FB VIDEO BACKLASH:  Last week I featured a story on Facebook’s overestimation of average time spent watching video ads on its platform due to a miscalculation in their ad metrics.  Well now comes the backlash.  By the end of last week there was a growing chorus of calls for independent third party measurement and auditing of FB’s ad platform.  I’ve included a pair of articles covering different perspectives on this.  The first AdWeek article details the position of the ANA, and the second AdExchanger article takes the viewpoint from various agencies.  In either case the demand is pretty clear.  FB, and similar “walled garden” publishers like Google, should allow third party measurement companies like MOAT, IAS, Comscore and Nielsen to look under the hood and make sure they’re delivering what they’ve sold to advertisers.  Because without independent measurement FB is effectively grading its own test.  Which is exactly how the initial video miscalculation was able to persist for two years without anyone noticing.  Also thought you might get a kick out of this cartoon which pretty much sums up marketers’ feeling about FB’s self-measurement. (1) http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/ana-asks-facebook-open-its-platform-more-third-party-measurement-173821  (2) http://adexchanger.com/agencies/facebooks-video-measurement-snafu-rip-advertiser-trust/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTnpneE9EazRaamM1TkRWaiIsInQiOiJvcnBna0RpWlZlT2lVVDJ3OHZCNnF2ekt3bTJkTjJKNXVYZmN1MG9OenJqSUQ4RWx6VzY2MlYzQkMxSzk0OWhDVUZseVBhd3J2NElVbGttSEExVkVnWjdsYnRNK3FEU2p1dXBpbytGS2llOD0ifQ%3D%3D

IHEART’S CASUAL PLAN?:  Last week iHeart confirmed it’s preparing to launch a two-tiered on-demand service in January.  Now one of its executives is explaining iHeart’s plan for differentiation in the marketplace by appealing to “casual” listeners.  They are referring to the majority of US music listeners who aren’t used to paying for CDs, downloads, etc..  The thing that’s confusing about this strategy is how do you convince a person who doesn’t pay for music already to buy a subscription now?  And is iHeart forgetting about another streamer, whose logo is blue and has a P in it, which already provides lean back streaming to 80M/mo for free?  Seems like a really well thought out plan.  J  http://www.insideradio.com/free/iheart-wants-new-services-to-rate-with-casual-fans/article_b821d734-8935-11e6-9633-fffecae00901.html

NIELSEN DOUBLES DOWN ON PPM:  One of the chronic complaints TV and Radio broadcasters have about Nielsen is the relatively small number of PPMs used to determine ratings.  It’s a simple math issue – the smaller the sample is the less accurate the results.  To combat this Nielsen is announcing an initiative to significantly increase the number of PPMs in market.  This should be welcome news to broadcasters since they’re getting what they want, right?  Not so fast my friend!  (Yes, that was a Lee Corso reference.)  The other big problem with PPM is the people meters themselves.  They look like beepers and fit on a belt or purse strap.  And since wearing things like beepers on a belt went out of style around the same time as mom jeans, it’s hard to envision today’s fashion forward Millennials voluntarily wearing one of these babies.  Here’s an actual image from PPM sales collateral circa 1990s to help make my point.  Sigh . . .  http://www.insideradio.com/nielsen-may-be-ready-to-increase-radio-sample/article_a9512acc-86d1-11e6-8bd4-73454edf35f0.html

Have a great Monday guys!