ComScore’s partnership with Google, which integrates the former’s Validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) measurement into the latter’s DoubleClick products, has come out of beta.
The partnership was first revealed in February 2014.
During a Q2 earnings call Tuesday, comScore CEO Serge Matta noted that “vCE is the first independent measurement system to be directly integrated into Google ad server.”
VCE is now widely available as an opt-in to US customers using DoubleClick for Publishers, DoubleClick for Advertisers and DoubleClick Bid Manager. Google will charge its clients for use of the product, which is designed to provide reach, frequency and GRP metrics.
The partnership will help drive an anticipated $100 million in revenue for vCE in the full year for 2017, Matta said.
In all, it was a good quarter for comScore, which saw revenue jump 16% YoY to $91.3 million. Its year-to-date revenue was $178.3 million, up 15%. The company also added 98 net new customers. (Read the release.)
Another impressive leap: Its Media Metrix Multi-Platform (MMX MP) service, which typically onboards about 40 clients per quarter, brought on 92 new ones, bringing its total count to 652. Two-thirds of those customers also bought the company’s Mobile Metrix and/or Video Metrix products, the company claimed.
To recap, Media Metrix used to focus primarily on desktop. ComScore’s integration of mobile ad network data in May was the basis for its Mobile Metrix reporting tool.
“[The recent spike is] all happening because of mobile,” Matta said. “Clients are buying our mobile product on a worldwide basis.” That said, he wasn’t sure if this spike was an anomaly or the new normal.
Matta also played lip service to rival Nielsen’s attempt at cross-platform measurement, which it is attempting to execute via a partnership with Adobe. “Their relationship with Adobe is still in the early stages, but rest assured, we’re not ignoring them,” he said.
ComScore’s own solution, called Xmedia, is available today and is designed to provide – according to an earnings slide deck – “unduplicated audience measurement across TV content and digital media in a single tool.”
Despite its release, it’s still early days. Cross-platform measurement, Matta said, isn’t an “overnight solution.”
“We’re working on a census-based solution leveraging our digital data and massive amounts of set-top box data,” he said, alluding to partnerships with Rentrak, Kantar and others.
He emphasized that comScore is coming up with a solution that isn’t strictly panel-based (Nielsen is renowned for the power of its panels), and includes data from multiple sources.
“In terms of adoption, it’s still early innings,” Matta said. The sales cycles for products like Xmedia also tend to be long, from six to nine months. And for comScore to be successful, it will need adoption from both big broadcasters and agencies.
“We have existing relationships with all those constituencies, but time will tell,” Matta said. “We feel we have a unique, differentiated solution, but it’ll take time. I won’t say that suddenly Xmedia will be a $100 million business. Over time it will be, but not for another couple of years.”
