Roku will
become the first streaming platform to enable syndicated measurement of video advertising through the comScore validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) platform.
Advertisers want trusted
third-party measurement when buying media to better judge the effectiveness of their ads. Advertisers and companies that distribute ad-supported programming over-the-top (OTT) like Fox Broadcasting
will soon have an option to measure dynamically inserted video ads on the Roku platform with vCE metrics, the two companies said Wednesday.
Those metrics are comparable with those
used for desktop, mobile and linear TV advertising such as reach and frequency, GRPs and demographics.
Scott Rosenberg, VP of advertising and audience development at Roku, told Media
Daily News that the company offers measurement on the Roku platform, but not vCE measurement. He believes that building third-party measurement directly into the RokuOS shows a commitment to
advancing the state of OTT advertising.
"There's about $70 to $80 billion dollars being spent against TV, but we all know that audience is declining, so it's putting a lot of pressure on
traditional TV marketers to reach that TV viewer," Rosenberg said. "Those advertisers have a currency they trust that's equivalent to what they use today, so it's important to create the same
measurements"
The OTT measurement meant that Roku, through a "double-blind independent party," agreed to allow its registration data to be used for demographic measurement. It will allow
comScore to determine that the ad was delivered in front of a male between the ages of 24 and 34. Roku also will need to modify its ad stack built into its OS to recognize comScore's beacon to measure
the data such as demographics coming through the platform.
"The integration is not a small task and it's important to get it right," said Timur Yarnall, SVP at comScore. "It's not about
bringing new metrics to the table, but rather taking metrics that buyers and sellers are comfortable with and bringing them to OTT."
Yarnall said the partnership represents another step
forward in fulfilling the ad industry's and comScore’s vision of comprehensive cross-platform measurement. Roku will become the first OTT platform providing this measurement service.
comScore Total Home Panel data released earlier this year suggests Roku holds nearly half of the OTT streaming device market share in the U.S.