iSpot expands cross-platform TV ad measurement capabilities with DRMetrix acquisition

iSpot.tv, a platform that measures the business and brand impact of cross-platform TV advertising in real time, is buying DRMetrix, a real-time TV ad measurement company specializing in products for direct-to-consumer and direct-response TV advertisers. 

The deal expands iSpot’s measurement of emerging formats for addressable advertising and enhances its ability to track rotating calls-to-actions, including website URLs, SMS and toll-free numbers. The company said that this capability – coupled with iSpot’s ability to track distinct creatives at scale and correlate ad exposures to conversion events such as digital actions and in-store traffic – gives brands of all sizes the expanded ability to measure the business impact of complex and dynamic ad buys across platforms. 

DRMetrix’ AdSphere developed a measurement system for monitoring all TV ad formats and executions, including those delivered via digital program insertion (DPI) ad breaks. The DPI measurement capabilities allow precise identification of ad creatives that are sold by the cable networks as “cover-ups,” which MVPDs (Multichannel Video Programming Distributors) inconsistently overlay with their own inventories, iSpot said.  

It added that this inventory, which includes addressable and local advertising, creates a continuous blind spot for networks, agencies and brands. While the cover-ups are a preferred means for DTC and DR advertisers to invest in and test television, as they often come at a heavy discount, both the buy and sell side struggle to accurately quantify the performance and value of this inventory because, until the combination of DRMetrix and iSpot, they could not be measured precisely at scale. 

“We developed a unique system for accurately measuring one of the most dynamic and difficult portions of TV advertising, and we amassed a client base that represents a growing and important part of the TV ecosystem,” said Joseph Gray, Founder and CEO of DRMetrix. “In iSpot, we’ve found a home for our innovations to thrive and a vehicle to accelerate our shared goals of making all TV ad measurement more transparent, more actionable and easier.”

DRMetrix serves 120 brands, networks and agencies, growing iSpot’s customer footprint to more than 450 annual brand subscriptions, representing 75 per cent of the Fortune 100 and 95 per cent of TV networks in North America. This is iSpot’s second acquisition of a real-time ad measurement company. It acquired Ace Metrix in January to combine business and brand impact using Ace’s comprehensive qualitative approach to measurement and scoring of creative performance.