Sony to Share Game 'Census' Data with Nielsen

The Nielsen Company and Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) are to develop a new measurement system for game network advertising, with Nielsen given access to the games giant's user data.

SCEA has agreed to share with Nielsen game network traffic and other data from its PS3™ systems and PLAYSTATION®Network, including PlayStation Home and first- and third-party software titles accessed through them. Nielsen will combine the SCEA census data with its own game usage data, currently collected from more than 12,000 U.S. television households in its National People Meter panel, to calculate the reach, frequency and effectiveness of game network advertising.

The initial rollout will begin in the North American market. Advertisers and agencies will be able to calculate CPMs across PS3s and PLAYSTATION Network with greater detail and accuracy. Beginning in the autumn, Nielsen will offer monthly reporting on, and ranking of, audience statistics and user activity from across PLAYSTATION Network as part of its syndicated GamePlay Metrics measurement product. GamePlay Metrics rolls out later this month, offering metered game usage and demographic information by game title, genre and platform.

Phil Rosenberg, Senior VP at the Sony subsidiary, comments, 'SCEA and Nielsen intend to introduce a new kind of discipline and rigor to the measurement of game advertising that will create enormous value for advertisers, game publishers and game players alike. Working closely with Nielsen, which has a global footprint that is well-aligned with our own, we look forward to clearly demonstrating the effectiveness and reach of both dynamic and static ad placement within games.'

According to Jeff Herrmann, VP of Nielsen Games, 'SCEA's contribution of its game census data, combined with Nielsen's data sets, represents a milestone in our efforts to bring greater legitimacy and accuracy to game advertising measurement.'

Web sites are at www.nielsen.com and www.scea.sony.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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