The Open Measurement Software Development Kit (OM SDK) transformed the viewability measurement landscape in 2018 for mobile app measurement. It eliminated the need for multiple vendor integrations and standardized the process for ecosystem feedback. The Open Measurement Working Group (OMWG) was forward-thinking in its vision and anticipated that this mobile in-app success would need to be replicated across platforms and channels. So, we are now happy to announce the release of Open Measurement for Web Video SDK (OM Web Video SDK) on December 17th.
“DoubleVerify is excited about the release of Open Measurement for Web Video,” highlights Saar Paamoni, VP Product Management, DoubleVerify. “It provides a new straightforward path to perform Viewability and invalid traffic (IVT) measurement on Desktop and Mobile Web. OM for Web Video will reduce the dependency on VPAID for viewability measurement and, along with the IAB Tech Lab’s certification program, will provide trustworthy data into our measurement solutions.”
This is one step further on the road to enabling cross-screen measurement, supporting one tag for video advertising and deprecating VPAID (Video Player Ad Interface Definition). “Moat by Oracle Data Cloud is excited to extend the groundbreaking work of the OM SDK to web video measurement,” said Mark Kopera, Head of Product for Moat by Oracle Data Cloud. “This release is a major milestone on the path to the deprecation of VPAID. It addresses many pain points associated with VPAID, providing an alternate path to transparent and trusted measurement.”
The Open Measurement Working Group developed the OM Web Video SDK to standardize the way that the Open Measurement Interface Definition (OMID) signals are collected in web video advertising, specifically in web video players that load and render viewable content exclusively through HTML5. See the Capabilities and Limitations document for more details on the scope for the OM Web Video SDK. “The release of Open Measurement for Web Video finally brings a first-class measurement solution to all web video,” said Tom Sharma, Chief Product Officer, Integral Ad Science. “Extending Open Measurement offers our customers a single standard across web and mobile apps that is trusted, transparent, and secure.”
The web, with its open architecture and freedom to deploy and run executable code in near real time, presents unique challenges to preserve the integrity of the OM Web SDK deployment that are not present in mobile app environments. Moreover, third-party measurement providers have already established successful methods of verification in the web browser environment. The Open Measurement Working Group (OMWG) has worked on addressing the integrity of the OM Web Video SDK while taking into account the needs of publishers to maintain the security and control of their websites and video players. A key feature of the OM Web Video SDK is the ability for publishers to operate under different modes of access that allow them to manage the kind of access third-party scripts have over their content and applications. This includes Creative Access, Limited Access, and a new access mode for web called Domain Access. You can read the full details of each access mode in the integration guides. The goal of this new access mode is to facilitate further transparency and control for publishers while still enabling measurement signal collection.
As with the iOS and Android SDKs, IAB Tech Lab will provide certification for the OM Web Video SDK integration partners to ensure implementation works for all measurement providers on day one. IAB Tech Lab will also provide a validation service for Domain Access for publishers who choose this mode to ensure that they have complied with the requirements of Domain Access Mode.
We are also scheduling webinars in 2021, which will explain details about the OM Web Video SDK features, implementation guidance, and capabilities and limitations. Be on the lookout for event registration coming in January.
On December 17, Open Measurement SDK for Web Video will be released and available for implementation! As we celebrate this milestone and look forward to adoption, the OMWG is already looking to the future. The working group is currently evaluating solutions to support transparent methods of ad blocking or ad swapping for brand safety capabilities as well as developing SDKs to support Connected TV (CTV) platforms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jill Wittkopp
Director, Product Management Software
IAB Tech Lab