Mediascope to test new technology for cross-media measurements

18.12.2019

Backed by NSK, the research company Mediascope will test the watermarking technology for measurement of professional video content and advertising in all environments. The test will be carried out with the pilot panel that the company started in 2019.

In 2012, Mediascope already conducted pilot measurements with the use of watermarking. Back then, the technology was tested for television audience measurements. Today it can be used much more widely, including cross-media measurements: the media and advertising market interested in data on viewing professional video content and advertising in all environments. This technology can also be used for anti-piracy measures - it can track the content distribution.

Technology works this way: it embeds the content with audio tags inaudible to humans. The audio tags are recognized with the use of special software and applications installed on panelists’ devices: smartphones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops. Audio-tags help to identify the content a person consumed and identify its source. Audio tags are read in seconds.

For a pilot measurements Mediascope analyzed solutions of all basic suppliers that offer this technology, and considers the Russian company as a primary provider.

Ksenia Achkasova, COO of Mediascope says:

“For several years now, we have been discussing with the industry the use of watermarking for measuring professional video content and advertising in all environments, as the media advertising market needs data on viewing on all devices and screens. The first tests of this technology that we conducted back in 2012 for making measurements on television screens showed that it works well, but then the industry was not ready to use it. Today we see much more opportunities for using watermarking and, unlike previous pilots, we can test this technology also on smartphones and desktops. However, to collect all data on one individual’s media consumption in different environments, technologies need to be combined. It’s difficult to achieve using only one method, even an advanced one. But we are confident that the use of watermarking technology will let us progress in this regard”.