As the popularity of websites like Hulu grows, so too does the desire for accurately measuring exactly who is watching all this online video. Recognizing this, Nielsen, the TV-rating behemoth, is pulling out all the stops to create a data source that allows accurate comparisons between TV and online, Ad Age reports.
Nielsen is installing electronic meters to measure web activity in its Nielsen homes and hopes to begin collecting data by August 2010, according to the report. Online video is only a $1 billion market, compared to $70 billion for TV, but networks anticipate video's popularity will continue to grow, hence their desire for a single rating from Nielsen.
For proof of online video's popularity with marketers, look at YouTube, far and away the largest online video site. While it lacks both the premium content and sound ad strategy of Hulu, YouTube has found a way to rake in cash through ads on its homepage -- display ads, that is.
Ad Age reports that YouTube's homepage was sold out 90 percent of the time in the third quarter. Advertisers pay $175,000 for each homepage takeover, and also commit to $50,000 in additional spending.