Behind Closed Doors: What's On The Mind Of Chief Marketing Officers?

At Forbes CMO Summit, lots of buzz about social media.

Forbes, November 2, 2009 — We attended the Forbes CMO Summit in sunny Palm Beach last week to learn what's on the minds of executive marketing leaders. The conversation from this group regarding social was more sophisticated, which my colleague Charlene Li and I don't think is reflective of most chief marketing groups. What's unique about these Forbes CMOs? Perhaps they are more progressive, well read and tuned into the rapid changes coming.

Omniture, comScore Unveil Partnership On Heels Of Adobe Acquisition

MediaPost Publications, September 21, 2009 — Omniture and comScore plan to unveil a partnership Monday that creates a service giving the online advertising industry a more comprehensive view of data to measure performance and digital audiences. The agreement combines Web site analytics data with audience measurement data, respectively, to provide advertisers and publishers with a unified measurement tool.

The Broadcast Ad Model Is Broken. Now What?†

Networks Race to Create Their Own Methods for Measuring Audiences

Advertising Age, October 27, 2008 — If today's TV buying is the model for the future, advertisers are in trouble.

Virtually all parties involved — marketers, media buyers and the media themselves — agree that in a video-on-demand world in which consumers control what they watch and when, the current broadcast advertising model is broken, or at the very least inadequate. What they don't yet agree on is the solution, leading to mass confusion as networks scramble to create their own measurements in a race to develop a standard for counting those precious eyeballs. The trouble is, they should be working together, not apart.

Everyone hates ComScore

As the de facto measuring authority of online audiences, tiny ComScore punches above its weight - and earns some serious coin

FORTUNE, September 26, 2008 — Last winter, when Google lost a third of its market value, analysts blamed a small web-research company based in Reston, Va., called ComScore. The firm had issued a report that said Google's domestic paid clicks - the number of times people click on an ad - had flattened. Analysts initially went berserk. Oh, my God! they gasped (we're paraphrasing here). Google's ad business is tanking!

Google to Offer a Tool To Measure Web Hits†

Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2008 — As soon as Tuesday, Google plans to unveil a new service that measures Internet use, according to advertising executives who have been briefed on it. The tool is intended to help advertisers identify the best places to buy online ads by telling them which Web sites their target audiences visit.

Google's approach, aimed at bolstering its ad-sales business, could pose a major threat to the Web measurement services that are available now, ad executives say. The two main players in the business — comScore and Nielsen Online — gather data on Internet use largely by tracking what panels of people do online or by conducting surveys, and their results can be inconsistent and incomplete. Google's new offering will be based mostly on data from Web servers,... continue reading

Modeling The Real Market Value Of Social Networks

Tech Crunch, June 23, 2008 — Is MySpace worth $3 billion, or $20 billion? It depends on how you value a user.

It’s time to start comparing the big global social networks on something other than unique visitors and page views. I believe an effective way to value a particular user is based on the average Internet advertising spend per person in the country they live in. The higher the spend, the more value the social network can get out of the user by serving them advertising and other products. That means that, for now, users in a handful of key countries are worth far more in terms of revenue potential than those in the rest of the world.

We’ve begun to build out a model that looks at social network usage by country/region and compares that to available data on total Internet... continue reading

Microsoft Acquires TV-Targeting Tech Firm†

Navic Networks Available on 35 Million Set-Top Boxes

Advertising Age, June 18, 2008 — The Microsoft-Google war has moved from the web to the TV. Microsoft today announced it will buy Navic Networks, an addressable advertising technology provider that enables marketers to dynamically target and measure audiences based on patented technology available in 35 million set-top boxes nationwide.

Measuring Up: Web Analytics Firm Monitors Engagement

MediaPost Publications, June 16, 2008 — Start-up Web video analytics firm Visible Measures today is expected to announce the availability of a service for advertisers and agencies to measure the "true" viral reach and audience engagement of their video ad campaigns.

Visible Measures' technology, which monitors user engagement throughout the entire video stream, has so far focused on helping publisher customers get a better idea of what parts of their videos work, and what parts don't.

NBCU, Nielsen Team on New Sales Measure†

Partnership Will Cull Data from TV Ratings, Online Video Streaming, Consumer Activity

Advertising Age, June 2, 2008 — NBC Universal and Nielsen have decided to collaborate on new sales measures using data from TV ratings, online video streaming and consumer activity based on specific industry categories. It's just the latest step by a TV network to cobble together information for advertisers that goes beyond the typical reach-and-frequency ratings that have been the benchmark of the business for decades.

The two companies said their alliance is designed to "move advertising sales beyond traditional demographic data" and promote the development of new sales and marketing measures.

Nielsen to Buy IAG Research for $225 Million†

Adds Qualitative Measurement to Quantitative Expertise

Advertising Age, April 7, 2008 — If Nielsen can't measure its way to continued dominance of an ever-shifting advertising world, perhaps it can buy its way into it. The media-measurement company today said it had agreed to purchase IAG Research, a company that measures viewer response to ads, TV shows and product placements, for $225 million.