Advertisers express disappointment after the firms measuring YouTube like TV are ordered to cease and desist

Last July, a U.K.-based measurement nonprofit called Barb announced a new form of ratings designed for YouTube content. Rather than counting raw metrics like views and subscriptions, which are hard to compare against TV traffic, Barb teamed up with market research company Kantar Media to measure YouTube the way Nielsen measures TV.

That system, informed by audience panels that track YouTube activity within individual households, quickly delivered some telling results. Barb was able to characterize YouTube’s impact on children’s entertainment by comparing the traffic of shows like Peppa Pig across multiple media.

The latest twist in the tale, however, has complicated that success story. Google has issued a cease-and-desist order against Barb and Kantar Media, forcing them to suspend their innovative ratings system.

According to The Financial Times, which cited “those close to the dispute,” Google brass expressed doubt about the accuracy of the ratings. That, however, was not the stated reason why the cease-and-desist letter was sent. Google claimed that the ratings breached YouTube’s terms of service by mishandling creator content. Specifically, Kantar Media used “audio-matching automatic content recognition” to determine which YouTube channels panel members were watching on their TV screens. That, according to Google, constituted a misuse of the YouTube API.

Google’s decision, while technically sound, is a bit confounding. YouTube is trying to position itself as a realistic alternative to traditional TV networks, but inexact measurement systems form a major roadblock that makes that comparison difficult. One would think, therefore, that YouTube and its parent company would be all for new measurement solutions, even if they play a bit fast and loose with the rules of API usage.

I’m not the only one with qualms about Google’s legal decision. “Barb plays a significant role in the UK’s measurement ecosystem, enhanced by its collaboration with YouTube,” said Simon Michaelides, the director general of U.K. advertiser representative ISBA, in a statement. “It is therefore disappointing that this service has been halted.”

Can advertiser pressure cause Google to rethink its decision? Nonprofits like Barb can be important partners as YouTube consolidates its dominance on TV screens, but it’s important to follow the rules, too. Or, as a YouTube spokesperson put it: “All third parties must respect the necessary terms of service and policies when using our application programming interfaces.”