BARC India has introduced an algorithm into its data validation method to remove the impact of the landing page on forced viewership data across channels. This action has been taken considering the demands from some industry stakeholders to segregate landing page data from the actual TV viewership as it presents a distorted picture of the popularity of TV channels.
In a statement, The Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) stated that BARC has launched a “Data Validation Quality Initiative” aimed at improving measurement science and mitigating the impact on viewership of extraneous factors.
The ISA stated that this method directly uses inferential statistics to deliver better results across all genres. This has been verified and authenticated by BARC’s technical committee.
ISA Chairman Sunil Kataria added, “BARC algorithm detects landing pages with a very high success rate and once detected, the algorithm seeks to remove any forced viewership and voluntary viewership gets counted as real viewership for that channel. This is a fair method and that the advertisers are aligned on the solution executed by BARC on the issue of landing page viewership.”
The landing page matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
