align with the needs of customers and best practices.”
About Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions
Microsoft® Digital Advertising Solutions encompasses a robust set of global advertising products and services designed to effectively connect advertisers with their target audiences across multiple digital lifestyle touch points. Advertisers can actively engage with a global audience of more than 465 million unique users per month across the MSN network, as well as millions more consumers through Windows Live™, Xbox LIVE®, Office Online and Live Search. More information about Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions is available at http://advertising.microsoft.com.
About MSN and Windows Live
MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. Windows Live, a comprehensive set of personal Internet services and software, is designed to bring together in one place all the relationships, information and interests people care about most, with enhanced safety and security features across their PC, devices and the Web. MSN and Windows Live will be offered alongside each other as complementary services. Some Windows Live services entered an early beta phase on Nov. 1, 2005; these and
future beta updates can be found at http://ideas.live.com. Windows Live is available at http://www.live.com.
MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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