AudienceXpress, an advertising technology unit of Comcast, has partnered with iSpot to evaluate how the audience and ad measurement company’s data can be integrated into its ad platform.
AudienceXpress is a Comcast unit that provides products for advertisers to buy premium TV advertising, across screens, on an audience basis.
Specifically, the unit said it’s evaluating how iSpot’s syndicated national TV ratings can best be integrated into the AudienceXpress platform. According to the announcement, the aim is to figure out new ways to deliver new datasets for TV ad measurement, as well as drive and enhance performance TV marketing products and provide attribution reporting across a fragmented media landscape.
iSpot in September secured accreditation from the Media Rating Council for verification of national TV ad airings. It marked the vendor’s first MRC accreditation, which covered the company’s ability to accurately identify, verify and track national TV ads across 178 linear and broadcast networks, in what iSpot said set the foundation for cross-platform ad-based measurement.
“We are excited to be teaming up with iSpot,” said Katy Loria, CRO of AudienceXpress and FreeWheel, in a statement. “Today’s TV ad landscape is incredibly fragmented, putting consumers in control. So much so that they watch content when, where and how they want it. As a trusted business partner to our clients, it’s our responsibility to make sure their ad dollars work smarter and that the ads they create reach their target audiences. As such, we’ve partnered with iSpot to help further drive accountability and reliability in this space.”
In securing MRC accreditation last year, iSpot said it gave more assurances to buy and sell sides in reconciling brand guidelines that come with ad investment, such as verifying pod placement, competitive placement, and daypart, program and frequency commitments.
AudienceXpress already works with DRMetrix and 605 – both of which were recently acquired by iSpot. In addition to the deal to evaluate iSpot’s national TV ratings, the Comcast unit will continue to work with DRMetrix and 605. With DRMetrix, AudienceXpress has access to direct response marketplace tools to better understand the media and marketing landscape, also helping in courting new advertiser and agency clients. With 605, the TV measurement and attribution firm created in 2016 by Kristin Dolan that iSpot acquired in September, it’s collaborating to provide attribution studies more cost-effectively and in a streamlined manner. According to AudienceXpress, the agreement allows the vendor to show marketers in various verticals mid- and lower-funnel effectiveness of its portfolio of cross-screen media products.
“We’re proud to be working with AudienceXpress,” said Stuart Schwartzapfel, EVP of Media Partnerships at iSpot, in a statement. “AudienceXpress is known for delivering market-leading, cross-screen media solutions globally, and we hope that by working with them, we can help further push the boundaries on new innovations and possibilities in the measurement and currency space.”
iSpot is one of several emerging vendors making its mark on the audience and advertising measurement space, also challenging Nielsen which came under scrutiny, as it works to serve as currency for transactions based on data that goes beyond traditional age and gender metrics. It has previously been tapped by the likes of NBCUniversal for advanced audiences and Paramount Global.
iSpot is also one of three vendors that passed the U.S. Joint Industry Committee’s (JIC) initial phase of certification to serve as alternate currency, alongside VideoAmp and Comscore. Those two companies have also been making progress, with NBCU just announcing a new partnership with VideoAmp last week to integrate its first-party identify spine with the vendor to power the publisher’s One Platform Total Audience tool that provides audience-based cross-platform planning and measurement. Comscore, meanwhile, this month secured accreditation from the Media Rating Council for Total Household Rating and Average Audience estimates for both its national and local TV Time data. The vendor said the achievement makes Comscore the only measurement company accredited for its local TV measurement and only accredited national measurement that utilizes big data science and methodology.