Is your data fresh or stale? Is it filled with nasty additives and preservatives?
No More Empty Calories
The folks at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Tech Lab have released a new Data Transparency Standard intended to ensure "minimum disclosure and transparency standards for any company that collects audience data for targeting, personalization, or measurement of digital advertising," according to the press release.
The standard asks data providers to provide some of the basics to describe their offerings, including audience counts and precision levels, source refresh frequency and last refresh date.
Participants will submit to annual audits that "confirm that the information provided ... is reliable," says the lab. Compliance seals will be available for any organization that completes the audit. Full details can be found here.
The Takeaway
All of this is newsworthy, but the fun part of the story will bring a smile to the face of any design nerd.
Perhaps it was the "refresh date" meta data that inspired the analogy, but IAB is comparing the new standard to the iconic and ubiquitous nutrition labels on the back of food packaging. "Similar to manufacturers being required to provide a nutrition label on packaged foods, the standard asks data providers to offer details that inform segment quality," the press release states. MediaPost has created a label image that catches the comparison.
If your company is interested in complying, or you want to look into the standard you'll be buying in to, required fields, formatting requirements and accountability information can be found here.
For the record: The Food and Drug Administration has been silent about these new packaging requirements.
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