PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has launched an Internet audit service
to ensure that website operators provide advertisers with accurate
information about the number and types of people who visit their
sites.
The Web Ad Delivery Audit is the first independent audit system to be
set up in Asia-Pacific which can check the effectiveness of the online
ad delivery process in cyberspace.
Currently, Internet audience information is provided by Web operators or
advertising sales networks or via surveys.
"Not only do advertisers want to know how many people are visiting
certain sites and what their demographic make-up is but they want to be
sure that the information they are given is as accurate and as reliable
as can be," said Marcel Fenez, partner of the PricewaterhouseCoopers
Technology, Info-Coms and Entertainment Practice, which developed the
new hi-tech audit system.
It, therefore, was in the interest of dotcom companies to subscribe to
independent audits in order to increase their competitive advantage, he
added.
The Web Ad Delivery Audit is more sophisticated than the current
Internet audience measurement, which is simply a log recounting process,
said Mr Fenez.
By conducting a fully independent analysis of the systems and processes
surrounding the end-to-end ad delivery process, PwC offers a service
akin to an audit of circulation figures of the print media.
"We examine the entire system of dotcom companies and check to see that
the security and controls are adequate to stop people from tampering
with the data list of people who have visited a website," Mr Fenez
said.
"If there are shortcomings, we would recommend steps the client could
take to ensure better security."
PwC examines the controls in place during an audit.
There is no software to continuously monitor a website to ensure
non-tampering.
However, Mr Fenez said: "We assure the process, not guarantee the
numbers.
But by assuring the process, we can safely say that the chances the data
has been tampered with are extremely low."
