Online Video Measurement: Too Much or too Little of a Good Thing?

In the online video world, comScore is battling Nielsen to determine which will be the more influential source of video measurement data. As Stephanie Fried, vice president of research insights and analytics for music video site Vevo, explained at the recent Streaming Media West conference in Los Angeles, having two measurement powerhouses competing is a good thing for everyone.

"I think it's good because they have to keep competing to be better than the other one," Fried said. "They have to keep competing to measure impressions across multiple platforms, they have to keep competing to innovate, to measure viewability, to measure effectiveness, and to measure all the things around what those impressions mean, and I think that's a really good thing. You see one announcement come out and two weeks later the other is making an announcement that's even better. I think that's really good for us as the buyers of those measurement services to have that competition there."

The danger of having Nielsen, comScore, and others all providing video metrics is that one could start to drown in data. But to Fried, having multiple sources helps sites determine the more realistic middle ground.

"Here we've got a multitude of targeting solutions and we also have different companies measuring. Even the survey vendors are moving in to try to understand the demographics of audiences," Fried explained. "It's hard to know what is right, who is right in terms of composition, and so it's nice to have the different sources because it helps us calibrate a little bit and understand that every measurement source is a little bit different."

For more on online video measurement, watch the full panel discussion below.

ROUND TABLE: Currency vs. Measurement in Online Video

There has been a lot of discussion around how to provide measurable metrics for online video, with many companies such as Nielsen and comScore evolving to be the standard. But, with the industry overflowing with data, perhaps the issue is not that there aren't measurement methods, but rather that there is no online video "currency" that is currently accepted by all. This session explores the efforts behind qualifying audiences for agencies and advertisers, and how it translates back to its effect on delivering streaming video to consumers.

Moderator: Andrew Wallenstein, TV Editor, Variety
Speaker: Stephanie Fried, VP, Research Insights & Analytics, VEVO
Speaker: Brent Horowitz, VP, Corporate Strategy, Business Development, FreeWheel