Nielsen Announces Plans to Adapt Measurement Methodology for Cookie-Less Future

Though adapting programs and communications to suit customers’ shifting priorities during a global pandemic has taken precedence over the last several months, our pending cookie-less future—and the marketing attribution complexities it subsequently brings—warrants marketers’ attention. As businesses devise plans to navigate that new world, Nielsen is stepping in with a new digital measurement methodology that will work with first-party data sets and comply with regulations like CCPA, AdExchanger reports.

Anchoring the new approach are partnerships, which will replace cookies and mobile ad IDs—both of which have been used by marketers to track consumer behavior and preferences online for the purpose of ad targeting. Nielsen’s methodology overhaul will entail using first-party data assets from partners, platforms and publishers to create an independent measurement system. The company also plans to develop controls that are privacy-centric and comply with current regulations.

Nielsen’s goals with the rollout, which will happen in phases beginning in 2021, are to facilitate more expedient measurement and to produce data of higher quality. And since its measurement products, such as Digital Content Ratings, Total Content Ratings and Digital Ad Ratings, are relied on as currency by global markets, the move is an attempt to adapt to shifting rules and regulations within the online marketplace. For more on Nielsen’s methodology overhaul, read on in AdExchanger.