Nielsen Closing In on Commercial Ratings Tracking System

The Nielsen Co. is one step closer to being able to offer advertisers brand-specific TV ratings for commercials.

The company said Thursday that it is adopting a system of digitally coding commercials administered by the Association of National Advertisers and the Four A's (formerly the American Association of Advertising Agencies), according to the New York Times.

Ad-ID, as the system is known, will provide the ability to track individual commercials throughout their entire run. Nielsen's aim is to provide advertisers with ratings data for individual spots, so they know exactly how many viewers are watching and what their money is buying.

"Nielsen has endorsed Ad-ID, to use with its watermarking technology," ANA chief Robert Liodice said during the opening session of the the TV and Everything Video Forum. "This is a critically important step."