EDO today formally announced a partnership with Similarweb on a new convergent TV measurement solution for tracking consumer behaviors—with data privacy front and center. Combining EDO’s linear and streaming TV metrics with Similarweb’s website traffic analytics, the new service is meant to provide brands with viewer behavioral insights—from seeing an ad to searching a brand to visiting its site or downloading and using an app—by the hour and geographic area.

And all that will be done without collecting personally identifiable information, said Kevin Krim, president and CEO of EDO.

The EDO-Similarweb partnership is meant to help address the effects of data crackdowns from the likes of Apple and Google, which have been complicating the measurement picture for marketers. Such privacy-focused changes have “absolutely wreaked havoc on Facebook’s revenue results and it’s wreaking havoc on a bunch of businesses out there,” Krim added. “People are suffering because of these changes.”

The EDO-Similarweb solution, which has been undergoing several months of beta testing, is initially focused on U.S. audiences, but the partners have plans to roll it out internationally. The consumer-behavior information is collected through algorithms observing micro-geographic and time-sensitive panels—similar to how Nielsen surveys its demographics manually, said Krim.

In essence, EDO and Similarweb are cross-referencing their datasets to produce insights about consumer behavior in response to linear/streaming viewership. EDO processes consumer internet activity data from Similarweb on an hourly basis and then correlates lift in certain digital behaviors with the half-billion linear and streaming ad impressions EDO observes daily across synced timeframes.

“Our clients—who are modern marketers at mid-sized companies to giant corporations, like Experian, TurboTax and Michael’s—have long asked for more granular insights” into the performance of their TV advertising, said Sam Bloom, CEO at Camelot Strategic Marketing and Media, one of the new measurement solution’s initial users, in a statement. “EDO and Similarweb’s new solution will help us achieve this goal.”

Or Offer, CEO and co-founder of Similarweb, described the partnership’s measurement product as “a unique, large-scale data-as-a-service integration. ... The ability of brands to drive conversions from OTT engagements will rely on visibility, data and insights that Similarweb and EDO provide together.”
 

The EDO-Similarweb solution is part of a rising trend of marketers looking to so-called “business outcomes”-focused measurement systems—which prioritize tracking demonstrable consumer actions in response to exposure to advertising vs. simply focusing on traditional reach metrics across targeted demographics.

“Especially in this environment of economic uncertainty,” Krim added, “a lot of people are questioning, ‘How much should I do as an upfront commitment? How much should I hold back and keep flexible?’ They need a great planning tool and we fundamentally think this is really going to solve big problems for people and in terms of how they do planning for the upfront.”