YouTube Stand-Off: Why BARB is Right

The headlines around this story make this all sound rather more confrontational than I suspect it is amp160amp8220YouTubeamp8217s BARB Bid Rejectedamp8221 was one Campaign headline amp8220No End in Sight for TV vs YouTube Battleamp8221 was anotherIn those places where media research experts gather to discuss such matters BARB is rightly seen as a gold standard amongst measurement systems amp160Simply managing to keep the various broadcasters let alone advertisers and agencies aligned is a superhuman feat in its own right maintaining relevance while ensuring that the technical demands of a highly complex world are tackled satisfactorily is much harder than it looks and to me it looks bloody hardBARB should be proud of its achievements under its CEO Justin Sampson and Chairman Nigel Sharrocks it has grown to be more approachable and much more forwardlooking than its predecessor JICTAR amp160The simple fact that the usual suspects have had little reason to moan recently speaks volumesSo should BARB embrace YouTubeItamp8217s really the wrong question amp160YouTube has been engaged in an antiTV strategy for years amp160Its executives come up with all sorts of applestooranges comparisons alongside fairytale claims that everlarger proportions of TV budgets should flow their wayamp160 If nothing else YouTubeamp8217s PR department keeps Thinkbox gainfully employed as they swat away the latest amp8220dataamp8221 with remarkably good graceMany of YouTube39s audiencerelated claims fall into the fake news category whereas BARBamp8217s adherence to the highest standards and the most advanced techniques make them the equivalent of the best investigative journalismamp160 Rather than wondering whether BARB should embrace YouTube we should be asking whether YouTube and indeed Facebook whose latest measurement woes have been exposed this week are prepared to be measured by an objective third party using welldefined and widely accepted principlesDiscussing and agreeing on such as amp8220what constitutes a viewamp8221 may seem to some like debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin but any measurement system needs to be built on solid building blocksamp160 This is not to say that these core principles canamp8217t and shouldnamp8217t evolve with attention being paid to how people view YouTube versus how they view TVamp160 But surely if you want to join any club you have to accept certain key principles and then work to evolve them from withinBARB would be diminished if it simply rolled over and accepted YouTubeamp8217s rules and definitions and if BARBamp8217s standards slip then we all slide backwardsClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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YouTube Stand-Off: Why BARB is Right

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Brian Jacobs

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YouTube Stand-Off: Why BARB is Right

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