Is the relationship between content and advertising breaking or cementing? We unravel the implications of addressable targeting for audience measurement.

Before the advent of addressable media, both content and advertising could be measured at once – if you measured the content, then by definition you also measured the advertising.

But that relationship between content and advertising breaks down when different viewers see different ads in and around the same content. As streaming platforms and online delivery accelerate, the weaker the connection between content and advertising becomes. This is why there’s so much discussion about cross-media advertising in addition to, or on top of, cross-media content measurement.

Merging or diverging?

On the face of it, there are two fundamental questions. Firstly, will the measurement of advertising require a separate approach from that used for content? Secondly, are the metrics used to measure content still relevant to advertising, or are the measurement requirements and relevant metrics for content and advertising diverging? At our recent World Audiences Summit, we spoke to a cross-section of the industry, who had a lot to say on the issue.