Google and NielsenMedia are set to announce a multi-year agreement which will give Google access to NielsenMedia’s TV demographics data. Google will be using these data to enhance its TV advertising program.
According to this AP report, Google will be paying NielsenMedia an undisclosed amount in exchange for information gathered by NielsenMedia about TV viewers such as ages, gender, marital status, and other personal data. These data will be very useful for Google in identifying which ad products it will display on specific TV programs to target specific audiences.
Google’s director of product management for TV ads call this deal as the missing piece of puzzle for Google. With the new TV data to be provided by NielsenMedia, Google’s set-top boxes used by partners EchoStar and Astound which track when and how long TV commercials are watched will be greatly enhanced.
For NielsenMedia, this deal means an expansion of its reach which could possible include mobile phones and media players.
As Nielsen Chairman David Calhoun puts it:
The relationship with Google…is a prime example of the ways Nielsen is embracing new technologies, platforms and relationships worldwide to serve clients more completely.
Let’s see if Google’s TV Ads program could measure up to the success of its web-based advertising program. Are we seeing a TV Adwords in the offing? Most probably so.
