MSN for kids

Evening ladies and gents

I've been out today at www.memcom.info at which I was one of the speakers.

During the opening speech a button was pushed which prompted a question about why my 11 year old daughter was presented with adverts on MSN about dating and gambling... via her account...  the response was, ask the guy from IAB later, when he turns up.

I did...

I thougt that IAB was there to respond to questions about best practice but obviously i was miss informed...

I was advised that MSN didn't have the technology in place to police what they delivered to the kids who had registered...

"So one of the players couldn't be accountable for their presentation of corruptable adverts to kids because they represent 75% of their users and would therefore nobble their stats and revenue generation capabilities.... poor MSN... please lord, help them find the ability to source the technology."

I think there is only one reponse to this and i did present that one on one but then he did have investors to consider.

This is comical... and ensures that I for one will be kicking arse to ensure our kids are protected from this abuse of power...

If you agree with me then say hello, I'm happy to join in your campaign to minimise the negative impact on our kids...

Cheers Paul...

I'll follow through on that today...

I'd also like a response from MSN about why it is that when a child is logged on to the system... so they know they are under 18... they feel the need to present gambling and dating ads... is there not a moral issue here?

Or is it just about £££...

On 02:56:37 8 September 2006 PaulWalsh wrote:

 

Hi Jonathan,

I was the culprit that asked you to speak to Kieron Matthews, IAB Marketing Manager, as he was one of the speakers in attendance. But this was only after I addressed your question (albeit ‘unanswered’). For the benefit of readers, I was the conference Chair with the opening speech.

I stand by my suggestion; you should lobby the IAB to address this issue through self-regulation using a code of conduct. It is after all, within their remit to create standards and best practices for Internet advertising. Perhaps you can take it to IAB Europe – they’re two completely different animals.

BTW Jonathan, your passion for building community sites was great!

Cheers
Paul


1:16 7 September 2006 JonathanDavey wrote:

 

Evening ladies and gents

I've been out today at www.memcom.info at which I was one of the speakers.

During the opening speech a button was pushed which prompted a question about why my 11 year old daughter was presented with adverts on MSN about dating and gambling... via her account...  the response was, ask the guy from aib later, when he turns up.

I did...

I thougt that IAB was there to respond to questions about best practice but obviously i was miss informed...

I was advised that MSN didn't have the technology in place to police what they delivered to the kids who had registered...

"So one of the players couldn't be accountable for their presentation of corruptable adverts to kids because they represent 75% of their users and would therefore nobble their stats and revenue generation capabilities.... poor MSN... please lord, help them find the ability to source the technology."

I think there is only one reponse to this and i did present that one on one but then he did have investors to consider.

This is comical... and ensures that I for one will be kicking arse to ensure our kids are protected from this abuse of power...

If you agree with me then say hello, I'm happy to join in your campaign to minimise the negative impact on our kids...

 

One of the most exciting parts of my role here at the IAB is that I get to meet a great many people who are very passionate about the internet and what it can do for businesses and brands.  However, In Mr Davey’s case I appear to have been slightly misquoted, so in order for this debate to continue (which I hope it does) I feel I should outline what I actually said at this conference.

I did not say, “that the technology does not exist”, I simply highlighted that with the dual use of PC's under one log in it makes it hard for any ad server/media owner to serve relevant ads with 100% accuracy.  By this I mean that if a family shares a computer, the site itself does not know who is using it.  Similar to a TV station not knowing that an 11 year old 'could' be watching TV and ads they shouldn't be.   As I explained on the day and subsequently in a direct email this morning, I can't possibly know everything about online or indeed MSN technologies, which is why I was happy to get MSN to answer his question directly.

In response to Mr. Harvey saying, “I thought that IAB was there to respond to questions about best practice”…

At the conference my role was to explicitly present and chair a session about ‘online measurement’ which fuelled many focused questions from the floor.  Mr. Davey’s question about ad serving technologies and in particular MSN’s was dealt with as best I could at the time, with a promise that I will put him in direct contact with MSN to answer any of his questions more accurately.

Unfortunately both Paul Walsh and Mr. Davey have been misinformed as standards issues are not within the remit of IAB UK, and this is something that I would like to clarify.

The mission statement for the IAB is to ‘help advertisers find the best role for online, engage consumers and build their brands’.  Early last year, when Guy Phillipson started as chief executive of the company we repositioned ourselves as a service to advertisers.  Supported by our 200+ members we educate the marketing community to the potential of internet advertising, all the major online disciplines and provide them with practical examples of how the medium can fit at the heart of their communications strategy.  Of course this is of direct benefit to our membership base of media owners, agencies and sales houses amongst others (see here http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/iabmembershipdirectory.html for more details.)

Before this, IAB UK was indeed responsible for regulating best practice, developing standards and dealing with all public affairs issues.  However, IAB UK is a member of IAB Europe (http://www.iabeurope.ws/ ) who now deal with these matters on a Pan-European level, and we have complete confidence in them to deliver this service.

Needless to say, I will continue to ensure that I provide Mr. Davey with the contact he needs at MSN and I hope that his dealings with IAB Europe will fuel the answers he needs for a subject that he feels so passionately about.

Kieron Matthew (Head of Marketing for IAB UK)

>
>Unfortunately both Paul Walsh and Mr. Davey have been
>misinformed as standards issues are not within the remit
>of IAB UK, and this is something that I would like to
>clarify.

Thanks for clarifying IAB UK's role Kieron. I’m purposely responding to this tread online as it demonstrates to our members, that trade and professional bodies don’t do everything behind closed doors. At least I don’t think they should anyway.

Even if IAB UK isn't responsible for 'creating' standards and best practices, I’m sure you’ll agree that it needs to demonstrate that it takes responsibility for 'implementing/following' them. That is not to say you're not doing this already of course.

Jonathan has highlighted an issue that I personally think is real and should be addressed by industry. With IAB UK’s contacts, do you think it could help by promoting best practices to its members and bring it to IAB Europe’s attention?

Regarding the example of kids watching TV, you'll notice that content which could be deemed inappropriate by some parents is only displayed after 9pm - although I think some channels such as the BBC are pushing their luck when it comes to adult content in programmes such as Eastenders!

Kind regards,
Paul