iSpot challenges Nielsen with real-time TV conversion analytics

Real-time TV ad data company iSpot has launched real-time conversion analytics to help advertisers tie TV ads to digital actions — and challenge the traditional methodologies of Nielsen.

The Bellevue, Wash.-based company has partnerships with TV manufacturers and connects to some 10 million smart TVs. Unlike Nielsen, which uses program watching as a proxy for ad watching, iSpot’s attribution platform tracks tune-in and performance metrics at the ad level. The conversion measurement piece of the platform has been in beta for about six months with 20 advertisers representing a variety of industries.

Sean Muller, iSpot’s CEO and former CTO at Demand Media, says it can now provide digital-like attribution for TV.

“Every brand has digital attribution and a media mix model, but there’s been a gaping hole in TV attribution. With smart TVs attached to home IP addresses, we can provide multi-touch attribution to connect first-party data and track actions users take on advertisers’ sites” after viewing TV ads, said Muller by phone. “We’re taking everything advertisers like about digital measurement and targeting and bringing it to TV to connect to KPIs and user actions.”

iSpot tracks TV conversions across national, local, VOD and time-shifted ad views in the US. The platform connects the dots between TV ad viewing and digital actions by overlapping smart TV IP addresses with the iSpot pixel placed on advertisers’ sites and/or apps. Muller says there’s a roughly 14 percent to 20 percent overlap with users, and the analytics based on that overlap inform lookalike models.

It provides performance insights at various levels of granularity — from types of programming to specific networks to individual creatives. The data can indicate which creatives perform best during particular dayparts and optimize campaign delivery based on conversion data. It also shows additional potential opportunities for driving conversions.

iSpot also takes a jab at the lag time of Nielsen’s GRP data, which can take weeks to get. The platform reports on impression volume, ad view rates, social engagement, and now web and mobile visits, conversion lift and so on in real time. A partnership with TUNE supports app download tracking.

Muller says the current capabilities set the stage for being able to provide multichannel attribution in a standardized way. Currently, iSpot does this on a case-by-case manual basis for clients.

The company is running its own TV ad on CNBC.