ACNielsen Corporation and NetRatings, Inc. are setting out to establish a worldwide industry standard for tracking Internet audiences, activity and advertising.
The new venture, ACNielsen eRatings.com, will be marketed under the Nielsen/NetRatings brand. The partnering companies expect the service to become a global industry standard by which Intenet publishers, media buyers, marketers and advertisers measure traffic on the Internet. The venture will cover Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. It will begin tracking Internet audiences and advertising by the end of the first quarter next year.
ACNielsen has an 80 percent stake in the business, with NetRatings owning the remainder. In addition, ACNielsen will purchase a 10 percent stake in NetRatings for $12.5 million, and ACNielsen Vice Chairman Michael P. Connors will be appointed to the NetRatings board of directors.
ACNielsen CEO Nicholas L. Trivisonno said, "There is a clear and immediate need for a global industry standard to measure audience behavior and advertising on the Internet, and this venture will provide that standard for clients. Together, we will offer clients the most reliable and accurate information about the Internet, enabling us to build the world's leading Internet measurement business and create additional long-term value for our shareholders."
NetRatings CEO David J. Toth says the new venture has the tools necessary to get it done. "NetRatings' superior technology, combined with ACNielsen's unmatched market coverage and research expertise, enables us to offer the first comprehensive, global view of both traditional media and Internet audiences" Toth said. "This valuable blend of information will allow businesses worldwide to make more effective use of the Internet, and support its continued growth."
The two companies formed a strategic alliance last year to create Nielsen//NetRatings, an Internet audience measurement service in the United States and Canada.
ACNielsen offers media measurement services in more than 40 countries. The company provides television and radio audience ratings, advertising expenditure measurement, print readership services, and custom media research. The company also has extensive experience developing and managing statistically valid research panels. The panels, made up of a demographically balanced sample of households, are used to measure consumer purchasing behavior and media audiences around the world.
ACNielsen will initially introduce the Nielsen//NetRatings service in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, with additional markets rapidly coming online thereafter. The service is expected to cover more than 30 countries and about 90 percent of the world's Internet audience by the end of 2001.
ACNielsen plans to spend about $50 million over the next two years to roll out the Nielsen//NetRatings
service.
Based in Milpitas, California, NetRatings is a leading provider of audience measurement. The company has in-depth technical expertise, and its proprietary BannerTrackSM data collection software is unique in its ability to track both Internet usage and visitor interaction with advertising banners. The company provides information across the entire spectrum of Internet user and advertising activity -
including the number, frequency and duration of visits to specific sites, detailed data on exposure to
ad banners, and user profiles by age, gender, education, occupation, income and ethnicity.