Nielsen and OpenSlate combine audience and brand safety measurement

Nielsen and OpenSlate Form Strategic Alliance to Integrate Leading Audience and Brand Safety Measurement for Global Marketers

NEW YORK — Today, Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) announced it has entered into a strategic alliance with OpenSlate, the leading independent provider of brand safety and content suitability measurement across global digital platforms. This collaboration combines OpenSlate’s expertise with Nielsen’s comprehensive suite of independent, third-party audience measurement offerings.

Nielsen will initially bring together OpenSlate’s technology with its Digital Ad Ratings. Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings is the industry’s leading currency measurement solution, providing comprehensive, next-day views of digital audiences across computer, mobile and connected devices in a way that is comparable to Nielsen TV Ratings.

OpenSlate provides advertisers with a consistent means of classifying content, measuring quality and assessing brand suitability. OpenSlate currently measures and scores more than 600 million ad-supported videos. Through this strategic alliance, Nielsen has acquired a minority stake in OpenSlate, providing equity capital to expand the company’s team and technology.

Jeni Gardner, Senior Director Media, North America, Unilever, said: “It’s encouraging to see Nielsen and OpenSlate join forces to commit to independent, third-party measurement. As part of Unilever’s Responsibility Framework, we are committed to supporting our partners who prioritize Responsible Infrastructure. This collaboration offers the opportunity for holistic and accountable solutions to keep people and brands safe online.”

“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,” said Nikesh Patel, SVP of Digital Product Leadership at Nielsen.”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 is committed to independent measurement that furthers a healthy, high-quality content ecosystem,” said OpenSlate CEO Mike Henry. “We are thrilled to leverage our long track record in measuring content suitability in this new partnership with Nielsen, the leader in audience measurement.”