IASH Appoints its First Senior Manager

Internet Advertising Sales Houses (IASH) - the Committee founded to police the activities of sales houses and encourage best practice – has appointed Julia Smith, former Head of Digital at Mirror Group Newspapers, as its first senior manager.

Smith will act as an official spokesperson of the Council and manage its expanding membership, as well as overseeing the 6-monthly ABCe audits. She will also coordinate the official Council meetings each month, whilst serving to implement the IASH strategy of educating the industry about its role and the significance of the Code of Conduct. Reporting to current chair, Richard Sharp of ValueClick and the IAB’s Guy Phillipson, Smith will facilitate the three IASH sub-committees: auditing, site-vetting and communications, which includes the Council’s ongoing PR, marketing and web programme.

This is the first permanent manager for IASH, which was established in 2005 to promote the benefits of the online advertising network business model. As a symbol of trust and transparency, IASH was launched to provide confidence and reassurance to advertisers and agencies. The independent audit, conducted by ABCe, is an important step in ensuring robust processes for sales houses.

With 12 years’ experience working in senior roles within the digital industry, Smith has worked across internet, interactive TV and broadband as well as a range of ISPs, portals, national newspapers, consumer and IT internet offerings. These include senior positions at Mirror Group Newspapers, Associated Newspapers, Harvest Digital, Dennis Interactive and most recently at Nexus Business Media.

Julia Smith, senior manager of IASH, said: “I am delighted to be taking on this exciting and challenging role. As the largest council of the IAB, IASH already boasts 22 members and our aim is to grow this even further in 2009 and beyond, as its seal of approval becomes even more significant. I intend to work with our membership and our key stakeholders to ensure that IASH is at the core of the ad network business model and that we represent a real benefit for their business and the digital industry.”

Richard Sharp, chair of IASH said: “The arrival of Julia will help us to take IASH to the next level. We have a great deal to achieve in 2009 including centralised site vetting, incorporating ad exchanges within the membership and showing why internet Sales Houses are the best place for marketers to invest their advertising spend. Julia brings with her a wealth of experience and her understanding of how things work on the publisher side will be invaluable.”

Guy Phillipson, CEO of the Internet Advertising Bureau said: “The IASH Code has been central to the phenomenal growth of ad networks in the UK. Julia Smith has perfect credentials to manage the organisation to build further trust and commitment from Sales Houses, media agencies and advertisers.”

IASH currently has 22 full members, each having passed an ABCe audit (with 16 of these having passed ‘random month’ audits, announced in October). Last year, the industry also called for a more stringent Code of Conduct, which IASH delivered. A new version will be unveiled this month – version 9.1 – which sees the addition of greater protection for advertisers thanks to new regulations on Blind Buying, the practice of buying outside accredited IASH networks. Other ongoing initiatives to promote IASH and tighten its Code include regular meetings with the IPA, an official IASH Steering Group and three sub-committees dedicated to auditing, site vetting and improving communication with advertisers, agencies, members and the wider industry.