All That Glitters Is Not Always Gold

According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook has announced they "overestimated by up to 80% the average time people spent watching video ads on its platform." In addition to the lack of independent and trustworthy digital measurement, the WSJ reports that advertisers are concerned, "they are wasting billions of dollars on ads that aren't 'viewable,' or visible to the human eye, or are being shown on sites with computer-generated fake traffic."

The world is speeding towards a digital/mobile future, but it doesn't mean there's not room for some reasonable doubt that allows advertisers to tap the brakes and spend more money with radio.

The story gets even better. According to Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers, "Marketers are reassessing the level of investment in the digital area because they are beginning to question what they are really getting in terms of the return on investment."

Although one of radio's favorite pastimes is to poke holes in the ratings, it's the independent third party measurement that Nielsen provides that stands in stark contrast to the go it alone metrics provided by digital platforms.

"The primary concern for me is the walled garden needs to disappear and they need to be treated like other vendors with a level playing field," said Ron Amram, vice president of media at Heineken.

"If we don't get broad third-party verification in the digital media industry, it will impact how marketers invest their money," said Keith Weed, Unilever PLC 's marketing chief.

It isn't radio's job to soften the impact of Facebook's self-inflicted wounds. After all, the overstatement has been going on for two years and according to Marketwatch, "Due to the miscalculated data, marketers may have misjudged the performance of video advertising they have purchased from Facebook over the past two years. It also may have impacted their decisions about how much to spend on Facebook video versus other video ad sellers such as Google's YouTube, Twitter, and even TV networks."

Maximizing this opportunity isn't just about taking advantage of a moment in time, but to also more confidently tell our story. In addition, instead of focusing on buys other radio stations are getting, account reps need to focus on expediting the decline of local print and rally around growing radio industry revenue to $20 billion by 2022 (#20×22).

An anonymous audience is a thing of the past. Yet radio continues to create "Can't Miss Moments" that audiences tune in to hear every day and advertisers pay to be part of.