Nielsen said it is working with media buyer GroupM to
develop a new measurement service that will integrate media planning and
measurement across television and Internet.
Nielsen has been working on measuring cross-platform media
usage for years, and as programmers try to roll out TV Everywhere, which makes
programming available to subscribers both on TV and online, they cite
measurement shortcomings as one of the key obstacles.
One of Nielsen's multiplatform initiatives was
announced 2009, when it said it was working with ESPN to track consumer
behavior across online, mobile and other emerging media using what it called
its TV/Internet Convergence Panel.
In 2011, The Nielsen Co. and GfK MRI invested in The Media
Behavior Institute, which was preparing to launch its TouchPoints cross-media
research service.
Being able to buy video across platforms has been a key goal
of GroupM. "We have to move to an aggregation model where we are counting in
the impressions that are being delivered whether it's on a computer screen,
whether it's on an iPad within that C3 [ratings] environment," Rino Scanzoni,
chief negotiating officer of GroupM told B&C last year.
Scanzoni said measurement was a problem, but a bigger issue
was that not all programmers were putting TV-type commercials loads when video
appeared on other platforms. "Obviously we have problems with Nielsen, but I
think the situation right now initially is much more monetization because
what's interesting is that the players that have moved more in terms of trying
to monetize this and move this into the television space have been the vendors
most affected by the disaggregation, which is CW and Fox."
In a statement released by Nielsen with its new
announcement, Scanzoni said: "Our advertiser clients increasingly recognize
that traditional television advertising and online video advertising must work
together. It's vital that we have consistent measurement, and that's our
goal in working with Nielsen."
Nielsen said the service it is developing with GroupM is
called Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings. The project calls for both
companies to contribute resources and make the service available to GroupM
clients.
The two companies will also work together to
develop innovative new measurement tools that extend beyond TV and online to
other platforms, Nielsen said.
