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Xandr is the latest company to jump on the alternative currencies train.
Ahead of the upfronts, the ad-tech company partnered with data providers 605, Comscore, EDO, Samba TV, TVision and VideoAmp to create a new framework that it hopes will enable the TV ad market to activate alternative data currencies.
The company said that by partnering industry-wide, Xandr would be able to evaluate and activate new currencies quicker than previously possible. The framework uses Xandr’s buy and sell-side advanced TV platforms, Invest TV and Monetize TV.
“The influx of innovations around audience targeting and use of data-driven linear TV advertising has triggered a demand for alternative data sets which allow for more precise targeting and measurement against audience and business outcomes,” said Mark Mitchell, vp of business development for Xandr, in a statement. “Activating these data sets for trial and evaluation, especially as we approach the 2022/23 upfronts, must be made easier.”
Though a subsidiary of AT&T, Microsoft bought Xandr late last year.
The effort is the most recent example of an industry searching for alternatives to Nielsen. Earlier this week, Horizon Media announced it plans to transact up to 15% of its upfront investments with alternative currencies.
Last month, NBCUniversal said that for the first time, it would be transacting some upfront deals on iSpot, alongside Nielsen. Likewise, Discovery partnered with holding company Omnicom Media Group, and WarnerMedia is working with all three major alternative providers: Comscore, iSpot.tv and VideoAmp. But the future of all of those tests remains to be seen following the completed merger of Warner Bros. Discovery earlier this month.
Media companies continued to create a measurement alternative to Nielsen last year, following that company’s public stumbles throughout the pandemic.
Last month, a consortium of private-equity firms acquired Nielsen for $16 billion after a year of measurement woes. Though the company has promised to make the appropriate fixes, the move into alternative currencies is the latest example of an industry shift in measurement.
