• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, August 9, 2012

The advertising industry hasn't quite managed to target TV ads per households through set-top box and Web data as execs from NXP (Philips) Semiconductors envisioned 10 years ago, but Nielsen has built a platform relying on audience segments that combines TV viewing habits and online behavior.

Nielsen's tool, announced Tuesday, allows advertisers to build cross-platform campaigns and lets companies like Videology build custom segments for brands within two to three weeks, according to Aleck Schleider, VP of data and analytics at Videology.

When asked if this offering will turn into a self-serve platform, Schleider said there's really no need. It doesn't take much time to use and it's a fairly easy process.

The platform requires companies to combine offline TV viewing and online behavior to build audience segments with Nielsen's data. Microsoft, Adap.TV, Specific Media, Undertone, and Videology Group have begun using the platform to optimize advertising strategies for clients wanting to build cross-platform campaigns. Schleider said the project is too new to share performance metrics, but there are several key performance indicators (KPIs) companies will use depending on the industry.

The KPIs for the entertainment, automotive, and the consumer products goods sectors will analyze completion rates, but also create studies measuring offline purchases, duplicate reach, and brand lift.

Videology focuses on in-stream video building up to 30-second pre-roll ads. Schleider said it's all about PCs, tablets, smartphones, and connected TVs. "We literally know when someone has seen an ad four times," he said. "We can get that granular across segments. These might be night-time viewers."

Advertisers can access the Nielsen Online Audience Segments through application programming interface (API), a direct match system, or by server-to-server matching with Nielsen’s data management platform (DMP), powered by eXelate.