Submitted: February 26, 2008 - 10:51am
Last updated: February 29, 2008 - 5:45pm
NIELSEN LOOKS BEYOND TV, AND HITS ROADBLOCKS
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Louise Story]
Being part of a “Nielsen household” has long been a point of pride for people whose television habits are monitored by the Nielsen Company. In exchange for token compensation, these viewers know that their personal taste influences Hollywood and Madison Avenue. But now that Nielsen wants households to let it eavesdrop on many more activities -- from Web surfing to cellphone use -- how far will people open their doors? As television watching has waned as a component of media consumption, Nielsen has been trying to retool the way it collects ratings, to keep the figures relevant to the advertisers and media companies that are its clients. Instead of tracking the TV habits of one set of people, the purchases made by a second set and the Web use of a third, Nielsen would like to track multiple activities of the same people, allowing it to determine when someone saw an ad and then bought the product. Needless to say, this is a tough sell and raises potential privacy concerns. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/business/media/26nielsen.html?ref=toda...
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