Whether or not mobile users will be receptive to these surveys
is unclear. Consumers generally find mobile ads to be more
interruptive than television ads, according to a Forrester survey released in late
2012.
"Being interrupted while checking email and using apps is not
desirable," Peter Dille, CMO for mobile advertising and
monetization company Tapjoy, said in an earlier interview.
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), a non-profit trade
association that Nielsen is a member of, endorsed the product and
said that improved mobile ad metrics are
crucial, regardless of how annoying mobile surveys may be.
"If we don't have measurement tools, and if we don't evaluate
the performance of the experience we're providing, there's no way
we can continue to improve and evolve," MMA managing director
Michael Becker said. The survey results will determine what kinds
of mobile ads are too intrusive, he added.
Nielsen's distinct advantage in mobile ad metrics is its reach
in measuring other mediums. Mobile Brand Effect findings will be
tied to the company's browser metrics. It will not be tied to
Nielsen's signature TV ratings initially, but the company is
working to develop that functionality. Eventually, Nielsen hopes to
create a suite of metrics that inform how brands can most
effectively market across various devices.
Although Nielsen is widely considered the most renowned company
in traditional media research, measuring mobile app ads will be a
challenge for a company that made its name in TV. Nielsen Mobile
Brand Effect will be competing with digital analytics firm comScore
which has already conducted several hundred case studies on how
in-app ad campaigns affected brand lift.
There are also a handful of venture capital-backed startups
that, while young, have been developing mobile ad solutions for
years.
Nihal Mehta, CEO and co-founder of ad tech startup
LocalResponse, said that even though Nielsen might be behind
technology-wise, Nielsen Mobile Brand Effect helps legitimize the
mobile ad industry.
"Maybe [Nielsen is] late to the party, but it's still the gold
standard," he said.
