What Is The Nielsen ID Resolution System?

Nielsen, a measurement and analytics company integral to the TV advertising industry, recently announced an ID resolution system that amounts to a “comprehensive overhaul of its cross-screen measurement methodology,” according to Ronan Shields, reporting for Adweek. Not long ago, Google, Firefox and Safari all announced that they would be doing away with cookies by 2022 due to privacy concerns and an increased preference for opted-in, first-party data. Similarly, mobile IDs have been in the news as tech companies like Apple move to limit advertisers’ access to personal information from users. As advertisers increasingly prepare for a world without cookies and other third-party tracking tools, the data sets and analytics from companies like Nielsen are critical to successfully tracking TV advertising campaign performance.

What Is The Nielsen ID Resolution System?

The goal for Nielsen with their ID resolution system is to offer the same accuracy advertisers rely on now, while preparing for a future without cookies and with increased privacy laws. The company announced over the summer that its digital measurement methodology was being reapproached to become more agile, usable and flexible for the inevitable measurement and data-use changes on the horizon. 

“Over the last year, we’ve been laser focused on transitioning Nielsen to become a platform company. With a privacy-centric lens, we are creating a flexible platform that we can adapt to new technology, data and regulatory changes,” said Karthik Rao, COO of Nielsen. “We believe these changes will also position our clients to monetize their assets today and well into the future. We expect these investments to drive significant value for the rapidly growing digital ecosystem.” 

The ID resolution system is the result of this new tracking approach by Nielsen, centering people-based measurement and machine learning to offer a cadre of features including: 

Is Nielsen Going To Stop Using Cookies?

Not just yet. As long as cookies are still useful and in play, Nielsen will use them. “One of the main goals [of Nielsen ID resolution] is to make sure we continue to deliver our current metrics into the marketplace,” said Mainak Mazumdar, chief data officer at Nielsen. “We have scenarios where we will continue to use what’s available, but when they become less and less reliable, we can bring in other data sets, methodologies and techniques to still be able to deliver that measurement.”

How Does The Nielsen ID Resolution Benefit Digital Marketers?

The cookieless world is coming — it’s nearly here. Consumers do not want to be targeted using data they didn’t opt into, and advertisers are better able to implement personalization and authentic engagement with first-party data that offers real answers about consumers. Nielsen’s ID resolution aims to provide accurate measurement of ad performance across media, allowing advertisers to make informed choices based on real audience performance and behavior, without interruption, inclusive of privacy laws, and despite the lack of cookies and other trackers. Advertisers need to be ready for a cookieless world, because being stuck with bad data could mean being left behind.

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