At its NewFront event last week, Time Inc. unveiled partnerships with Nielsen and comScore’s cross-platform measurement solutions to simplify the digital ad-buying process. TV-online audience research has become something of a theme at the NewFronts, with AOL and Yahoo unveiling similar plans.
Time Inc., a division of Time Warner that will be spun off this quarter, will support both Nielsen’s Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) product and comScore’s validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) solution as it expands its video content offerings. Its programming slate ranges from live-streamed conversations with business visionaries in its series “The Chat” to a celebrity-driven video series that highlights charitable giving, called, “I (Heart) My Closet.”
On Nielsen and comScore, J.R. McCabe, Time Inc.’s SVP of video, said, “We’re committed to putting these products to use when possible across video buys to help provide accountability for delivery.”
Nielsen, the standard in TV measurement, brought the concept of gross ratings points to online media in 2011. Those early efforts now appear to be paying off with a variety of publishers integrating its TV-online buying standard. AOL will support Nielsen’s GRP in 16 original series, essentially an extension of Nielsen Digital Program ratings, as AdExchanger previously reported. Google’s YouTube and Amazon have also integrated with OCR in recent months.
ComScore has traction too. Time Inc., Yahoo, and others are incorporating vCE into ad serving and reporting for their new shows.
Yahoo’s video menu includes streaming concerts via Live Nation and a travel-themed “digital magazine.” Starting this summer advertisers can use vCE to access real-time audience metrics on multiple platforms.
“There is a growing need for marketers to easily plan, buy and measure across screens and ad formats,” said Ned Brody, head of the Americas of Yahoo, in a statement.
