It’s time to stop the quest for the all-in-one perfect data point. At least, that was the general consensus at an afternoon panel at the IAB Audience Measurement Leadership Forum in New York. David Poltrack, chief research officer, CBS (NYSE: CBS) Inc, president, CBS Vision, noted that 10 years ago, there was a strong effort by many media companies to find the internet version of the Gross Ratings Point:  “That was a mistake and we have to learn from those errors. It’s time to stop the quest for the all-in-one metric and find the appropriate measurement for the particular medium.” Some other points raised:

—Scott McDonald, SVP-Market Research, Condé Nast: “It’s time to stop the quest for the all in one metric and find the appropriate measurement for the particular medium.”

—Poltrack: As it currently stands, most research is just counting eyeballs right now. With cross media, the question we look at is “How much reach am I adding by combining TV and online?” The changes coming in research will be unsettling to some as the emphasis shifts more heavily to strict ROI insights. “The biggest change they’ll find: You can’t apply the same approach to cross-media that we’ve done for separate categories. Furthermore, syndicated cross-media measurement must fit different categories— there will be maybe six different ways, with the autos approaching from a different vantage point from packaged goods.”

—Judy Bahary, VP Captivation Director, Starcom MediaVest Group : Technology has helped measurement and helped us do it more passively, from online surveys, which gives us information more quickly. “But we’re still trying to find out what makes sense. We have tons of data. What publishers in the print world have done is give us access to their panels and that helps the planning process. Half the time we’re worried about the CPM aspect as opposed to engagement and how consumers feel about a given media environment.”