Nielsen Acquires Video Analytics Firm GlanceGuide

In an effort to boost its measurement of online video content, The Nielsen Company acquired GlanceGuide, a video analytics firm in Palo Alto, CA. GlanceGuide provides over 30 metrics designed to provide a more comprehensive view of video audience dynamics.

GlanceGuide’s analytics will be used to create a new Nielsen metric – Attentiveness Score – which ranks video content according to a range of audience viewing activities, including whether the video was played on a big screen, whether the volume was turned up and if it was replayed or paused.

The Attentiveness Score will be expressed as a number that publishers and advertisers can use to determine a video’s effectiveness. Nielsen will provide daily updates on the scores.

The GlanceGuide data augments Nielsen’s demographic data to provide a broader reading of audience viewing habits.

The Attentiveness Score will be applied to all forms of video content, from short form user generated clips to online ads, TV shows and movies. The data will be available for online, but not mobile viewing at the outset, according to a Nielsen spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman declined to provide information on whether Nielsen would institute a separate charge for the GlanceGuide data.