Nielsen is hitting the (ad) campaign trail.
On Wednesday, the measurement and data giant announced the upcoming launch of Nielsen One Ads, a platform all about campaign measurement. According to Nielsen, the offering, available in the U.S. on Jan. 11, will provide a consistent, comparable and deduplicated view of ads across screens, whether that’s linear, connected TV, desktop or mobile.
“Ultimately, Nielsen One will allow advertisers and publishers to plan and transact on a single set of metrics across linear and digital. And those metrics are reliable, independent, standardized across the industry and across all of those different platforms,” Kimberly Gilberti, svp, product management, Nielsen, said during a press briefing on the announcement.
In addition to its standard cross-platform metrics, Nielsen One Ads will introduce impact data for granular linear television measurement, calculating audiences at the second level rather than the industry standard of minute-level, according to Gilberti.
Nielsen’s svp of product management explained the strategy is to create more “comparability between the metrics you see on the linear TV platform as compared to digital platforms.”
In addition, Nielsen One’s proprietary ID system will be leveraged along with data from Nielsen’s panels. According to the company, direct publisher integrations across walled gardens will provide an understanding of persons-level campaign impressions.
The company noted that Nielsen One Ads will grow throughout the upcoming year to include advanced audience and outcomes measurement to support a campaign from end to end.
“What we are aiming to provide as part of the evolution of the product, and beginning of course with that first release on Jan. 11, are three core foundational tenants,” Gilberti said. “It is consistency of measurement; it is extensive coverage; and its comparability.”
In addition to Nielsen One Ads, the company also recently introduced Nielsen One Content Alpha, which provides cross-platform, deduplicated and syndicated content metrics across devices to deliver a view of aggregated program performance across distribution platforms. Together, the offerings make up Nielsen One, which the company said will bridge current measurement capabilities, whether that’s linear or digital, into a single system.
“Our mission, goal and objective is to bring clarity, simplicity to this very complicated world of media,” Gilberti said. “And Nielsen One is the road to how we get there.”
The measurement element in the room
Despite offering a Q&A during its press briefing on the Nielsen One Ads announcement, Nielsen reps didn’t address the company’s ongoing struggle with the Media Rating Council.
In September 2021, the MRC stripped Nielsen’s accreditation after the measurement giant admitted to lowballing audiences nationally and locally early in the pandemic. Then, in November 2022, the MRC voted to continue its suspension of Nielsen’s national ratings.
In the wake of Nielsen’s measurement difficulties, more competitors have stepped into the spotlight, including Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp, which recently announced a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery for audience measurement.
