Nielsen Outdoor Launches GPS Ratings Service in Los Angeles

Nielsen Outdoor Launches GPS Ratings Service in Los Angeles

April 21, 2006

Advanced, Patented Service to Support Growth of Outdoor Advertising Industry

    NEW YORK, April 21 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Taking
another significant step to increase the value of outdoor
advertising, Nielsen Outdoor today announced that it is
expanding its GPS-based ratings service to Los Angeles to
establish an independent, accurate ratings currency for the
outdoor advertising marketplace.  This expansion is part of
an immediate roll-out of the technology-based measurement
service in the top ten media markets in the U.S.
 
    The expansion of the service to Los Angeles comes on
the heels of its introduction last year in Chicago, where
it received widespread support among advertising agencies
and media owners. The service was also adopted as the
currency of the outdoor industry in South Africa.  

    Nielsen Outdoor will begin recruiting a representative
sample for the Los Angeles service in May and expects to
deliver data to clients in the fall. It will begin
marketing the service in Los Angeles immediately.

    Through the patent of its technology partner RDPA LLC,
Nielsen Outdoor has proprietary rights to the technology
used in GPS-based outdoor ratings.  This unique technology
enables Nielsen to track the travel patterns of consumers
in relation to known outdoor advertising sites, even in
difficult urban canyon areas.  

    In announcing the decision, Lorraine Hadfield, Managing
Director, Nielsen Outdoor said: "With the outdoor
industry adopting new, high-tech signage, it is essential
that they also adopt the most advanced measurement
capability.  Our decision to expand our GPS-based ratings
service into Los Angeles is part of a continuing commitment
to support one of the fastest growing and most dynamic
advertising vehicles.  We are confident that advertisers,
their agencies and media owners will appreciate the power
of outdoor as an effective and persuasive marketing
medium."

    Using proprietary devices that are entirely portable,
passive and personal, Nielsen Outdoor tracks the passage of
people as they ordinarily walk, drive or travel in other
ways through the marketplace.  Combining these findings
with the known locations of outdoor signage, the company
can precisely calculate how many persons see the outdoor
ads and identify them demographically.  Accordingly,
Nielsen Outdoor provides advertisers with the total number
of people exposed to outdoor advertising and the frequency
of their exposure. 

    In addition to standard demographics, information about
respondents' use of other media, products and services is
also collected, allowing greater insight into how different
types of consumers are exposed to outdoor advertising and
delivering further understanding of the value of this
unique medium.

    About Nielsen Outdoor

    Nielsen Outdoor, a unit of VNU, is dedicated to
developing and launching a global audience measurement
service for outdoor advertising. VNU is a global
information and media company with leading market positions
and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen),
media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research)
and business information (Billboard, The Hollywood
Reporter, Computing, Intermediair). VNU is active in more
than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the
Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs nearly
41,000 people. Total revenues were EUR 3.5 billion in 2005.
VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (ASE: VNU) stock
exchange.

    For more information, please contact:

     Jack Loftus for Nielsen Outdoor
     Tel:  [phone]
     Web:  http://www.nielsenmedia.com 

SOURCE  Nielsen Outdoor