European ad group to focus on image

An advertising industry trade group, formed Monday by top executives from Web portals and marketing agencies operating in Europe, aims to boost the maligned market's image. Executives involved in the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) come from the European units of America Online, Lycos, MSN and Yahoo as well as AdLink Internet Media, IP-Web.net, Tiscali and T-Online International. The association plans to help the industry grow by producing research that illustrates the value of online advertising. It also aims to set the bar in Europe on new advertising formats, ad targeting, and standards for measurement, research and ad contracts. Its first study, commissioned by NFO Europe, will map the advertising effectiveness of online vs. print, TV and radio and will span sites in the United Kingdom, France and Germany.