Ad services and online ad sales rep Burst! Media announced this week that for the fifth consecutive time it is the only online advertising network to be system certified by BPA Worldwide. BPA WorldWide is a bureau that audits more than 3,000 media properties in 20 different countries. BPA is also a member of the voluntary cooperative federation IFABC (International Federation of Audit Bureau of Circulations).

Burst President and CEO Jarvis Coffin said in a phone interview that he believes the need for online auditing has reached its tipping point. “The issue of auditing is getting traction. Today it won’t be important; tomorrow it will be required. There’s no real mystery why there’s a demonstrated need for it now. The Internet has reached a critical mass. If you look just at the rough estimates, 75% of folks are now online and marketers cannot ignore the Internet as a medium.

Just like ComScore measures audience or Nielsen for TV or Arbitron for radio, the BPA systems certification can tell any business partner for any company that audience measurement and advertising delivery are accurate. “This allows both publishers and advertising clients alike to have absolute faith in data reported,” says Coffin.

Coffin sees benefits for both advertisers and buyers long-term noting, “For our company, BPA is the advertisers’ insurance that we’re fully transparent to the buyer. Buyers can rely on BPA to come in just like they do on the print side and audit the circulation. Standards have long-term benefits. Marketers are going to be put in the position that they are forced to do this and it is being driven from the buy side. Accountability is a white hot issue. The key to auditing is you have to speak the same language, provide advertisers with the same currency and credentials that their money is being safely invested.”

For Coffin accountability means “transparency” and that means a leveling of the playing field both for buyers of advertising and marketers.