Nielsen Takes Stake in Brand Safety Specialist

Nielsen has announced a strategic alliance with brand safety and content suitability measurement firm OpenSlate, acquiring a minority stake as part of the deal.

OpenSlate promises advertisers a consistent means of classifying content, measuring quality and assessing the brand suitability of its placements, and currently measures and scores more than 600 million ad-supported videos.

The partnership brings OpenSlate's specific expertise together with Nielsen's audience measurement offerings, initially Digital Ad Ratings, and the funds will be used to expand OpenSlate's team and technology.

Nikesh Patel, SVP of Digital Product Leadership at Nielsen comments: 'As CMOs look to connect with consumers with greater accuracy and intelligence, reaching the right audience in the right environment is more pivotal than ever. Our new strategic alliance with OpenSlate will allow us to deliver brand safety insights on top of the trusted digital audience measurement that Nielsen brings to the market'. OpenSlate CEO Mike Henry (pictured) says his firm is 'committed to independent measurement that furthers a healthy, high-quality content ecosystem', adding: 'We are thrilled to leverage our long track record in measuring content suitability in this new partnership with Nielsen, the leader in audience measurement'.

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