Nielsen’s drive to measure TV viewing across all screens accelerated Feb. 11 when it announced plans to measure TV viewing online and on cell phones.
Nielsen will attempt to measure online TV viewing the same way it does traditional TV, with viewer panels. “We will begin by asking a small but representative sample of existing panelists and newly recruited households if they will permit us to track their viewing of television programs over the Internet,” Nielsen said.
“We will initially measure total audience by program or distributor and are considering potential approaches to providing the source of the program by website,” it said.
The tests will begin in Q4 2008.
The company is also working with developers of the Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld (MPH) system to develop a measurement system for digital television on mobile systems, including cell phones. The MPH is a system consumers will use to view television programs on their mobile devices. Nielsen developed a software meter for mobile devices that can track usage of the consumption of mobile content. It will begin testing the meter this spring.
These efforts are part of Nielsen’s Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement (A2/M2) initiative, launched 18 months ago, that will measure TV content across all screens.
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More