Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore Media Metrix have completed pre-audits, and are moving into the next stages of auditing and accreditation, giving online audience measurements tools a boost in proficiency, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has announced.

Nielsen//NetRatings is currently in the process of a full audit overseen by the Media Ratings Council, the IAB announced in a press release this week. comScore is now reviewing the MRC's report and proposal for a full audit, but has not yet committed to a timeline, the advertising bureau stated.

“The entire marketing-media value chain wants and needs clarity and transparency in interactive audience measurement, so we're very pleased that Nielsen//NetRatings has begun its full audit and that comScore is preparing to launch one,” Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the IAB, said in a statement.

In a May 16 summit, held at IAB, Nielsen//NetRatings stated its intent to enter into a full audit and accreditation with the MMC, an independent council chartered by the U.S. Congress to handle media measurement. Also at that summit, comScore stated it would finalise a timeline for a full audit and accreditation within 90 days from the May 16 date.

IAB also undertook several initiatives to educate media, marketing and agency executives about best and emerging audience measurement practices at the May 16 summit, “and has continued to drive the consensus development of measurement guidelines for interactive media,” IAB stated in a press release.

“We were gratified that so many industry stakeholders have supported this drive, and we're committed to working with all of them to continue to prove – and improve upon the fact – that interactive media are unparalleled in their ability to reach and engage consumers in ways that can accountably drive marketers' growth,” Rothenberg stated.

The IAB's Audience Measurement Working Group, together with the MRC, is working on guidelines to define unique visitors, page views and time spent, as well as including a review of the impact of cookie deletion, international traffic, spiders, bots and other factors on audience measurement.

These will be the first existing industry guidelines for audience measurement, the IAB stated.