Google Australia and New Zealand managing director Jason Pellegrino says advertisers are more concerned about content than the “platform-based debate” the media industry is preoccupied about and wants better cross-platform measurement to reflect changing consumer behaviours.
In an opinion piece for The Australian, Google’s new local boss says the industry should collaborate to develop better measurement for cross-platform audiences.
“As people embrace multiple screens and change the way they consume media, thinking about advertising also changes,” he says.
“Current industry measurement is struggling to keep up with the changing behaviours of audiences and they make it difficult to compare across platforms. We need to work together across platforms to achieve a method of better measuring audience across screens.”
There is growing concern about the viewability of online ads as well as digital giants using their own measurement methods that are at odds with traditional media.
Pellegrino acknowledges this, but contends “advertising has always been skippable” as viewers do other things during TV ad breaks, such as checking social media or making a cup of tea.
“The challenge then lies in capturing attention and arming marketers with the information they need to understand people’s rapidly changing viewing habits,” he says.
“For advertisers, it matters whether viewers watch your ad, how much of the ad they watch, and that it’s reaching the right audience.”
Pellegrino replaced former managing director Maile Carnegie this year, who took up a role at ANZ bank this year.
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