WebProNews

Almost a year ago, I went on (at length) about how there was more to online marketing than that final deal-closing click-through. I (loftily and windily) talked of being there for the consumer's journey and looking to understand how a customer arrived at that final decision.

Bill Gates, Microsoft
(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Today, at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB's) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Microsoft takes on the "the last ad clicked" mentality with the release of a new online campaign performance reporting standard, which they're calling "engagement mapping."

Microsoft challenged the decade-old "last ad clicked" reporting standard, calling it "outdated and flawed." Engagement mapping, in contrast, "takes into account for the first time all the various online touchpoints and interactions a consumer experiences before an eventual sale."

Based on the engagement mapping concept, Microsoft will release Engagement ROI in beta, a solution for online campaign reporting and optimization, on March 1, to be tested by ad clients and national agencies like Agência Click + UNICA, Best Western International Inc., BKV, Citi Cards, GSD&M Idea City, Ingenuity Media of The Martin Agency, Initiative, McKinney, MEC Interaction, Mindshare Interaction, Monster Worldwide Inc., Neo@Ogilvy, Sprint and World Vision.

“The ‘last ad clicked’ is an outdated and flawed approach because it essentially ignores all prior interactions the consumer has with a marketer’s message,” said Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) Division at Microsoft.

“Our Engagement Mapping approach conveys how each ad exposure — whether display, rich media or search, seen multiple times on multiple sites and across many channels — influenced an eventual purchase. We believe it represents a quantum leap for advertisers and publishers who are seeking to maximize their online spends.”

Microsoft believes Engagement ROI will help advertisers gain insight into the consumer's online journey by measuring and reporting in real time the impact of the frequency, size and ad format have on the end-result.