Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) launch Search Marketing charter

August 21st, 2007

Taken a bit longer than expected to get this story up however probably an important one for nearly all us UK search engine marketers. The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have colloborated to launch the first search marketing charter in an attempt to establish best practice within the industry. This is the first time the two industry bodies have collaborated on search standards and together they reach more than 1,250 industry members.

Search marketing is still one of the fastest growing advertising/marketing sectors around, and currently equates to around 58 per cent of all online ad spend in the UK, a figure which is expected to continue growing. The IAB charter is aimed solely at search engine marketing companies and identifies four key criteria (however more are expected before the end of the year):

• For companies to become IAB compliant they must have at least two dedicated search marketing employees and have search engine accreditation (such as Google Adwords Professional). Companies wishing to be compliant must also offer official search engine optimisation (SEO) training.
• Organisations should have been trading for at least six months.
• Companies must also be a member of either IAB UK, IAB Europe, DMA, Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organisation (SEMPO) or the Association of Business to Business Agencies (ABBA) in order to qualify. It should be noted that all IAB and DMA members are being encouraged to comply with the current criteria over the next few months, with the aim being to achieving maximum industry coverage before the end of the year.

I would add we feel this is an important step within the sector in order to give the industry more credibility as a whole (as despite the fact that such a large % of spend is spent on search marketing in the UK - there is still widespread ‘ignorance’ of the industry as a fundamental part of a marketing mix - particularly within organisations where no previous online activity has taken place, and the focus of much activity has been offline focussed ( I can reel off a list as long as my arm on this one ).

Whilst this still stops short of ticking all boxes - it is definitely a move in the right direction, a sentiment shared by
Robert Dirskovski, head of Interactive Media, DMA, added: “As the digital element of direct marketing continues its fast paced growth, it is vital that we embrace all facets of digital marketing ‘including search’ to promote and maintain high standards.”

“Together with the IAB, we hope to create a rigorous set of best practice principles that will set the standard for search marketing while being adaptable to change within the industry.”

Entry Filed under: Search Marketing