I am by no means a tech-guy, but I dispute the Neilsen methodology based on my 8 ears of looking and reporting on their data. I also worked at major network and saw how the game worked from that angle.

Case in point, several years ago the M1834 demographic dropped off significantly and the question on the floor was “where have all of the male viewers gone?” Video games was one theory, but there were many, and although no one was ever able to prove their theory the male viewers suddenly started reappearing into the ratings quietly.

Nielsen tracks DVR viewing through three separate data streams – Live viewing + same day DVR viewing, live viewing + seven day DVR viewing, and the new C3 data stream described above, which includes DVR viewing of commercials within a 3 day window.

Moreover current DVR penetration is only at about 18-25%, depending on whose data you look at. Also, I think it’s unlikely that significantly more than half of all households will ever get a DVR – they are simply too complex for many TV viewers to operate.

Finally as to the question of accuracy, as long as the sample size is large enough, there’s no real reason why Nielsen ratings wouldn’t be accurate. Techies tend to distrust sample methodology, even if it is developed by professional statisticians with PhDs.

TV advertising is not necessarily ineffective, nor is search engine marketing necessarily more effective. They are just different tools in a marketer’s arsenal. The tool(s) you select depend on the objective of the campaign.

However IMO Google will be in for a surprise if they think they can quickly make significant inroads into the so-called advertiser/agency “industrial” complex, which is to some extent based on personal relationships established over many years, not data. For most advertisers controlling the big $, the decision to place an ad is an emotional one rather than a data-driven one…. I don’t know if this is changing, but if it is, it’s taking place very slowly.

http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com

This just continues to amaze me that Google was a late comer to the PPC advertising party, then perfected it, and is moving into radio, print and tv while Yahoo and MSN are so far behind you can’t even really call them competitors.

This is a company that still relies on a so-called sample of 5-13,000 TV viewers writing down their TV viewing habits into paper journals.

Starting with this past September Nielsen also transitioned to what’s called C3 which means they now measure commercial ratings + DVR viewing within 3 days of live program air time. This is a transition from pure program ratings based on so-called live viewing data collected out of that sample size I had mentioned. This was not an easy transition and will be messy once all of the contradicting data is revealed in the coming months.

Everyone knows that Nielsen’s data is not valid, yet nothing can be done to stop them. The TV networks are opposed to change because it will affect the millions and millions of dollars they “earn,” the ad agencies are opposed because they are lazy and the clients (advertisers) don’t want to see change because this is all they know. Business as usual in TV.

Nielsen…please, stay away from the web, I’m begging you!

http://www.yout...h?v=rr_RAMPt6GU