Amazon DSP bolsters measurement transparency with additional MRC accreditation

Amazon Ads last month announced that its programmatic advertising platform, Amazon DSP, received additional accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC). This accreditation signifies that Amazon DSP adheres to industry-accepted standards for measuring specific advertising metrics.

Founded in the 1960s, the MRC is a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing and upholding minimum standards for measuring media and advertising effectiveness. The MRC also administers an accreditation process that verifies whether advertising platforms comply with these established standards.

What Does the Latest MRC Accreditation Mean for Amazon DSP?

The latest MRC accreditation applies to the reporting of two key metrics within Amazon DSP:

• Display Begin-to-Render Impressions: This metric captures the number of times an ad has begun to load on a user's screen. It's important to distinguish this from impressions where the ad may have been requested but not fully loaded due to various factors.
• Click-Throughs (Gross and Net of General Invalid Traffic): Click-throughs refer to the number of times users click on an ad. The "gross" figure includes all clicks, while the "net" figure excludes clicks deemed invalid due to fraudulent activity or automated bots.

What Measurement Sources Are Accredited?

The newly accredited metrics are specifically reported within Amazon DSP for the following measurement sources:

• Third-Party Exchanges (3PX): These are digital marketplaces where advertisers can purchase ad inventory from various publishers and websites. The MRC accreditation applies to 3PX transactions across desktop, mobile web, and mobile in-app environments.
• Fire TV within Connected TV (CTV) Environments: Fire TV is a streaming media device from Amazon. The accreditation applies to display ad impressions and click-throughs measured on Fire TV devices, which fall under the Connected TV (CTV) category.

According to George W. Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of the MRC, this accreditation "provides advertisers with a new level of assurance" that the reported metrics within Amazon DSP comply with industry-accepted standards. In essence, it offers advertisers greater confidence in the accuracy and validity of the data they receive when using Amazon DSP for their programmatic advertising campaigns.

It's important to note that MRC accreditation only applies to the specific metrics and measurement sources mentioned above, reported within the Industry Standard custom report template (CRT). Any reporting outside of this template and its filters is not accredited by the MRC.