Facebook Unveils New Ad-Planning Tool, Expanded Third-Party Measurement Partnerships

Facebook announced today several additions to its ad measurement arsenal, which it says will help marketers with more actionable data and greater transparency in terms of processing outcomes.

In a blog post, Facebook announced the launch of a marketing mix modeling (MMM) portal, which is intended for cross-channel ad planning. “Advertisers will now be able to compare which ads — TV, digital, and print — are driving their desired outcomes,” according to Facebook.

The company also announced expanded partnerships with third-party measurement partners, including a broadening of its relationship with Nielsen across eight additional markets — bringing the grand total of markets covered to 25 — as well as a broadening of its partnership with comScore. comScore will no longer just measure ad viewability on Facebook but also in-target reach, the company said — a metric that is “critical for evaluating a campaign’s success.”

Facebook also announced the addition of a new viewability verification partner, DoubleVerify, for both video and display ads, which it says will be integrated in the coming year. “We now have 24 global third-party measurement partners available to advertisers,” the company said, which enable marketers “to verify or measure outcomes for every impression they buy on Facebook.”

In September, it was reported that Facebook misled advertisers and publishers by overestimating average video viewing times for two years. Facebook later admitted to several other measurement errors, according to Business Insider, which noted that the company founded a Measurement Council to get feedback about potential points of improvement with respect to ad measurement in November.