Nielsen to Watermark Online Content

Nielsen has partnered with secure identity solutions firm Digimarc to develop a system to enable media companies, social networks, peer-to-peer services and user generated sites to track the distribution of media content across the Internet.

Dubbed Digital Media Manager, the new system will use digital watermarking and fingerprinting to ensure copyright compliance. The firms say that the service will help clients realise the value of their digital content by creating a number of revenue streams including e-commerce and royalty reporting.

Nielsen already uses digital watermarking to encode 95% of TV programming for its TV ratings service, and the new services will initially focus on online distribution of TV content in the US.

The partner firms also plan to work with the media industry to digitally watermark DVD's, movies, music, video games and other content.

Nielsen Chairman and CEO David Calhoun said that until now, the lack of independent, industry-accepted identification and tracking services has limited the transactions that allow the delivery of media content over the Internet.

The firms will work together to develop this service and each will contribute intellectual property and technological expertise. Digimarc is licensing digital watermarking patents to Nielsen, as well as providing development support.

Content owners will be able to use the system to identify what content is being shared, viewed or accessed, to help them decide where and how to distribute content and how to measure the effectiveness of associated marketing campaigns.

'The ability to identify content enables accountability, insightful marketing, and enhanced consumer experiences,' explained Digimarc CEO Bruce Davis. 'This initiative can turn a perceived threat into a manageable solution that inspires an exciting new era of digital entertainment,'

Digital Media Manager will be available in mid 2008.

Web sites: www.nielsen.com and www.digimarc.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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