A decade ago, the Gross Rating Point (GRP) was still the unchallenged king of TV-buying metrics, but advertisers are no longer satisfied with metrics that only tell a story about reach. They want to buy TV the way they buy digital and measure ROI in terms of sales and conversions, but that\u2019s still largely aspirational.<\/p>\n

Another challenge publishers and advertisers are still trying to crack is figuring out how many individuals are really exposed to content \u2014 or ads \u2014 in the context of viewing behavior that\u2019s spread over multiple devices per household.<\/p>\n

New technologies have given rise to increasingly sophisticated targeting using demographic and psychographic attributes. But most TV is still measured using probabilistic modeling, a methodology for mapping devices to audience segments that relies on consumer panels assembled by Nielsen, Comscore and other data providers. It can tell advertisers that the audience viewing their ad is probably heavily comprised of working mothers in their forties in the Midwest or men in their twenties in large cities, for example.<\/p>\n

Statistical modeling and predictive algorithms, which are populated via device fingerprinting, IP matching, location data and other information, can now be used to narrow down an audience.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the domain of online video, a lack of standards for delivery and measurement has created confusion in the marketplace and imposed challenges on advertisers, which may have the effect of curtailing spend. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has made an effort to impose standards, but they\u2019re still a work in progress.<\/p>\n