Globally the IAB produce a set of standards and guidelines which the IAB SEA Singapore will review and potentially endorse, both for its own members and for the wider interactive advertising community in Southeast Asia.

The guidelines that the IAB in Singapore either produces itself or endorses will be developed with reference to the existing work that has done by IABs in other parts of the world. This reflects the fact that there are relatively few circumstances where Singapore requires unique guidelines. The IAB will build upon the work done elsewhere to guide the industry and increase efficiency in its working practices.

The association’s standards and guidelines which may be built on by the appropriate working committee, and current business plans include the following:

GUIDELINES VERSUS REGULATION

The IAB does not act as a regulator, and adherence to its standards and guidelines is voluntary. The IAB is committed to enhancing the stature of the internet as an advertising medium. With that in mind, we strongly encourage the marketing community adhere to a policy of self-regulation.

FORMULATION OF STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

The promotion of common standards and guidelines that help build a thriving interactive advertising industry is one of the fundamental reasons that the IAB exists.  Therefore the consideration of appropriate guidelines should be considered by all the IAB’s various working committees.

Any proposals for new guidelines will be developed by these working committees and presented to the leadership council for review and agreement by voting. Final decisions on new guidelines will be the responsibility of the leadership council.  The leadership council will also be responsible for decisions regarding the endorsement and adoption of advertising standards developed by IAB organisations elsewhere in the world.

PRIMARY AREAS FOR STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

The areas, which have been the subject of agreement between many of the global IAB organisations, may be regarded as the core areas in which standards can be agreed. They are as follows:

Ad Units (in-page and over the page)

The IAB Ad Unit Guidelines are intended for marketers, agencies and media companies for use in the creating, planning, buying and selling of interactive marketing and advertising.  Standard ad units should be available across all sites to encourage efficiency and effectiveness in the ad buying process.

These voluntary guidelines include recommended file weights and animation lengths are specifically for animated in-page display ads.

Measurement (impressions)

Originally published in 2004 and now having gained recognition by a variety of organisations around the globe, the IAB global measurement guidelines seek to clarify the issue of impression measurement for interactive marketers, agencies, ad-servers and publishers by establishing a clear definition of an online advertising impression in the context of ad-serving technology.  The guidelines have subsequently been extended to cover measurement of a number of other areas.

Operational best practices (efficient delivery of digital creative work)

Operational workflow best practices offer solutions to many of the supply chain issues that occur in the interactive advertising industry, such as late creative, discrepancies and billing reconciliation. This document draws on the collective work from IAB globally, and defines best practices for each step of the workflow.

Standard terms and conditions

Standardised terms and conditions exist in the US for media buys.  These are designed to offer publishers, advertisers, and agencies a voluntary standard which can be adapted to suit specific requirements.