Are true crime podcasts as popular with Millenials as they are with Baby Boomers? Does the under-35 crowd listen to wellness podcasts? Nielsen, the company behind the TV ratings system, will begin to survey Americans about their podcast consumption habits in order to sell the data to podcast creators and ad networks.
The company's venture into the world of podcasting isn't as odd as you'd think. Nielsen Scarborough, the division of the company that is carrying out the operation, polls 200,000 people every year on everything from their craft beer drinking habits to how often they watch Mexican soccer. The surveys are conducted over the phone, online and in-person. For the podcast survey, they'll survey a sample of 30,000 people twice a year on everything from genre preferences to consumer buying habits. The end goal is better targeted advertising; companies will learn which podcasts their potential customers are more likely to consume. Nielsen has already secured its first clients, all companies that sell ads for podcasts. These include iHeartMedia, Cadence13, Midroll, Westwood One and cabana.
https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/11/nielsen-wants-to-track-podcast-data-by-calling-people/
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 12 2019, @08:06PM
People stupid enough to answer the phone from an unknown number.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 12 2019, @10:26PM (2 children)
I was with them 10 years then quit and sent all their crap back. In the 5 days between notifying them and when they got their equipment back I received emails and a letter in the mail threatening me with lawsuits if they didn't get their equipment and if I didn't uninstall their software from my PC. Phuckem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 13 2019, @01:39AM (1 child)
What equipment?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 14 2019, @02:22PM
they used to send out a device that tracked how you used a remote control, how long you were on a channel, did you sit through ad breaks, etc.
users were supposed to abide by the this device and also keep a journal that detailed out their viewing habits--for every person and every television in the house.
they also caught cable pirates this way, who were so stupid as to accept the $1 or whatever nielsen bribed people and the sensation of being selected and special enough to be a part of the polling.
anyway they'd get in great detail all these things a person without cable could not possible do, with the expected consequences, if somewhat delayed--they'd wait until the polling data cycle was over, thank the pirate for their business, then sell them out.
sort of like our preferences and advertising, we always are what gets sold, never what comes out on top!
(Score: 1) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Saturday July 13 2019, @01:07PM
Is what allows them to effectively claim to be in control and have an industry.
They demonstrate here pretty extreme need for this data.
Without it, they are not in control and cannot claim to have an industry.
Further thought along these lines will be rewarded with freedom.
People who chose to be tracked because it gives them a sense of importance are a specific set of people, and if you are looking for why american culture tends to cater to unintelligent people, look no further.
This is not a bug, it is a feature. The masses of people who do not know to be suspicious of the 711 pay app must be kept away from criticalengineering.org, plus all the literal programming. There is no point trying to monitor non-herd people, they can't be herded. Herd people must be identified and tracked in the wild because they give us so much data that is useful for the entire herd.
The nielsen box and similar things play a huge role in what Pink Floyd referred to as The Wall.