The three-year agreement will begin in the second quarter of 2022 with the launch of Ipsos Iris, a platform for digital audience measurement currently operating in the UK. The Australian version of the platform has been designed in collaboration with IAB Australia.

IAB Australia said Ipsos Iris would be fully privacy compliant and cross-media at launch, and would provide agencies and advertisers with an independent foundation on which to make evidence-based media decisions.

Ipsos Iris will use a hybrid methodology combining metered data from a nationally representative, mobile first single-source passive panel with census site-centric measurement.

The Ipsos appointment follows a six-month tender process which has 16 expressions of interest, and included a strategic industry review of requirements carried out earlier in 2021 with Venture Consulting.

Gai Le Roy, chief executive of IAB Australia, said: “It’s vitally important to have a robust, transparent and inclusive standardised currency from an independent measurement vendor to provide a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics.

“The appointment of Ipsos will instil confidence in advertisers for planning decisions on where to invest their media budgets by providing accountability for their investments and offering ways to evaluate opportunities and measure success consistently across all media.”

Simon Wake, chief executive of Ipsos Australia and New Zealand, said: “Our proposed solution draws on many of the innovations delivered in the UK and leverages our UK team’s experience over the last 18 months.

“We will also be drawing from our extensive local technical expertise, and we look forward to moving with the industry in lockstep collaboration.”