UKOM position on Hybrid Measurement

Nielsen’s Senior Vice President of Global Measurement Science for emerging media presented a white paper on combining panel and server data to the ESOMAR conference in Montreal back in 2005.

In 2006 Nielsen followed up this (at the time) ground-breaking work with an experiment in Italy. For a number of years in Italy, Nielsen has produced market-level site-centric measurement across multiple publishers as well as a metered panel. This data set provided the perfect testing ground for an algorithm-based panel/server or ‘hybrid’ approach.

From that exercise Nielsen gleaned valuable, real-world lessons about hybrid measurement:

• Cookie deletion is unstable and varies by web entity as well as by individual
• Accurate hybrid data is highly reliant on the basis of a representative panel and a user-centric understanding of ‘other location’ behaviour
• ‘Other locations’ behaviour is not predictable from home and work behaviour
• Adjustments to panel audience numbers can make comparability between media impossible
• Highly complex to administer and the devil is in the details – especially in ensuring consistency of tag implementation
• Nielsen worked with Audiweb, the Italian Online Media industry group, to develop and successfully implement a hybrid methodology to tackle these challenges, in particular by maintaining the integrity of the user-centric basis of measurement.

In regards to UKOM choosing a panel system for its APS, Nigel Jacklin, Technical Consultant to UKOM, said, “There were two components in our design of the UKOM system – the decision to go with a ‘pure panel’ and the choice of Nielsen to supply that panel. In going for a pure panel we favoured a fully independent approach over one which might require integration of site-centric data into a user-centric output. In choosing Nielsen we favoured an existing well designed panel with sophisticated quality procedures.  This also meant that we could benefit from an established well balanced panel with up-to-date demographics for all panel members.”

It is important to note, however, the system that Nielsen has put in place for UKOM will allow for the future addition of hybrid measurement at the appropriate time, if the industry chooses to take this route.