Tubular Labs Unveils New Metrics That Seek To Measure Social Video Like TV

Video analytics firm Tubular Labs is set to unveil a new suite of metrics during its presentation at the NewFronts West — a Los Angeles iteration of the longstanding New York digital marketing showcase, which kicks off tomorrow.

The tools seek to emulate the kind of measurement that exists for the TV industry and apply that to the social video space, according to the company. The suite of metrics, which does not have a name as of yet, will most notably cover two new stats: individual video watch-time measured across all platforms (as opposed to the longstanding industry standard of measuring individual views) and “de-duplicated” unique viewership. For this latter stat, Tubular developed tech that purports to remove the overlap when viewers watch the same content on different platforms.

This is the first time that Tubular has developed metrics looking at individual video watch time (as opposed to traditional viewcounts). Looking solely at views can be misleading, the company says, given that what counts as a view varies from platform to platform, and doesn’t paint the full picture of consumption.

In addition to the two aforementioned stats, the new metrics also track total watch time, average watch time per view, and various audience demographic points, Tubular says.

The new metrics were co-developed by Tubular and members of the Global Video Measurement Alliance (GVMA), an organization launched earlier this year with the goal of developing industry-wide standards for online video measurement. Members include Viacom, Ellen Digital Network, Corus Entertainment, VICE, BuzzFeed, Group Nine Media, Media Chain, Discovery, and Brut. The tools have not officially launched, but are currently being beta-tested by these publishers.

“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,” Tubular founder and CEO Rob Gabel said in a statement. “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.”

Companies interested in signing up for the beta program can receive updates and join the waitlist here. Tubular said that it is not currently discussing pricing, but will do so soon.