The Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB UK) is taking a stand against tracking click-through-rates, telling advertisers they need to find a more efficient and accurate method for measuring the success of digital advertising. To further its initiative, the IAB UK has named today the first National Anti-Click-Through Rate Day (NACTRD), along with launching a Measurement Toolkit for agencies.

In an open-letter to hundreds of advertisers and marketers, the IAB UK accused them of being “clickheads”, pointing out the industry’s unwillingness to implement other forms of online media measurement due to relying on “vanity metrics”.

In order to raise awareness and offer help to advertisers, the IAB Measurement Toolkit highlights the best alternative practices to measuring metrics. The toolkit also includes a method for each type and size of advertising agency, from econometrics to attribution modeling. The guide also incorporates templates and checklists for readers, so they may create their own personalized strategy.

“Advertisers increasingly rely on click-through-rates to justify their marketing spend to the CFO but it’s not a reliable metric for effectiveness and only tells half the story. That’s why our message to the industry today is simple: don’t be a clickhead,” said James Chandler, CMO of IBA UK.

IAB UK chief digital officer, Tim Elkington said “Advertisers are faced with growing complexity and an increasing number of methodologies for ad measurement. This has created silos of expertise in organizations based around specific objectives and tools rather than supporting one unified, balanced approach. Our IAB 2018 survey of brands found that 83 percent of brands view cross-media measurement as their single biggest measurement challenge. Our guide seeks to address this by focusing on how to measure advertising effectiveness and business outcomes across different media channels.”