• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, January 31, 2017

As part of a broader effort to help brands track campaign performance across channels, Facebook is rolling out a marketing mix modeling (MMM) portal where measurement partners can gather information directly from Facebook, Instagram and Audience Network on their clients' behalf.

Advertisers should now be able to compare which ads -- TV, digital and print -- are driving desired campaign outcomes.

In tests, more than 150 brands have already been making decisions based on this information, according to Facebook.

The portal comes several months after Facebook announced partnerships with several MMM measurement providers to help brands better understand their media mix across channels.

Facebook on Tuesday also announced several updates to its third-party verification program.

The company has expanded its partnership with Nielsen to enable its digital ad ratings (DAR) product to measure reach and in-target performance on desktop and mobile across eight additional markets -- bringing the total to 25 global markets.

Facebook is also expanding its partnership with comScore beyond viewability to include in-target performance for the tech titan’s properties in the US.

Facebook first formed a partnership with comScore in early 2016 to enable viewability verification of its video impressions.

While viewability remains an important metric, in-target reach -- the metric that media plans are built around -- is seen as increasingly key to evaluating a campaign’s success.

As such, Facebook and comScore are beginning to evaluate in-target reach for domestic audiences on desktop and mobile through the tracking firm’s validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) product.

Facebook said it is also making significant progress in extending its viewability measurement to more placements across its various apps and services.

In partnership with comScore and Integral Ad Science, this will now include its Audience Network.

Additionally, Facebook said it has completed the integration of display viewability on Facebook with comScore, Integral Ad Science and Moat.

These partners should thus be able to provide metrics on when a display ad enters the Facebook screen and when the entire ad appears on the screen.

Finally Facebook is adding DoubleVerify to its list of viewability verification partner. That integration is expected to begin in the coming year.