Roku Measuring Through Nielsen; Google Promotes Better Attribution

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

OTT Metrics

Nielsen is bringing better measurement to Roku’s streaming players and to Roku TV. “We believe all TV will be streamed, and with it all TV advertising,” said Scott Rosenberg, VP of advertising at Roku. “With Nielsen, we’re integrating these capabilities directly into the Roku OS, enabling Roku’s channel publishers and advertisers to measure and transact on the industry’s leading metrics.” Advertisers currently deliver content to consumers on approximately half of Roku’s 250 most-watched channels. The partnership will let advertisers on Roku’s platform access Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings to measure, guarantee and report on campaign audience delivery. Read the release.

Honing Customer Analytics Tools

With the keynote address at Thursday’s Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative conference, Google analytics evangelist Justin Cutroni discussed the effort to move beyond metrics that have historically defined digital advertising. Put bluntly, “Last-click should be dead.” But Cutroni also emphasized the shift from “session-based” metrics to a “user-based” model. This means Google – and its ad partners – are less interested in what one Internet session looks like, and more interested in a holistic view of a user’s cross-channel, real-world movement through a marketing and sales funnel. That same perspective also leads brands to the most valuable potential customers (what Google evidently calls “whales”), as advertisers start to better understand where users browse online and how that affects actual purchases.

Young Brits Fuel Facebook Video Growth

Facebook continues to tout its total video views, but as advertisers focus on audience over eyeballs, the firm also revealed which content producers are gaining the most traction. Though YouTube benefits from its emerging celebrities, Facebook’s video consumption numbers are exploding. “It seems to be the right time to ask,” writes the WSJ’s Mike Shields, “are there Facebook video stars?” Facebook’s top content producers skew heavily international and heavily male, with category leaders like Lad Bible, Sport Bible and Unilad Magazine. BuzzFeed is the only American publication in the top 10, and if you think BuzzFeed is good at pushing viral Facebook videos (they are), bear in mind that its total views per month are 320 million, compared to Lad Bible’s 1.6 billion.

Podcasts Still Having A ‘Moment’

NPR, WNYC and WBEZ hosted the first-ever podcast upfront on Wednesday in NYC. “We’ve seen a huge change in the conversations we’re having with agencies,” said Sarah van Mosel, VP of underwriting at WNYC, during a pre-show press conference. Advertisers’ interest in the medium has increased enormously in the last nine months, she added, pointing to new stats from Edison Research. More than half of public radio podcast listeners are likely to purchase a product or service advertised during an episode, according to the research, and that purchase intent is bolstered by trust in public radio’s brand. But measurement issues persist. “Metrics is the challenge we have to overcome,” van Mosel said. “Anyone that’s got skin in this game is working to get that solved.”

Venting On Marketing Tech

Writing for Ad Age, EgageSimply CEO Judy Shapiro says the marketing industry’s most essential players – marketers – have been relegated to the fringes of the ad tech trend. Her most cutting critique is on fraud and arbitrage. “Today, $1 in active media spend is reduced by 60% to 80% due to fraud and all the arbitrage players who get a cut – tech platforms, exchanges, buying platforms and the data guys,” she writes.