The WAA and the IAB have historically had different goals for metrics standardization. The WAA's mission is to foster the growth and evolution of the Web analytics industry by encouraging that the name and definition of each metric is consistent across vendors. This reduces confusion for analytics professionals who are comparing vendors and integrating data from different providers.
The IAB is focused on increasing the reliability, consistency and transparency of the metrics used for buying and selling interactive advertising. The IAB's Measurement Guidelines include specific technical processes that ensure the validity of interactive advertising currency.
While both the IAB and the WAA work toward standardization of metrics, due to the different missions they have, members of both organizations will benefit from increased communication.
"The partnership and transparency between the WAA and the IAB will ultimately help to abate confusion, which is exactly why we both advocate standards in the first place," said Jim Sterne, founding chairman of the WAA. "While it is inevitable there will be differences in the methods we use and the standards we endorse, we each know about those differences and are able to educate our members before the public announcement is made."
"We are very pleased to collaborate with the WAA," said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. "While our missions are different we share the goal of building the interactive marketplace."
