Nielsen Announces “Hardest Upgrade To Date” For Digital Measurement
Nielsen has switched on another major upgrade to Australia’s independent digital audience measurement system, Nielsen Digital Content Ratings.
This upgrade adds off-platform audiences and expands measurement coverage of mobile audiences to deliver a more precise and comprehensive independent view of total digital audiences.
Nielsen Digital Content Ratings will now provide both monthly and weekly reporting frequencies in addition to the existing daily data that has been in the market for 12 months.
It becomes the new IAB Australia-endorsed independent measurement for monthly digital audiences.
Digital Content Ratings monthly data directly addresses the IAB Australia and industry needs to include off-platform audiences and expand measurement of mobile audiences to provide better visibility of growth in total audiences who are consuming a publishers’ digital content.
Monique Perry, managing director of Nielsen Media, said the Australian media industry has a lot to be proud of.
“This is an incredibly competitive market and publishers in Australia are constantly evolving their content delivery strategies to win the hearts of Australian audiences,” she said.
“Now with the support of the IAB and their Measurement Council, we have the sophistication and depth of digital measurement to provide the most complete view of these highly-engaged digital audiences.”
However, Perry added that today’s milestone did not come easily.
“This was our hardest upgrade to date and has required incredible collaboration from publishers to tag all their content and to test our solutions, as well as off-platform providers to integrate with our measurement solution,” she said.
“This industry can be proud of its efforts, and in fact there are more publishers tagged for Nielsen’s digital measurement in Australia than in any other global Nielsen market.”
Gai Le Roy, acting chief executive at IAB Australia, said: “Australia is the first market globally to introduce a digital audience currency that has broad monthly ratings coverage across both text and video content for on and off-platform to give digital publishers – big and small – the opportunity to report their complete audience.
“Today’s release is a testament to the commitment from the IAB Measurement Council and the level of local digital industry collaboration to support independent, transparent and high-quality digital measurement.”
IAB Australia chair Cameron King said the role of independent, comparable measurement for digital audiences is more important than ever as the industry evolves.
“Having a ratings currency that can report on total audiences, no matter how they access content, is vital for publishers and gives much-needed confidence to agencies and marketers when making their media investments,” he said.
Demonstrating how important this coverage upgrade is, the new monthly data sees average growth in the top 10 news site audiences on smartphone devices of more than 197 per cent.
Additionally, when looking at publishers with strong social strategies, the new monthly data (which now captures off-platform audiences) saw more than fourfold the average audience increase on smartphones.
Alex Smith, Nielsen’s digital product lead for the Asia-Pacific region, said: “Digital Content Ratings now measures online Australians across text, video and audio content, consumed on or off-platform, de-duplicated across all devices.
“Throughout 2018 we have released coverage upgrades to Digital Content Ratings to enable publishers to layer in audiences consuming their content off-platform.
“We launched in 2017 with Facebook instant articles available, we added Google AMP in April 2018 and Facebook Video crediting in May 2018.
“This means when publishers opt in for Nielsen tags, we can now measure these audiences and add them back to the publishers overall total unique audience numbers.”
A critical component of Nielsen’s digital measurement is publisher participation. Digital Content Ratings has three key components:
- Nielsen’s Software Development Kit (SDK) or tag is able to light up all the publisher content both on and off-platform.
- This SDK acts as a beacon to Nielsen’s third-party data provider to determine who did the viewing, in age and gender terms as well as deduplication of audiences between devices and over time.
- Nielsen’s media quality panels are used to weight and balance any bias or attribution error.
Perry said it is only through the acceptance of the Nielsen SDK integration that the company is able to independently measure audiences consuming content off-platform, and this cooperation is enabling independent third-party audience verification.
“Nielsen will still deliver independent panel-only audience metrics for the many websites that do not integrate the SDK and this will deliver monthly audiences for content consumed on-platform only,” she said.
“Launching monthly Digital Content Ratings data is not the final destination. We still have work to do in building out the respondent level data for this coverage upgrade.
“We have a commitment to our partners to ensure the endorsed digital currency can live in other critical currency datasets like emma and Consumer & Media View. We are proud of this solution for its ability to pivot faster.
“If a publisher can light up their content with our tags, then we can adapt faster to accurately and independently measure their audience. We are effectively building the best possible measurement coverage together.”
From June 2018, Nielsen Digital Content Ratings Monthly data is the IAB-endorsed digital rankings. It will be released on the 4th of each following month.
A first look at the new data
The Digital Content Ratings monthly numbers are predominantly higher than Digital Ratings (Monthly), largely driven by increases in measurement of smartphone audiences.
The smartphone audience increases are due to the inclusion of off-platform content, in-app browsing behaviour and measuring under 18-year-olds on smartphone devices.
However, some publishers may kick up a stink that this new ratings data shouldn’t be taken on face value, arguing that it will not give an accurate perception of their actual footprint because reporting Digital Content Ratings is available at a brand/sub-brand level only.
Latest News
TV Ratings 29/4/24: Farmer Wants A Wife And Lego Masters Lock Horns In Overnight’s Battle
Who won the battle of the big guns - Lego or Farmer Wants A Wife? One thing's for sure, it wasn't Great Train Journeys.
Nielsen Data Reveals Brands Spending Big To Attract Aussie Tourists
Nielsen Ad Intel data has revealed that the travel and tourism industry spent more than $153 million on advertising in Australia in Q1, 2024 – an increase of 8 per cent from the previous quarter, with TripADeal the biggest spender, followed by Virgin Australia, then the Flight Centre-owned Ignite Travel. As many Australians return from […]
IAS Awarded New Responsible AI Certification From Trustarc
Integral Ad Science tossing up over the mahogany or teak frame after being awarded TRUSTe Responsible AI Certification.
AWARD Calls For Hall Of Fame Nominations
B&T's noms for AWARD Hall of Famer includes Louis The Fly, Chums' talking Scottie dog & Mumbrella's coke dealer.
Havas Red Wins PagerDuty PR Account
Havas Red wins PagerDuty's PR. And judging by B&T having to Google PagerDuty, it could probably do with some help.
ACA Poised To Release Results Of 2023 Create Space Census
The Advertising Council unveils date for its census results. Hey, why not coincide it with an office lamington drive?
Why Fear Is Essential To Fernando Machado’s Creativity
If there's anyone B&T loves to chat to, it's fabled marketer Fernando Machado. Although the 5am time difference sucks.
Superdry Drafts AFL’s Patrick Lipinski For New Campaign
B&T fast regretting that poncho we just bought, as it appears the puffer jacket returns as winter's hottest trend.
Elon Musk vs eSafety: Legal Experts Warn That ‘Rogue Operators’ Like X Are Unlikely To Win Federal Court Battle
If this legal stoush boils down to who can afford the better lawyers, B&T's backing Mr Musk every single time.
Amy Poehler Presents First Look At Inside Out 2 At Vivid Sydney 2024
Vivid isn't about freezing your arse off while looking at lights on a wall, as you'll learn with this Amy Poehler news.
Mutinex Launches DataOS Improving Data Warehousing & Quality For MMM Marketers
Work in marketing? Does your data warehousing resemble a teenager's bedroom? Here's a Marie Kondo-approved read.
IMAA Celebrates Three Years Of Group Trade Credit Insurance Deal
Are you a struggling indie? Thinking of firebombing the building for the insurance money? IMAA has you covered here.
Adam Sandler Seemingly ‘Slams’ Ukraine In Pro-Kremlin Campaign
Host of A-list celebs caught slamming Ukraine's president. Thankfully it does have the Milli Vanillis about it.
New Marketing & Comms Agency For Defence & Aerospace Industry Takes Flight
As painful as this is to say, judging by current world events, the bomb & tank industries must be in rude health.
Opinion: Do Punters Want To Wear Your Brand?
This columnist asks do punters want to wear your brand? B&T'd say yes if you were Nike, no if you were Anusol.
WiredCo Builds Portfolio With Appointment To G.J. Gardner Creative Account
WiredCo 'cements' its relationship with home builder G.J. Gardner. Did you see what B&T cheekily did there?
Keep Left Reveals ‘Strategically Assembled’ Strategy Team
PR agency announces serious upgrade to its strategy offerings. Thankfully stops short of calling them Delta Force.
Initiative’s Michael Chong: What Do Mountaineering, Media & Marketing Have In Common?
Yes, B&T's running an inspiring mountaineering story. And this from people who won't come to work if the lift's broken.
CMOs To Watch: DrinkWise’s Part Time Builder, Part Time Marketer, Nathan Kent
Despite his love of DIY, B&T can't see Drinkwise's Nathan Kent in any "you can get it" VB ads anytime soon.
Mari Kauppinen Pops Up As MD Of ITA Group ANZ
Mari Kauppinen set to bring some zing, some song and some va-va-voom to her new role at ITA Group.
“It Is Getting Better But At A Glacial Speed”: PR Guns On Shaping A More Diverse Media Industry
B&T has a love-hate relationship with PRs. Love if they take us for a boozy lunch. Hate when you send releases as PDFs.
GoTransit Media Group Unveils The Power Of Regional Transit Advertising
Need reminding lots of people live outside the Surry Hills enclave? It's the regionals &, yes, they have almond milk.
Slew Of Promotions For Special Senior Creative Leadership Team
Special announces a slew of promotions in its creative team. And, no, they didn't order Uber Eats to celebrate.
Kantar: AVOD Subscribers Double In 12 Months
Study finds Aussies happy to watch ads on their streaming services. Or, are they just putting the kettle on more often?
Val Morgan Digital Exceeds All Campaign Uplift Benchmarks Via A 12-Month Brand Metrics Study
Val Morgan announces it has exceeded all its campaign benchmarks. Still can't get under an hour for the City To Surf.
Australian Retirement Trust launches monster of a campaign, by M&C Saatchi and Bohemia
Get offered a seat on the bus today? Knees creak like an old pirate's galleon? This retirement ad may be of interest.
Print Audits To Discontinue As Audited Media Association Of Australia Pivots To Support Influencer Marketing
Is it just B&T or are audits in the media industry suddenly becoming murkier than Roxy's husband's tax returns?
News Corp Australia Launches 2024 National Education Advocacy Initiative With Expanded Program
News Corp set to shine a light on the nation's schools in new series, giving illegal bikie gangs a well-earned rest.
Decoding The Consumer Maze: Urban List Report Reveals How Modern Shoppers Spiral From Discovery To Purchase
Latest report unravels a shopper's journey from the joy of discovery through to a nasty letter from a debt collector.
Cosmo Returns To Australia!
Ever get the feeling we've weirdly warped back to 1988 at the moment? Confirm it with the relaunch of Cosmo in print.
People & Culture Consultancy Human Kind Collective Launches To Plug HR Gap For Media Agencies
Does the very mention of HR have you struggling to remember last year's Christmas party? Get the sweats with this news.
‘We Want To Be A Growth Partner, Not Just A Media Buyer Or Someone That Makes Ads’ – Bohemia Boss On Agency’s Ambition
B&T's chatting with Bohemia boss Paul ‘Hutch’ Hutchison. Although we do think 'the dagger' a far superior nickname.
Initiative’s Geoff Clarke: ‘Youth Hits Targets With Enthusiasm, Experience Hits The Targets You Can’t See’
Initiative’s CCO Geoff Clarke on the value of experience in agencies. Not to mention quoting lines from Pulp Fiction.
The Iconic Teams Up With 5 Aussie Athletes For Latest Campaign
Fashion label brings in the athletes for new campaign, many of whom appear to have prepped with re-runs of Zoolander.
Seven West Media Secures New Director Of News & Current Affairs
After a tumultuous few weeks, Seven unveils director of news & current affairs. And B&T never uses tumultuous lightly.
Seven Network Expands NSW Sales Team With Two New Group Business Directors
Seven ramps up its NSW sales team. Both of whom are well versed in pronouncing Manu Feildel's croque-monsieur.