TV measurement is reaching an inflection level.

The previous few months have been filled with partnerships, acquisitions and debate, as different measurement suppliers begin to acquire a foothold at Nielsen’s expense.

However there’s not less than one factor most competing measurement suppliers can agree on: the significance of unbiased accreditation.

“I’m a giant believer in accreditation,” stated Nielsen CEO David Kenny, talking at AdExchanger’s Business Preview in NYC final week.

Nielsen misplaced its Media Ranking Council seal for nationwide and native TV rankings over the summer season, after undercounting audiences through the pandemic.

Since then, Nielsen has been actively working to regain its accreditation and plans to hunt the separate accreditation for Nielsen ONE, its cross-screen measurement product.

“I totally intend to have an accredited Nielsen ONE,” Kenny stated.

Nielsen ONE entered alpha testing in December, just some months after Nielsen misplaced its MRC accreditation for nationwide and native TV rankings.

Crossing that bridge

Advertisers have been asking for cross-platform measurement for over a decade, Kenny stated, however the trade additionally wants “to have the ability to consider cross-media audiences on widespread metrics.”

And the necessity for a single commonplace is turning into much more vital as fragmentation will increase competitors.

“The pie is getting larger,” Kenny stated in reference to the enterprise alternatives created by newer types of TV stock, corresponding to streaming.

However advertisers and their companies will nonetheless want a strategy to decide whether or not they acquired what they paid for. “And [they] haven’t spoken but,” added Kenny, who claims Nielsen has “5 occasions as many information scientists as the following 5 rivals mixed.”

Though broadcasters are pushing for a number of currencies, “a number of currencies imply a number of requirements,” Kenny stated, “[which] makes companies’ jobs a lot more durable – and that’s harmful for [all] gamers in media.”

Kenny argued the reply is a single commonplace. The cheese stands alone.

Regardless, programmers are unequivocally opening up the floodgates to the brand new competitors on the town: different measurement suppliers.

The alt take

And programmers are signing up with alt measurement suppliers regardless of their lack of an MRC seal.

“Not one TV or video product is accredited proper now,” VideoAmp CEO and founder Ross McCray lately advised AdExchanger.

Nonetheless, “accreditation is vital,” he stated, noting that VideoAmp is within the midst of present process the prolonged MRC accreditation course of.

“We’ve got to ensure we’re listening to what clients are searching for,” McCray stated. “It doesn’t assist if nobody’s accredited.”

Third-party accreditation additionally filters out suppliers that don’t have what it takes, he stated, and streamlines the enterprise for people who do. Accredited corporations don’t must spend as a lot time answering questions on transparency from potential companions in the event that they’ve been via the MRC course of.

However, talking of time, acquiring accreditation takes fairly some time.

And within the meantime, there are different methods to be clear, construct belief and crack open the black field, McCray stated.

Sharing the precise backend code with shoppers is a technique of creating trustworthiness whereas ready for the golden stamp of third-party approval.

An organization can inform shoppers what it’s doing, but when “you’re not displaying the supply code, you would be mendacity via your enamel,” McCray stated.

“Our shoppers in manufacturing are utilizing our code themselves – they name for our code and get measurement again,” he stated. “They’ve full transparency on what’s happening.”

In McCray’s view, the way forward for measurement will include a number of suppliers however just one chief, not in contrast to how a number of SSPs vie for the highest spot – however Google is clearly means forward.

“Some [companies] exit of enterprise, some promote, some pivot — then you definately get to a transparent two or three, like Google [and Amazon or PubMatic],” McCray stated, referring to probably the most generally used SSPs.

The identical goes for DSPs, he stated, which “maintain dwindling.”

“There are few now, and [there are] huge variations between first, second and third place,” McCray stated. “It’ll [all] come all the way down to market adoption and selection.”