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The Measurement Series Broke the Internet. Well, Ad Tech's Internet. Same Thing.
This week I published a five-part investigation into the TV measurement industry. This week my phone hasn't stopped ringing.
Here's the quick version of where things stand.
Nielsen's PR team has been great to work with. Professional, responsive. But the industry needs to hear from Nielsen's leaders directly - not through me, not through Beet.TV softballs. What's happening with BD+P? What about the MRC review? The VAB's concerns? Get your executives on the record. Real questions. Real follow-ups.
Comscore engaged like a company that wants its story told. Respect.
VideoAmp has been the strangest experience I've had in journalism. Board members and investors are talking openly. The people actually running the company won't return a text. I was scheduling an on-the-record interview with leadership when it got canceled - that's how I found out about the executive changes/firings/whatever the claim is today. I've sent a formal request for comment to Purpose Worldwide with very specific questions. NB: Since an antisemitism issue, they’ve refused to work with me, a visible Orthodox Jew
iSpot hasn't contacted me. What they've done is gotten their clients to call me - brands, agencies, friends - pushing back off the record on certain points. The fact that clients will defend you is actually a good sign. So why won't you defend yourself? I've called Julie Van Ullen directly. Sent formal questions. Nothing yet. I think I accidentally called her mother also, who was a very nice woman in Connecticut. Sorry.
EDO has engaged even with an $18.3 million verdict and appeal pending. That tracks with everything I reported about their culture.
What's Publishing This Week
Today: The Measurement Industry's Dirty Laundry II: What Happened Next. Part 1 is free. Parts 2-4 are for paid subscribers over the next few weeks. New reporting includes:
Nielsen is likely losing BD+P accreditation again. Five sources close to the MRC process. Our prediction: nobody will care. Because nobody cared last time.
Nielsen's legal strategy is collapsing. Nine patent lawsuits since 2021, zero wins. TVision's antitrust counterclaim is moving forward. Discovery was not frozen. Contract practices could be exposed.
iSpot's layoffs confirmed by additional sources. No WARN Act filings found in any state. The cuts were structured to avoid disclosure. Julie Van Ullen was hired as President right in the middle of it.
VideoAmp's communications blackout. The company's actual story is good. The silence is making it worse.
Comscore lost Jacqueline Keller. Best product story in measurement, worst ability to tell it right now.
The data supply chain economics that actually determine who lives and dies in this industry. Hint: it's not methodology.
The frequency data that should terrify every CMO in America. 97% of linear impressions hitting 55% of viewers. One case study showing only 2% of ad exposure was causally linked to purchases.
What We Need From You
If you work in measurement, buying, selling, or planning TV advertising - I want to hear from you.
On the record. On background. Deep background. Whatever you're comfortable with. Sources are always protected.
Specifically:
Nielsen clients: What's your actual experience with BD+P? Is the data stable? Are the demos tracking? Are you seeing the issues the VAB described?
iSpot clients: Is Outcomes at Scale delivering what was promised? What changed after the layoffs? Are you concerned about continuity?
VideoAmp clients: What's the transition been like under new leadership? Is the product still being supported? What are you hearing about the AI pivot?
Agency planners and buyers: Are you actually evaluating alternatives or is it still Nielsen by default? What would it take to switch?
Anyone with direct knowledge of ACR data pricing, OEM relationships, or the economics of building measurement products on top of other people's data - I'm working on a piece about the data supply chain and your perspective matters.
Former employees of any measurement company who want to share what it's actually like inside these organizations. Glassdoor only tells part of the story.
My DMs are open. Email works. My number is out there. I don't burn sources and I don't run quotes without permission.
The original series proved there's an appetite for honest, independent reporting on this industry. The response this week proved there's a lot more story to tell.
Help me tell it.
The Rabbi of ROAS
What's Coming Next Week.
Part 2: The Data Supply-Chain Cartel - We follow the money to the OEM ACR providers, the set-top-box licensors, and the platform walled gardens. Who charges what. Who's locked in with whom. Samba TV's OEM strategy and the MediaTek deal that could change everything. The privacy litigation wave that could blow up the entire ACR ecosystem. Comscore's strategic positioning and AI play. The Nielsen MRC re-review in detail. This is the piece that explains why companies actually survive or die in measurement.
Part 3: The VideoAmp File - The most detailed independent account of what happened inside VideoAmp, sourced from insiders, investors, and financial documentation. The real fundraising math. The Vista debt. The clean room IP that might be the company's most valuable asset. The Office Depot case study: 2% causal, 98% waste. The frequency data that rewrites how campaigns should be optimized. And Purpose Worldwide's response to our questions - or their silence.
Part 4: Survivors and Casualties - Who makes it and who doesn't. iSpot's full picture - the WARN Act question, what Julie Van Ullen walked into, the Roku reality. The EDO comparison that should embarrass iSpot's investors. Nielsen's real strategy: making switching costs unbearable. Comscore's path to number two. And the scenario nobody in measurement wants to think about: what happens when Amazon or Google just makes measurement free?
The original series mapped where the bodies are buried.
This one digs them up. Subscribe to ADOTAT+ here.
