• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 10, 2014

In a partnership announced on Monday, comScore will make real-time audience metrics available to Google DoubleClick clients through its vCE platform, allowing brand marketers to measure campaigns across screens.

Google will build comScore's vCE metric into the DoubleClick ad server that publishers and marketers use to deliver their ads. It will initially become available in the U.S. later this year for desktop-based display and video ads, with plans to expand the service for mobile and cross-platform. The agreement extends into television within the next three to six months. Both companies said they plan to jointly seek MRC accreditation for the service.

The deal allows comScore and Google to "radically simplify digital media buying," explains Serge Matta, president of comScore. The deal addresses many of the everyday challenges that prevent advertisers from investing more in digital, such as giving them instant access to the data.

"If you're the defense in a football game, you want to change the direction of the offensive as it happens, because if you wait until the end of the game it might be too late," Matta said. "You have to change and force correct while the game is on. People who do that can optimize campaigns and hit their target audience much easier."

The vCE platform already supports companies like Procter & Gamble, Publicis, VivaKi, Kellogg's, L'Oreal and others, many of which will contribute to the $31 billion in digital ad spend that eMarketer estimates by 2017.

Google has been working on its own measurement system for years, but has become more open recently to work with others. Neal Mohan, Google VP of display advertising, announced the partnership Monday at the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Annual Leadership Meeting.

The integration makes comScore vCE data available in the DoubleClick platform, giving advertisers and publishers access to real-time audience insights and the ability to measure campaigns with one click. It also gives marketers and publishers cross-screen comparable audience delivery metrics, such as reach, frequency and GRPs. This provides clients with immediate access to data to compare with TV and other traditional media.

comScore will continue to independently offer vCE, an ad delivery validation solution, of the DoubleClick platform.