Nielsen Jumps on Cross-Platform with New Reporting Service

Nielsen is getting into the cross-platform campaign tracking business. It should have been clear that they were working on it after last month's report with YuMe. Now, they say they're ready to roll out a new reporting service that will cover both TV and online ads with a standardized rating.

The only problem I see is that you'll have to pay Nielsen and be locked into their particular 'standardized reporting' formula and output. Their Cross-Platform Campaign ratings tie up the company's TV ratings with an online campaign ratings system, both of which include reach and ad frequency.

SEE ALSO: YuMe Reports Supports Cross-Platform Video Advertising Effectiveness

Hopefully, that also means we can expect some interesting research and monthly notes about how it all pans out and get some head-to-head data on ad performance in a single campaign.

GroupM is on board as the early adopter. They're a global ad company (part of WPP) and will be open to everyone soon.

The New York Times reports that future expansion is set to include smartphone ads as well as international ad campaigns.

This is definitely the way things need to go in order to keep up with the pace of screen convergence. I think this is also a direct result of the flood of connected TVs that were on display at CES this year. It means that a lot of people could switch to a single screen for a lot of their viewing needs. Interestingly enough, I was just pondering dropping cable altogether because of its soaring price and moving to an online only video viewing experience. I would miss some things but could catch up when they get put out for rent, etc. If many were to do that it could be troublesome for TV advertisers because they might not realize just how many of us they're missing with TV ads. With a cross-platform reporting system like this, they could see what sort of reach they're getting online with their ads and how often people are seeing them. Bully!

This could definitely help a lot of advertisers realize just how big the reach is in regards to online video. According to comScore, Nielsen's main competitor, 50% of the US population was hit by video ads online last month, the question is, do the advertisers know?

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