Nielsen's New Data; Auto Marketers Outspending Others On Mobile

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The Retail Data Grail

Reliable cross-channel retail measurement is “a clear gap in the industry today,” according to Karen Fichuk, Nielsen’s president of North America operations. To fill that market void, Nielsen announced Tuesday that it would use direct retail data from a set of partners to measure ecommerce campaigns. Few details are available at the moment, but it will be the first major attempt to syndicate measurement with direct US retailer data. Nielsen isn’t exactly a first-mover here, though, as it’s reacting to a spate of startups that are explicitly trying to acquire retail measurement cachet before Nielsen subsumes the market. [AdExchanger coverage]

Mobile Mileage

It’s become a truism that users research on mobile before purchasing elsewhere. That makes the channel a magnet for auto brands and dealerships, which are obsessed with what goes on in the upper funnel. EJ Schultz reports for Ad Age that auto marketers are outspending other categories on mobile and are driving new mobile formats and strategies. EMarketer notes car companies dropped $3.4 billion on mobile ads last year. Expect that trend to continue, alongside increased B2B spending, which also targets long-term intent more than immediate conversion. More.

Collateral Damage

Tracker blockers obscure people’s digital footprints, protecting users from what some consider prying eyes. These tools, which automatically block media content or prompt readers to do so themselves, often double as ad blockers. Brian Chen of The New York Times has a roundup of this emerging competitive set (Ghostery, Disconnect, RedMorph and Privacy Badger), highlighting the painful ways user preferences can clash with publisher viability. People need to be able to read and see content across the web “without having to worry that they’re being watched or recorded somewhere,” says privacy advocate Cooper Quintin. Sounds easy, but we’re not there yet. More.

Owned Redux

BuzzFeed once doubted mobile video’s growth potential, then embraced it as part of an off-platform strategy (you’ve seen the vids on Facebook). Now it’s launching its own property for mainlining BuzzFeed videos. “Content has really become the exciting battleground in the mobile space,” said BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti while announcing the new app. The product currently has no ads, but certainly will down the road. It all comes back to O&O. More at Adweek.

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