Dive Brief:
- ComScore CEO Gian Fulgoni announced being disappointed with the company’s Validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) digital ad measurement tool, particularly with how slow adding Facebook metrics to the tool was for the company as reported by Ad Exchanger.
- In a corporate update last week, Fulgoni pointed out that the digital ad sector grew almost 20% last year and that Google and Facebook accounted for a large percentage of the growth although vCE didn’t include Facebook in viewability and audience measurements.
- ComScore, Integral Ad Science and Nielsen all joined Moat last April in being allowed to offer third-party viewability measurements on Facebook.
Dive Insight:
The news adds another element to comScore's recent challenges. The company, traditionally one of the most respected entities in digital media and marketing measurement, has a hit a rough patch of late and saw its stock delisted from the Nasdaq this month in response to the company's ongoing failure to restate its 2015 financial filings. ComScore is reviewing its financials after discovering faulty accounting.
The admission regarding shortcomings in its digital ad measurement tool comes at a time when time there is rising demand from marketers for accurate metrics and a constantly evolving offering of digital ad products and formats. Marketers are already feeling less confident in the metrics available to them and the admission of comScore's CEO is only going to make them feel less sure.
ComScore's troubles could also reverberate through the industry as its stock value decreases, with WPP and other big investors likely to take a financial hit as a result.
Third-party digital ad measurement is a competitive space with comScore, IDS, Nielsen and Moat all offering products for different platforms. By singling out Facebook as a particular area of frustration, it seems Fulgoni is indicating that comScore misjudged the demand for Facebook metrics.
For its part, comScore said its marketing around vCE was more focused on multiplatform rankings for publishers rather than on the buyers’ side of advertisers and agencies. Fulgoni admitted the company needs to put more effort in appealing to the buy side with viewability and audience reporting.