iSpot.tv, which measures advertising impressions and impact in real time, said it acquired DRMetrix, which specializes in direct-to-consumer and direct response advertising.
One of DRMetrix’s unique capabilities is measuring what’s known as cover ups, which are commercials sold by networks and cable operators that are usually “covered up” by local and addressable commercials. Those ads are often not tracked or properly categorized in most measuring systems, but are important to the direct marketers who buy them because of their low cost.
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Along with addressable advertising, direct to consumer advertisers are becoming an increasingly important part of the television business. According to analysis by iSpot, DTC brands accounted for 4.45% of all impressions services and 4.21% of estimated TV spending in 2021.
iSpot is also one of the measurement companies looking to provide measurement as networks, buyers and advertisers look for alternatives to Nielsen, which has been under fire since it was found that it undercounted viewing during the pandemic and lost its seal of approval from the Media Rating Council.
This is iSpot’s second acquisition this year. In January it acquired Ace Metrix, which added a comprehensive qualitative approach to measurement and scoring of creative performance.
“iSpot is constantly investing in the development and acquisition of technologies required to accurately measure the TV advertising of tomorrow,” said Sean Muller, founder and CEO of iSpot. “DRMetrix has developed unique and real-time measurement capabilities around creative versioning and dynamic advertising that will become increasingly important as the TV ad market evolves.”
DRMetrix’s AdSphere developed a measurement system for monitoring all TV ad formats and executions including those delivered via digital program insertion (DPI) ad breaks. The DPI measurement capabilities allow precise identification of ad creatives that are sold by the cable networks as “cover-ups,” which MVPDs inconsistently overlay with their own inventories.
Coupled with iSpot’s ability to track distinct creatives at scale and correlate ad exposures to conversion events such as digital actions and in-store traffic, brands will have a better ability to measure the business impact of complex and dynamic ad buys across platforms.
“We developed a unique system for accurately measuring one of the most dynamic and difficult portions of TV advertising, and we amassed a client base that represents a growing and important part of the TV ecosystem,” said Joseph Gray, founder/CEO of DRMetrix. “In iSpot, we’ve found a home for our innovations to thrive and a vehicle to accelerate our shared goals of making all TV ad measurement more transparent, more actionable and easier.”
