Dive Brief:

• Instacart has received its first advertising accreditation from the Media Rating Council (MRC), per a press release.
• The MRC has granted accreditation for the grocery tech company's impression, click and viewability metrics across Sponsored Product, Display, Shoppable Display and Shoppable Video ad formats.
• Instacart's MRC accreditation could give its retail media offering a leg up as advertisers look for clarity and consistency for their ad spend in the rapidly growing channel.

Dive Insight:

With its MRC accreditation, Instacart claims it has become one of the first grocery tech companies and one of the few retail media networks to ensure the accuracy of its metrics for a variety of ad formats. The move could help it separate itself from the pack as advertisers decide where to spend in a retail media space where options continue to proliferate.

"Advertisers are overwhelmed with choice when it comes to retail media networks. As retail media continues to grow, trusted measurement is increasingly important for advertisers to make decisions about where to invest. Instacart is committed to building the tools and measurement capabilities that help our partners make the most informed, strategic decisions," said Chris Rogers, chief business officer at Instacart, in the press release.

Instacart has looked to offer advertisers full-funnel ad options, with top-of-funnel discovery ad products including Shoppable Display and Shoppable Video ads using rich media to drive conversion while Sponsored Product ads help brands to maximize sales and category share. The accreditation gives a seal of approval to Instacart's impression, click and viewability metrics across Sponsored Product, Display, Shoppable Display and Shoppable Video ad placements served on the Instacart Marketplace in desktop, mobile web and mobile app environments in both the U.S. and Canada.

Previously, Instacart partnered with third-party verification providers DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science around viewability and invalid traffic (IVT) measurement that ensures ads are seen by real consumers. The company has also looked to scale its retail media offerings through deals with Google Shopping ads and artificial intelligence-powered smart carts. 

Measurement is likely to be a hot topic this year as channels including retail media and CTV see more ad spend at the same time that Google's deprecation of third-party cookies complicates the measurement of digital advertising. Many advertisers see standardization of ad formats and measurement as a way to ensure the sustainability of retail media networks.