- Nipun Dureja is a former DocuSign exec
- iSpot is also unifying core teams into one group
- The hire comes amid competition in the evolving measurement space
Measurement vendor iSpot has a new technology chief at its helm, announcing Monday that Nipun Dureja has been hired to the role.
Dureja, a seasoned technology executive, steps the position vacated by former iSpot CTO and board member Anthony Skinner, who left the company in April to join Seer Interactive.
Dureja joins iSpot from DocuSign, where he spent nearly four years as global VP, head of product engineering, managing a team of over 850 engineers spanning multiple geographies.
Coinciding with the new CTO, iSpot is rolling up handful of its core teams into one unified group, which will operate under Dureja’s leadership. That includes iSpot’s engineering, QA, infrastructure, security and data science teams.
In announcing the change, the vendor said this alignment of teams “streamlines focus on delivering top-notch quality, reliability, accuracy and efficiency across iSpot’s data and methodologies, all while enhancing iSpot’s commitment to measurement excellence.”
“Nipun is an incredibly strong addition to iSpot’s executive team,” said Sean Muller, CEO and founder of iSpot, in a statement. “He brings both a deep technical expertise and a rich history of leading collaborative, results-driven teams in complex and dynamic business environments. We’re excited to see him apply his leadership here at iSpot as we advance our mission to create world-class video measurement and outcome-driven solutions.”
Prior to his time at DocuSign, Dureja’s recent experience includes VP engineering roles, overseeing strategy and teams at work management software company Smartsheet and healthcare provider Providence Health & Services. Earlier in his career he served in senior software development and engineering roles at Salesforce, Amazon and Microsoft.
“As someone deeply driven by mission, I am energized to join a team that is passionately committed and fully-focused on driving results for iSpot’s brand, agency and publisher clients,” said Dureja in a statement. “Throughout my career, I’ve focused on building intelligent solutions to real-world challenges. At iSpot, I’m dedicated to enhancing our systems to become even more efficient, customer-centric, and impactful.”
New technology leadership at the company comes as the TV audience and ad ecosystem is going through a time of big changes, as well as challenges – some of which represent opportunities for relative newcomers like iSpot.
It’s one of the vendors – alongside the likes of Comscore and VideoAmp – that are working to challenge the dominance of incumbent measurement and ratings giant Nielsen, which in recent years came under scrutiny about accuracy of data amid a continued consumer shift to streaming. While still widely used in the industry and alongside newer entrants, Nielsen is facing more competition from iSpot and others as ad buyers and sellers look to new types of data (and the companies supplying it), seek more accurate measurement and insights with cross-platform tools, as well as new currencies to transact TV ad sales commitments against the backdrop of a highly fragmented TV viewing and ad ecosystem.
Nielsen, meanwhile, earlier this month secured approval from the MRC to use first-party live streaming data in Nielsen’s national TV service and renewed accreditation for its national panel measurement.
While giving Nielsen a new edge, issues for the vendor are perhaps most recently evident in an ongoing contract impasse with Paramount, which started roughly two months ago when an existing contract expired, and despite continued talks the two have yet to reach a deal. Paramount claims Nielsen is seeking unacceptable and substantial price increases. Absent a new deal, it’s turned to vendor VideoAmp, which is facing its own financial difficulties despite momentum for its measurement currency and has reportedly considered a sale.
iSpot, for its part, counts partnerships with major publishers, including Paramount, which last year tapped iSpot to measure and transact on national TV ad campaigns across the company’s media and streaming platforms.
In another endorsement of its measurement capabilities, iSpot earlier this year secured certification from the OpenAP-led U.S. Joint Industry Committee for its data and methodology as suitable national currency to transact TV ad buying and selling on. VideoAmp and Comscore also got a greenlight from the JIC, but iSpot was notably the only one certified across all three categories. That includes for personified demos – where unlike Comscore and VideoAmp, iSpot got a nod from the industry organization for the validity of its big data plus people measurement product.
It's not the only industry body validation under its belt. Last year it secured accreditation from the MRC – in what’s understood to be a lengthy and expensive process – for verification of national TV ad airings. iSpot’s in the process of an additional MRC audit for audience measurement accreditation.
The company is aiming to create a consistent and flexible cross-platform product that helps companies transition during a period of change with shifts in viewing from legacy linear TV to streaming and CTV.
Speaking to StreamTV Insider after securing JIC certification, iSpot CEO Muller cited expectations for shifts, where the vendor undertook recent methodology changes that are meant to provide a way for advanced and newer forms of measurements, while still supporting legacy methods that aren’t quite yet poised to go by the wayside. It goes to the goal of supporting ad buyers and sellers that are in different stages of their own evolutions, to meet distinct wants for measurement, while also delivering more consistent and comprehensive views of different channels.
“As the market continues to transition dollars from linear to streaming and to digital and social, it’s important to have one platform that can connect all those things and be very, very consistent in how it measures those KPIs,” Muller said in August.
iSpot has also continued work to build up datasets and analytics, including through acquisitions. While incorporating big data, it also isn’t completely eschewing more traditional methods of panel-based measurement. In 2022 iSpot led a $16 million strategic investment round in TV and CTV panel measurement startup TVision, which last month expanded coverage to 35 designated market areas (DMAs) across the U.S., representing a presence in more DMAs than any other person-level CTV and TV measurement company. And in 2023 it acquired 605, a TV analytics firm formed by AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan.