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Nielsen launches CTV tracking within Ad Intel platform starting August in Germany

Nielsen extends advertising intelligence capabilities to connected TV platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube.

Luis Rijo

• 6 min read
Connected TV advertising analytics dashboard showing streaming platforms with German flag data visualization and Nielsen intelligence metrics.
Connected TV advertising analytics dashboard showing streaming platforms with German flag data visualization and Nielsen intelligence metrics.

Nielsen announced on June 23, 2025, the integration of Connected TV coverage into its Ad Intel advertising intelligence platform. The enhancement launches first in Germany during August 2025, before expanding to additional EMEA markets. According to Nielsen, the addition strengthens its position in cross-platform competitive intelligence while providing deeper insights into CTV advertising landscapes.

The new functionality enables tracking of ad spending across major streaming platforms alongside existing linear TV, digital, and other media coverage within Ad Intel. Nielsen's comprehensive advertising intelligence source allows marketers and advertisers to understand complete cross-platform competitor media strategies. This visibility shows where competitors invest and how ad spending shifts between linear TV, CTV, and digital channels.

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Summary

Who: Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, data, and analytics, announced the enhancement with Inam Mahmood, General Manager EMEA, providing key statements about the strategic importance.

What: Nielsen added Connected TV coverage to its Ad Intel advertising intelligence platform, enabling cross-platform competitive intelligence tracking across streaming platforms, linear TV, and digital channels.

When: The announcement was made on June 23, 2025, with the enhanced platform launching in Germany beginning August 2025, followed by rollout to additional EMEA markets.

Where: The initial enhancement launches in Germany, covering major platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, RTL+, DAZN, Sky, Joyn, WOW, Waipu.tv, and Pluto TV, before expanding across EMEA markets.

Why: The enhancement addresses the challenge marketers face in understanding where to spend advertising dollars effectively across proliferating channels, with Nielsen's research showing 56% of marketers globally plan to increase CTV spending in 2025, making cross-platform competitive intelligence critical for campaign optimization and ROI improvement.

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German market coverage will encompass major platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, RTL+, DAZN, Sky, Joyn, WOW, Waipu.tv, and Pluto TV. The platform tracking represents Nielsen's ongoing strategic investments to improve and enhance digital coverage within Ad Intel.

Technical capabilities address measurement gaps

The CTV enhancement delivers multiple analytical capabilities for advertising professionals. Industry investment tracking identifies which platforms and creative approaches drive the most CTV investment, revealing gaps and opportunities in advertising strategies. Creative and placement insights help understand competitor messaging and creative positioning across different CTV platforms.

Device-level precision provides detailed breakdowns of ad performance across delivery methods including in-app, browser, and smart TV environments. This granular data enables refined targeting and ROI maximization. Media planning benefits from competitive and creative insights to adjust spending, strengthen creative messaging, and increase campaign effectiveness.

The platform addition reflects broader industry trends toward Connected TV advertising growth. Recent data shows CTV's share of media budgets projected to double from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025. Traditional platforms face mounting pressure as 46% of marketers indicate plans to reallocate funds from linear TV to CTV.

Market context drives platform enhancement

According to Inam Mahmood, General Manager, EMEA, Nielsen, current media landscape dynamics create challenges for marketers. "In today's dynamic media landscape, content consumption is constantly evolving across multiple platforms. Marketers face the challenge of deciphering where to spend their ad dollars effectively amongst this channel proliferation, to ensure stand out campaigns from competitors whilst also reducing marketing waste."

Nielsen's Annual Marketing Report revealed that 56% of marketers globally plan to increase their CTV spending in 2025, demonstrating the channel's growing importance. The statistic underscores why advertising intelligence platforms must incorporate streaming measurement capabilities.

The German streaming landscape has experienced significant transformation. Recent Nielsen research shows 77% of Germans now use video streaming services weekly, representing a 7 percentage point year-over-year increase and 13 percentage points over three years. Daily viewership of public broadcasters ARD and ZDF dropped to 39%, with weekly viewership at 73%, indicating substantial erosion of linear television's dominance.

Cross-platform intelligence becomes critical

The Ad Intel enhancement addresses advertising industry fragmentation across multiple platforms and devices. Traditional measurement approaches struggled to provide unified views of competitor activities across linear TV, streaming platforms, and digital channels. Nielsen's solution attempts to bridge these measurement gaps through comprehensive cross-platform tracking.

Mahmood emphasized the significance: "Therefore, by adding CTV coverage into our Ad Intel product, we are further enhancing the most comprehensive advertising intelligence in the market. This empowers advertisers, agencies, publishers, and broadcasters with actionable insights to maximise campaign impact and outsmart the competition."

The development represents part of Nielsen's broader measurement evolution. Earlier partnerships include integration with Innovid for cross-media ad measurement and expansion of YouTube measurement capabilities across multiple markets.

Technical implementation addresses industry needs

Nielsen's approach combines person-level data from panels with what the company describes as "the industry's largest big data footprint." This methodology provides coverage across digital, linear, streaming, and connected TV environments. The technical foundation enables comprehensive measurement while maintaining data privacy standards required in European markets.

The German market represents a strategic starting point for EMEA expansion. Germany's digital advertising market accounts for €17.9 billion in annual spending, making it Europe's second-largest market after the United Kingdom. The country's mature streaming ecosystem and regulatory environment provide ideal conditions for testing and refining CTV measurement capabilities.

Industry-wide measurement standardization efforts support Nielsen's expansion. The IAB Tech Lab's 2025 roadmap includes standardizing Connected TV advertising formats, establishing specifications for emerging ad formats including picture-in-picture ads, pause screen ads, and shoppable advertisements.

Industry implications extend beyond measurement

The CTV intelligence addition reflects broader shifts in advertising technology and media consumption patterns. European digital advertising reached €118.9 billion in 2024, with video advertising achieving 24.5% growth and social video surging 32.8%. Video now exceeds 50% of display advertising spend in nine European markets.

Privacy regulations continue reshaping measurement capabilities. Recent developments include German data protection authorities issuing comprehensive AI development guidelines and enhanced privacy frameworks affecting advertising technology implementation.

The competitive intelligence market has expanded as advertising complexity increases. Traditional measurement approaches proved inadequate for multi-platform campaigns spanning linear TV, streaming services, social media, and digital channels. Nielsen's enhanced Ad Intel addresses these challenges through unified cross-platform tracking and analysis.

Mahmood concluded: "This is a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to deliver cross-platform competitive intelligence, which enables our clients to make smarter decisions, optimise their media strategies, benchmark against competitors, and improve their ROI. Launching this in Germany is just the start for us across the EMEA region and more will follow in the coming weeks and months."

Strategic positioning in evolving market

Nielsen's CTV enhancement positions the company within rapidly evolving advertising measurement landscape. Microsoft Advertising's expansion of CTV reach and partnerships between platforms like Equativ and Titan OS demonstrate industry-wide movement toward comprehensive streaming advertising solutions.

The technical integration requires coordination across multiple data sources and platforms. Nielsen must aggregate viewing data, ad serving information, and audience measurement across diverse streaming environments while maintaining accuracy and privacy compliance. The complexity explains the phased rollout approach starting with Germany before expanding to additional EMEA markets.

Industry partnerships continue evolving to address measurement challenges. ReachTV's integration with Nielsen ONE Ads for airport advertising and AudienceProject's expansion of YouTube measurement across European markets demonstrate the broader trend toward specialized measurement solutions.

The August 2025 Germany launch represents the beginning of Nielsen's EMEA expansion for CTV intelligence. Subsequent market rollouts will depend on technical implementation success, data availability, and regulatory compliance across different European jurisdictions. The platform's performance in Germany will influence Nielsen's broader strategic approach to CTV measurement expansion.

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