Nielsen will begin crediting video content distributed on Facebook, Hulu and YouTube in Digital Content Ratings, allowing participating TV and digital publisher clients to capture incremental viewing.
Enabled publisher clients will get credit for video distributed on Facebook and YouTube in Nielsen's Digital Content Ratings. Hulu will provide select media partners with credit for current series content distributed on the platform, and provide data evaluation starting this month, according to a news release.
"The inclusion of video content distributed on Facebook, Hulu and YouTube in Nielsen Digital Content Ratings is a major accomplishment and part of our ongoing commitment to providing the industry with independent, comprehensive measurement of the evolving consumer landscape," said Megan Clarken, president of product leadership at Nielsen, in a statement. "Through capturing this audience, Nielsen is providing publishers, agencies and advertisers with a better picture of today's media consumption, with comparable metrics."
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Many digital publishers provided statements for Nielsen’s press release detailing the news.
"BuzzFeed is a distributed network publishing engaging, shareable content and adapting it to the platforms where our audience lives. Much of our content is being missed by traditional measurement tools and Nielsen's Digital Content Ratings allow us to count content views and viewers across our owned and operated properties as well as Facebook and YouTube. With this new tool at our disposal we are able to have a clearer view of BuzzFeed's true reach. Nielsen's Digital Content Ratings are necessary for accurate audience measurement in today's digital universe," said Edwin Wong, vice president of research and insights at BuzzFeed, in a statement.
"Nielsen is standard-bearer for independent ratings measurement and as the world continues to shift toward social and mobile, the enhancements to Digital Content Ratings will be invaluable for digital publishers and advertisers alike," said Ashish Patel, senior vice president of audience development and insights at Group Nine Media, in the release. "We at Group Nine rely on data to inform our business and content strategy, more deeply understand our audience, and contextualize our standing in the media ecosystem. We're thrilled to have access to these new measurements as we continue to rapidly grow and evolve."
"As our own data increasingly gives us powerful insights on how to optimize brand campaigns, we're encouraged and excited by this initiative," said Melissa Drucker, head of sales and brand partnerships at Tastemade, in the statement. "Nielsen's Digital Content Ratings for Facebook and YouTube signal an important step in overall measurement of mobile-first video, and will allow TV buyers to have even greater visibility into actual reach and engagement on major social platforms."
The inclusion of Facebook, Hulu and YouTube in Digital Content Ratings comes after Nielsen last month announced that Hulu and YouTube TV will now be a part of its Digital in TV Ratings and will contribute to C3/C7 currency.
Digital viewing of eligible live, DVR and on-demand TV on Hulu's live service and YouTube TV will be combined with traditional linear audience metrics, allowing Nielsen to provide broader audience coverage.
For Facebook, the Nielsen co-sign arrives just in time for the social media’s kickoff of Watch, its new YouTube competitor video platform that will allow creators to monetize videos through ad revenue sharing.