Nielsen and Facebook form strategic alliance

Nielsen and Facebook have joined forces to convince marketers that ads on social networks are worth investing in.

The partners will work with a product called BrandLift, which has been designed to provide marketers with effectiveness measurement for Facebook advertising, according to Nielsen.

BrandLift, which uses opt-in polls on Facebook’s homepage to measure consumer attitudes, will be tested in the US this week and will be rolled out to all Facebook advertisers in the coming months.

John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online, said: “Facebook is an increasingly vital link between consumers and brands.  We will now be able to add deep knowledge of this important social network to our unmatched media measurement and consumer insight across all three screens.  Together we will be able to provide the missing elements to clients seeking better understanding of how Web content and online advertising affect consumer behavior.”

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, added: “Nielsen is the leader in measurement and is an excellent partner for us as we look to provide marketers with richer ad effectiveness data.  The combination of our unique ability to quickly and effectively poll a sample of our more than 300 million users and Nielsen’s expertise in data analysis will give marketers access to powerful data they can use to understand and improve current and future campaigns.”