ONLINE VIDEOCENSUS GLOSSARY 2013

Transcription

1 ONLINE VIDEOCENSUS GLOSSARY 2013

2 SAMPLE RESEARCH SAMPLE VideoCensus uses the same RDD//Online panel as NetView, with hundreds of thousands of panelists worldwide, to effectively report on the long tail of video content and provide detailed demographic analysis of online video consumption across all sites. RDD//Online is a proprietary methodology designed to marry the representativeness of an RDD panel with the depth provided by an onlinerecruited panel. The RDD core of the methodology is relied upon to provide a baseline for representative demography and online behavior. This baseline is used to create demographic and behavioral weights for the onlinerecruited panel. Our patented user prompting ensures we have the best demographic data to base our weights upon. RECRUITMENT RDD PANEL Nielsen RDD panels are recruited using the industry-recommended Random Digital Dial methodology as well as proven methods to secure maximum participation from this randomly selected sample. A random sample of phone numbers is selected from a base of all residential phone numbers in the country, and the recruitment is conducted by telephone. Eligible panelists that are recruited to participate in the panel are mailed a membership packet including the tracking software, installation instructions, and a toll-free number for technical support. RDD recruitment creates the most representative sample with highest demographic and behavioral data accuracy with minimum sample bias. SAMPLE RECRUITMENT The RDD//Online panel consists of 2 sub samples, based on recruitment methodology: RDD and Online panel. 2 VISIT OR CALL

3 METHODOLOGY ONLINE-RECRUITED PANEL Nielsen has partnered with various established, panel-based market research companies to provide on-going recruitment of a representative sample of Internet users into the Online sample. Prospective panel members are recruited via an invitation from partner companies or via online advertising (banner, sponsored links, etc.). Prospective panelists are then directed to the Online panel recruitment website where they are presented with research program details (including Nielsen s privacy policy) and are asked to provide their demographic profile information. Upon agreement to the privacy policy and completion of the demographic survey and, the NetSight meter is downloaded to the panelist s computer. Nielsen never bundles its meter with other software, and requires all panel recruits to visit our website so that the process is completely transparent. Nielsen has an on-going panel management system to ensure Online panel sample quality. This includes performing affiliate partners evaluation analysis to prevent potential recruitment bias; collecting demo profile information from all panelists consistently, and contacting with our panelists in the same method as in RDD, which was done in the local language of each country. The primary goal of Online panel recruitment is the establishment of a representative group of Internet users, controlling for as many sample-biasing characteristics as possible. WEIGHTING AND CALIBRATION PROCEDURES Nielsen uses an iterative proportional fitting (IPF) technique to weight and calibrate the panel data prior to reporting. These procedures weight the panelists to targets derived for both demographic and behavioral metrics. In addition to demographic weighting targets based upon universe estimates, which are calculated through the global enumeration process, additional demographic and behavioral weighting targets based on the RDD panel are incorporated. THE METER Right at the heart of the Nielsen user-centric offering is the patented NetSight desktop meter. Unique among measurement suppliers, by measuring online activity at desktop operating system level we are able to offer the most accurate perspective on what a PC user is actually doing online, and offline, not only what their computer is doing on the internet. That is, whilst most measurement systems measure what content is being delivered to a web browser (and over claim consumption), we are able to tell which window or application is actually in focus or active and therefore can be observed. This enables us to make the most accurate estimates of time spent available. A subset of metered panelists is prompted with a login window at the beginning of a session to identify the person who is using the PC. All household members are listed in the login window, so that it is easy to select. This information is then used to individualize data for non-prompted panelists. Copyright 2014 The Nielsen Company 3

4 METHODOLOGY THE METER (continued) For these panelists, activity measurement and data retrieval have been designed to be as unobtrusive as possible. The meter tracks separate individuals using the PC by initiating a prompt at the start of the session, requiring user identification. If the machine is inactive for a period of 30 minutes, the user prompt will reappear. This is similar to the multiple-login feature when starting up a PC running Microsoft Windows. The data is reported for each individual. This is the only intervention required from the panel member s perspective. All data is securely and unobtrusively transmitted to Nielsen in real time, while the panel member browses the Internet. Panel members are not required to record their internet activity or to save or transfer data to Nielsen. SESSION RULE CREDITING Nielsen currently defines session rules with an identified start and end time, as defined by specific computer activity (opening and closing of a browser) and/ or a defined period of user inactivity within a browser. VideoCensus has changed its current session crediting rule so that the end time identified for browser inactivity is extended to four hours, rather than 30 minutes. With the change in session rules, VideoCensus will continue to report new streams up to 4 hours after computer inactivity; all new streams that fire after 4 hours of inactivity will be excluded from reporting. SYNDICATION AND DISTRIBUTED CONTENT To report the complete stream volume of an online video publisher, VideoCensus includes streams that originate on a site but are embedded or delivered through a syndicated player on another site. This is achieved by measuring the video player and stream URL, not the page URL, when determining where a stream is to be credited. Syndicated content is measured in this way whether or not a site has deployed VideoCensus tags. Consider the following examples for illustration: A YouTube clip that has been embedded on Facebook is credited to YouTube. The VideoCensus system observes the URL of the video played and clearly determines the URL to originate from a YouTube source, even if consumed on a Facebook page. A Hulu clip that has been tagged with VideoCensus tags is played on MSN. Hulu receives the credit for this clip as the beacon (tag call to a Nielsen server) sends the Hulu Client ID each time this clip is played. NOTE Content that is delivered as an asset to a distribution partner and served via that distribution partner s server and player infrastructure would not be included in the originating site s stream counts or audience projections (as in this case there is no stream URL or tag URL within the originating site s control to be leveraged for crediting). 4 VISIT OR CALL

5 TIME SPENT VIEWING (TSV) METRIC Time Spent Viewing (TSV) measurement is derived from the panel for both actively- and passivelymeasured streams. At an instance level, each stream is assigned a duration in seconds. Note that there is no minimum duration requirement. The meter installed on the panelist s computer sees a tag fire (for tagged entities) or a stream URL loaded (for passive entities) and starts counting duration until a stop event is recorded. Examples of stop events include: Another stream URL is initiated The user uses the transport controls to pause or stop the clip The audio accompanying the video clip ends Duration is capped at 4 hours. This allows for all reasonable expectations of long viewing activity on a single stream, such as a live sporting event, where the length of programming may extend to 3 or 4 hours. All streams longer than this 4 hour threshold are excluded from TSV calculations. FULL EPISODE CONTENT MEASUREMENT Full episode TV shows are measured as a collection of segments and not as a combined episode. Each stream within an episode is measured discretely. For example, a 42 minute episode broken up into 5 segments (each preceded by an advertisement), measures 10 separate streams (5 ads, and 5 content segments) and credits the 5 content streams to the appropriate entity (the ad streams are currently excluded from VideoCensus). Both active and passive methodologies credit full episode viewing in this way. With passive measurement, the meter on the panelist s computer observes multiple unique streams (one per segment) even if the stream protocol utilizes a single stream URL to deliver all segments. In order to ensure tagged clients full episodes are measured in the same manner, tagged clients send a start beacon for each individual video segment. This ensures consistency between the Passive and Active (tagged/census) measurement methodologies. Copyright 2014 The Nielsen Company 5

6 METHODOLOGY USER ACTIONS Given the interactivity and advanced functionality provided by online video players, it is difficult to measure user actions consistently across websites, players, and protocols. For this reason, we have standardized on the following rules for user actions that occur: A STREAM IS COUNTED For each chapter segment (full episodes), the first time it is accessed, regardless of whether an ad plays in between the chapters. For each single clip viewed. If replayed from cache, an additional stream is only counted for census-enabled (tagged) sites. If an ad interrupts the video experience (including ads in between chapters) a new stream is counted when the content resumes NO ADDITIONAL STREAMS ARE COUNTED IN THE EVENT OF: Scrubbing (fast forward or rewind) to a previously accessed chapter without ad interruption Scrubbing back to the beginning of the stream without ad interruption Pausing and then resuming the video HYBRID MEASUREMENT HYBRID METHODOLOGY Hybrid methodology uses both panel and census data to inform online audience projections. The panel is used to understand the demography and behavioral profiles of actual people under measurement while the tag data is used to understand the gaps in panel coverage and create an activity profile of people who are not under measurement and provide a target for stream views. VideoCensus new Total panel type includes activity outside of home and work locations accounting for previously unmeasured audience from mobile devices, secondary PCs and access points outside of home and work. CREATING A PERSON-CENTRIC HYBRID APPROACH The tag can capture the most accurate count of stream views if implemented completely across a publisher s site portfolio and generally a gap will often be seen when comparing tag stream views to panel-projected stream views. The larger the gap, the more likely that there is additional stream activity unaccounted for by the current panel projections. VideoCensus leverages the highly-accurate tag data to inform and calibrate Nielsen s panel projections of volume metrics (i.e., stream views and time spent viewing); however, no adjustment is made to the unique viewer calculation as Nielsen s audience projections already project to a total active internet universe. 6 VISIT OR CALL

7 EXAMPLE Step 1: Panelist views video on a publisher s site (i.e. ccnnn.com) Step 2: Two URLs fire on panelist s machine and are logged by the NetSight meter for the video view instance: Stream URL: rtmp://ht.cdn.tunner.com/cnb/ big/us/2011/07/08/bts.ranger.fan.falls.dies. wfaa_640x360_dl.flv Nielsen Video Tag URL: m?ci=us &c6=vc,c01&cc=1&tl=dab0- tech/2011/07/17/bts.ranger.fan.falls. dies&rnd= Step 3: Nielsen collection servers also log instance of the tag URL firing for panelist and for every other viewer of the video. The data is aggregated at end of month to produce a census count of video activity for the site. Step 4: Nielsen Loader collects all logs from panelists meters, parses stream URLs, and credits stream URLs to Nielsen MarketView entities (see section below for details about Nielsen s MarketView system) Stream URL: Stream dictionary pattern for the site is matched to stream URL in Step 2 Tag URL: ci=us from tag URL in Step 2 is matched to site parent entity, and c6=vc,c01 is matched to ccnnn.com channel entity Step 5: Unweighted run aggregates all credited NETWORK (stream URLs) and TAGGED (tag URLs) instance data by site for the month into raw counts. Step 6: Site is assigned a reportable data source for displaying in VideoCensus (NETWORK or TAGGED). Only one data source per site/entity can be chosen and reported on in VideoCensus for a given month. Step 7: Panelist weights are applied at the raw instance level for reportable data source (NETWORK or TAGGED) and aggregated to produce weighted projections for audience, streams, and duration metrics. For Hybrid Total audience, a virtual sample is incorporated by duplicating weighted records from select Home and Work users whose demographic profile matches Other Only users (as identified per global enumeration survey). Step 8: Streams and duration for tagged entities are scaled to reflect census stream count levels A scaling factor is calculated at the site level (includes program/client defined entities) and applied at the stream URL instance level The census data from Step 3 is divided by weighted streams from Step 7 to produce a scaling factor, e.g., if weighted Total streams is 47,000,000 and census streams are 62,000,000, then the scaling factor is 1.32 (62,000,000/47,000,000) The weighted streams and duration in Step 7 are multiplied by the scaling factor, e.g., 47MM streams is scaled to 62MM, and 128MM minutes is scaled to 169MM minutes (128MM x 1.32) Copyright 2014 The Nielsen Company 7

8 TAGGING PASSIVE MEASUREMENT: PANEL For breadth coverage of the online viewing audience, and for providing estimates of the overall video viewing audience, VideoCensus employs a panelbased approach. Doing so enables measurement of all sites that meet a minimum panelist threshold. The panel-based methodology does not require site participation (although collaboration with Nielsen on stream URL definitions is encouraged). Each member of the RDD//Online panel has a software application running on his/her computer which communicates to Nielsen all of the online viewing behaviors. ACTIVE/TAGGING MEASUREMENT: CENSUS Active measurement, where a site has deployed VideoCensus tags, complements and enhances passive measurement. With this model the video player sends a beacon ping to a Nielsen server that communicates additional information about the media being streamed. This cooperative approach enables granular reporting across each of a publisher s MarketView entities (see section below for details about Nielsen s MarketView system), as well as client-defined custom roll-ups. Each computer session is credited to a specific panelist, for whom Nielsen has a rich demographic profile. The stream URLs consumed by each panelist are credited to the corresponding site on which the stream was watched based on the stream dictionary definitions in place within the VideoCensus stream classification system. CLICK HERE FOR A GRAPHICAL EXAMPLE OF PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MEASUREMENT, IN THE ONLINE VIDEOCENSUS QUICK START GUIDE. 8 VISIT OR CALL

9 MARKETVIEW HIERARCHY MARKETVIEW LEVELS VideoCensus uses the MarketView hierarchy, which is employed across all Nielsen audience measurement products. MarketView was designed to provide our clients with additional clarity into the logical taxonomy of site ownership and better visibility as to what Internet sites best compete against each other. The key benefits of the MarketView hierarchy are: Provides buyers of Internet advertising with better visibility into their purchasing options by focusing on the available audience within specific groupings of viewer interest and/or content segments. Provides sellers of Internet advertising space apples to apples comparison of their content specific opportunity vs. competitive opportunities for audiences of similar viewer interest. Provides a reporting standard that allows clients to better understand Brands and their Channels as well as their ultimate Parent. With MarketView, all the URLs contributing to a Brand or Channel can be aggregated for a complete view. This results in higher sample sizes and offers clients: More robust drill downs More companies will make cut-off requirements for reporting Custom research and analytics can dig deeper and perform more sophisticated data mining A true comparison of content between competitors In summary, the MarketView system provides improved data for competitive intelligence, Internetuser behavior and demographics through a contentbased hierarchy of companies and organizations on the Internet. MarketView reports show the relationship or hierarchy of the organization within a parent company. There are three levels to MarketView: PARENT LEVEL The Parent level is the highest level of aggregation within a single roll-up. This level consists of the aggregation of two lower levels called the Brand and Channel levels. Traffic from these lower levels will contribute the overall traffic number for the Parent level it resides under. BRAND LEVEL The Brand level resides one level underneath the Parent level. This level consists of the aggregation of a lower level called the Channel level. Traffic from these lower levels will contribute the overall traffic number for the Brand level it resides under. This overall Brand level traffic, in turn, will contribute to the total traffic for its Parent. The Brand level can sometimes be represented as a subsidiary or operating unit. CHANNEL LEVEL The Channel level is the lowest level of the MarketView hierarchal structure in which domain(s) and/or URL(s) can be aggregated under. The Channel level always resides underneath the Brand level. Traffic from this lower level will contribute the overall traffic number for the Brand level it resides under. This overall Brand level traffic, in turn, will contribute to the total traffic for its Parent. A Channel is defined as a destination on the web where editorial consistency is focused on a specific view of interest such as news, sports, and travel. A Channel is the lowest level of aggregation. Channel content must be logically consistent with the Brand category classification. Channels need to be consistent with the look and feel of the Brand. Copyright 2014 The Nielsen Company 9

10 REPORTING COMBINING METHODOLOGIES INTO STANDARD METRICS Regardless of whether sites are tagged, VideoCensus includes all sites on which a minimum panelist threshold has been reached. The chart below highlights the metrics that vary based on the collection methodology used for each entity. For a complete listing and definition of all metrics included in VideoCensus reports, please refer to the Digital Terms Glossary. METRIC ACTIVELY MEASURED ENTITIES PASSIVELY MEASURED ENTITIES Unique Viewers Metric Projected from panel based on meter observations of the VideoCensus tags Projected from panel based on meter observations of stream URLs Total Streams Metric Projected from panel based on meter observations of VideoCensus tags.a scaling factor is applied to align with server-based count (census) of collected start events Projected from panel based on meter observations of stream URLs Time Spent Viewing Metric Projected from panel based on meter observations of VideoCensus tags combined with meter events (such as pause, stop) and the presence of audio. A scaling factor is applied to align with the census counts for streams. Projected from panel based on meter observations of stream URLs combined with meter events (such as pause, stop) and the presence of audio. Content Crediting Model Streams are credited to the appropriate MarketView entity (and custom roll-up) based on granular crediting information delivered in the VideoCensus tag. Streams are credited to the appropriate MarketView entity based on matches to stream definitions in the VideoCensus processing system. These definitions are continually refined by a team of specialists and informed by input from publishers. 10 VISIT OR CALL

11 EXCLUDED FROM MEASUREMENT ADVERTISING Video advertisements are currently excluded from VideoCensus reports, however, Nielsen does report on Video Ad Network traffic. Nielsen excludes advertising streams based on the determination that ads are streamed from a 3rd party server (e.g., Atlas or DoubleClick) or from a location on a publisher s CDN that is used for serving ads. Additionally, by viewing ads within the context of the content they are affiliated with, Nielsen develops classification rules to effectively exclude advertising streams while still crediting valid content streams. This ad exclusion also applies to house ads (or promos); those designed to promote the content of a specific site or the site itself and are played within the normal rotation of ad inventory. ADULT CONTENT All adult content is currently excluded from VideoCensus reporting. Copyright 2014 The Nielsen Company 11

12 ABOUT NIELSEN Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit Copyright 2014 The Nielsen Company. All rights reserved. Nielsen and the Nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZT/ACN Trademarks, L.L.C. Other product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. 12 VISIT OR CALL