Facebook Inc. and global data measurement company Nielsen have teamed up to acquire data concerning what users are watching to see how much people use mobile devices to view shows.
The two companies are working together to determine the age and gender of viewing taking place on mobile devices, according to Nielsen. Facebook will only serve as a third-party data provider for this information.
When consumers first install and open apps that send viewing information to Nielsen, they are advised of the process and receive a prompt that asks them if they wish to opt-out.
Nielsen has tracked view data in the past, having conducted a study in which it installed meters in TV sets in the almost 25,000 homes, the Washington Post reported.
Both companies will be using a double-blind study to make sure user data stays private, Digital Trends reported. The names of the TV shows will be given numbers by Nielsen, and Facebook will be given the numbers and won't know which numbers will match up with certain shows.
"We have worked with Nielsen under strong privacy principles," a Facebook representative said. "We don't believe that audience measurement systems should be used to adjust targeting; they should only be used for measurement. This protects the privacy of people viewing ads and ensures that both advertisers and publishers have the same information about the audiences."
Advertisers will be able to use the data collected to better target the age of gender of most mobile viewers during commercial breaks.
The data collecting process ensures that Facebook does not know what the content is, or the advertiser, broadcaster, or website it's running on, according to Nielsen. Nielsen does not know about the individuals who watch the ads or TV shows.
The team-up begins at the start of the fall TV season. Facebook and Nielsen have worked together before, with Facebook having given Nielsen demographic data about people who see Internet ads on Facebook and other websites, the Washington Post reported.
Nielsen has worked with other social media companies such as Twitter, with whom Nielsen created the "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating" last year to track tweets about TV shows.
