What is the Global Video Measurement Alliance?

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When assessing the digital video landscape, the struggles for measurement are immediately clear. What counts as a view on one platform doesn't necessarily apply to another. How do you account for content across borders? How can brands and publishers measure this content and its viewership relative to those on television?

The Global Video Measurement Alliance (GVMA) aims to solve these problems with accurate and adequate measurement solutions -- deduplicating audiences and evaluating viewers on a truly global scale.

But what exactly is the GVMA? Tubular Labs CEO and founder Rob Gabel explains below.

The GVMA is an industry alliance designed to draw attention to the inherent issues of social and digital video. These mediums haven't been receiving due credit for their large audiences, making it harder to sell and harder for advertisers to invest in it, which is holding the industry back as a whole.

Tubular understands that while video ratings and measurement are good, audience ratings would be better. Customers like BuzzFeed, Vice, GroupNine and Viacom came to Tubular with a willingness to back an effort that defines unique viewers, minutes watched and time spent for social video. It ultimately became an alliance that allowed founding members to define the specifications they're looking for when evaluating media and the audiences that tune in.

GVMA members know that digital video is without borders, so solutions require global scale. They need to account for viewers across platforms, and remove the gray area of duplicate views, and clearly define what a "view" is for video. Audience measurement needs demographic information, to more closely align to how brands buy against TV.

For well over a year, the GVMA has been providing input on what those standards are, and Tubular has been working to meet those goals. The GVMA also welcomes new members to help evaluate and meet those standards as well, as social video continues to evolve.