Tubular Labs Unveils New Metrics for Social Video

Digital video measurement company Tubular Labs on Tuesday introduced new metrics for social video that are based on time spent viewing and de-duplicated audience engagement.

The new metrics are designed to provide a more TV-like measurement of attention and unique reach for social video globally.

“Technology has made audiences global, mobile and social, but the current measurement products are country-specific, often missing mobile, and are seriously lacking in social coverage -- leading to confusion and locked economics for online video,” said Rob Gabel, founder and CEO at Tubular Labs. “Our vision is to drive the same transparency in global social video that the industry already has for radio, TV and websites, delivering key insights that change the way both media and brands transact on video.”

Media buyers are looking for apple to apple way to measure and compare video from platform to platform, whether traditional TV, digital video, over-the-top or social.

Tubular said that the lack of comparable metrics for social video has limited the amount of revenue publishers can earn, despite the trillions of views social video generates.

The new time-based video measurement approach was co-developed with a consortium of online publishers through the Global Video Measurement Alliance, and its members Viacom, Ellen Digital Network, Corus Entertainment, Vice, BuzzFeed, Group Nine and Media Chain; new to the group this fall are Discovery and Brut.

“Working with our GVMA members and early access customers, we are rapidly making progress to commercialize and release our new measures that will reveal a comprehensive picture of global audience reach and engagement for social video, bringing long-needed parity to the industry’s accepted linear standards” said Neil Patil, chief commercial officer at Tubular Labs. “This will include standardized time-based views across platforms, true global de-duplicated reach, total watch time, average watch time per unique viewer, audience demographics and location, and special reporting features.” 

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.