Facebook offers outside audit of ad data

Facebook on Friday said it would offer an outside audit of data it provided advertisers, in a move aimed to address concerns about accuracy.

The leading social network had said only months ago, that it was working to fix flaws in its metrics calculations that led higher estimates of audiences at time (See: Facebook admits to misreported marketing stats). "We are committing to an audit by the Media Rating Council to verify the accuracy of the information we deliver to our partners," Facebook said in an online post aimed at businesses.

The social network said partners would get more detailed information about ad views at Facebook and Instagram, including milliseconds that marketing messages were on screens.

Facebook added advertisers would be offered new options, including payment only for video ads watched from start to finish or those played with sound turned on.

Facebook said last year, that it had overestimated the average amount of time spent watching videos over the course of the previous two years.

The social network had also revealed at the time that due to a software bug, repeat visits to online pages of companies or brands had been counted as though someone new was taking a look each time.

The social network added that for a time it had been overestimating by about 7 per cent the amount of time spent on news stories published using its Instant Articles tool.

The audit by media regulator Media Rating Council (MRC) is likely to provide more clarity to advertisers.

"As a partner to over four million advertisers across a wide range of organisations and objectives, we want to provide transparency, choice, and accountability," Facebook said in the post which detailed some measures, that it planned to take over the course of the year.