Nielsen NetRatings Unveils Online Advertising Reach & Frequency Planning Tool.

NetRatings, Inc. and Interactive Market Systems (IMS) announced the launch of WebRF, the online industry’s only reach and
frequency suite of media planning tools for Internet audience measurement in the U.S.

WebRF will enable media planners and buyers to assess the potential success of their Internet advertising campaigns prior to launch, a capability that was previously only available to traditional media. The tool brings Internet media planning and research to the same level of sophistication as print, radio and television advertising by enabling media planners and buyers to evaluate the Internet on the same level as traditional media.

Nielsen//NetRatings’ research and data powers WebRF, providing existing Nielsen//NetRatings clients with a comprehensive, syndicated tool for online media planning. In addition, NetRatings and IMS will work together to launch, WebRF Plus, which will allow companies to combine Nielsen//NetRatings’ data with ad server or internal site log information and access respondent level data with sample size limitations.

NetRatings and IMS will also jointly develop multi-media planning tools to assist marketers in planning and evaluating the effectiveness of their online multi-media advertising campaigns.

“IMS’ extensive industry expertise coupled with Nielsen//NetRatings’ leading Internet audience information is a tremendous value-add for our customers,” said William Pulver, president and chief executive officer, NetRatings. “We are pleased to meet the market need for a complete advertising solution for online reach and frequency planning. WebRF and WebRF Plus, combined with the advertising profiling capabilities of our @plan product, comprise the most comprehensive online advertising solution from pre-buy media planning to post-run analysis.”

“This partnership will provide businesses with greater visibility of the reach and effectiveness of their online media buys before they spend a dime, offering the most efficient and cost effective way of ad planning and buying,” said George Wishart, chief executive officer, IMS. “We are delighted to be collaborating with Nielsen//NetRatings, the industry standard for Internet audience measurement.”

The syndicated WebRF service from Nielsen//NetRatings and IMS will be available end of Q2 2002. WebRF Plus will be available Q3 2002.

For additional information at http://www.nielsen-netratings.com