YouTube is one of the largest video-streaming platforms, which has been approaching new features for users. Besides upgrading the platform, YouTube made the announcement of its upcoming plans, which are now postponed. Starting transactions against its own co-viewing measurement was one of them. Let’s understand why the YouTube co-viewing measurement plan was pushed back!
Why YouTube Postponed Co-Viewing Measurement Plan?
YouTube has announced it will start transacting against its co-viewing measurement in the first quarter of 2024. But the latest news says the plan has been pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2024. The reason behind the pushback is buy-side backlash. Programmers are inflating ratings by combining their viewership data and measurement provider, upsetting the advertisers. Hence, the buy-side backlashes!
For people who don’t know the co-viewing measurement, it calculates the number of people watching ads on a connected TV (CTV) device together to estimate the ad performance. The measurement is based on a panel of select audience members projected through the co-viewing factor. The number of impressions you have received on the advertisement is the number of people most likely to watch the ads.
YouTube has introduced the co-viewing measurement plan to advertisers to give a comprehensive idea of their audience. Additionally, this factor helps increase the impressions on ad campaigns.
The platform encourages advertisers to estimate and compare the performance with or without co-viewing. Hence, it planned to push back the transacting plan. “In line with how we measure and bill today, advertisers can choose between YouTube or a third party, like Nielsen,” said Kate Alessi, managing director of global product solutions at YouTube and Google, in an emailed statement.
Is YouTube Using Its Own Co-viewing Data For CTV Advertising, Sparking Transparency Concerns?
Yes. Due to transparency concerns, YouTube has announced it is turning away from third-party measurement tools for YouTube co-viewing measurement plans on CTV.
Conclusion
Watch time on TV matches with mobile devices now. YouTube has improved its performance by raising potential audiences by including extra features and making the application user-friendly. One thing that helps advertisers evaluate the ad campaign performance on TV is the co-viewing factor. The YouTube co-viewing measurement plan was to start at the beginning of January 2024, but now it will begin in the fourth quarter of the following year due to buy-side criticism.
