In a move that could help improve measurement digital media, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and the Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) have announced that they will work together to develop an open standard technical solution for the actual binding of Ad-ID and EIDR identifiers to video assets.
Currently, there is no standardized, open method of directly associating content identifiers with the audiovisual content itself, the two groups note.
As part of its Trackable Asset Cross-Platform Identification (TAXI) efforts and its push to improve cross platform media measurement, CIMM has been calling for media companies, agencies and sponsors to adopt unique identifying codes — similar to the ubiquitous Universal Product Codes (UPC) used in many other industries — that would identify advertising and video content.
These codes are provided by either Ad-ID, the industry standard for identifying advertising assets across all media platforms, or EIDR, a global registry for unique identification of movie and TV content.
CIMM's members include major broadcasters, programmers, agencies and advertisers. The group believes that adopting the Ad-ID or EIDR coding as well as CIMM and SMPTE's forthcoming open standard technical solution will help companies better monetize their content with improved cross-platform media measurement.
The effort would also help streamline media workflows and improve the efficiency of their operations.
"Today, the transfer of content throughout the media ecosystem is rife with thousands of siloed, proprietary avenues that have resulted in massive inefficiencies, errors, and waste," said Jane Clarke, managing director of CIMM in a statement. "The growing support for the TAXI initiative is a testament to the frustration with the existing system and a sincere willingness to effect change."
To help change the system, CIMM and SMPTE have formed a study group of CIMM members and representatives from media organizations, ad agencies, and vendors. The group, which held its first session on August 13, plans to meet regularly to discuss the issues and to develop the best binding process.
The group will also put out a request for information (RFI) asking for input on the various possible approaches.
"We are fully supportive of the effort underway to implement a UPC type of embedded identification for professional video content and advertisements," added SMPTE executive director Barbara Lange in a statement. "We are eager to lend our engineering expertise to support such an important endeavor and we are looking forward to evaluating potential technical solutions in the months ahead."
