The GSM Association, in partnership with marketing research firm ComScore, has released the first industry-standard metrics for mobile advertising.
The metrics are based on anonymized browsing data gathered from all five UK operators’ - O2, Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile and 3UK - subscriber bases.
The monthly metrics include data for total unique visitors, total pages viewed and total minutes numbers.
For instance, the UK registered almost 16 million total unique mobile internet visitors in December, according to the data. Of this, there were nearly 5 million Facebook unique visitors and 4.57 million Google site visitors.
These metrics are complemented by some basic demographic data collected on an opt-in basis from a small panel of mobile users.
The mobile metrics are currently confined to the UK, but there are plans to expand to other markets.
“The underlying principle of Mobile Media Metrics is to deliver valuable and actionable reporting tools to the media industry, while respecting the privacy of individuals,” said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA.
“Access to transparent measurement is essential in establishing mobile as a legitimate advertising medium, and Mobile Media Metrics is a critical element in advancing this process.”
Research firm Ovum said the system was a much-needed step to address one of the key factors that has slowed mobile advertising: the lack of standardized measurement metrics.
Eden Zoller, Ovum’s Principal Analyst, said: “[The standard]…will not in itself cause massive overnight growth in mobile advertising, but it should instil more confidence and hopefully persuade so far unconvinced advertisers that mobile advertising has finally come of age.”