Key Points
- TransUnion and Google are bringing YouTube measurement into TransUnion’s multi-touch attribution platform.
- TransUnion says it is the only multi-touch attribution provider currently available to marketers on YouTube.
- Marketers can compare YouTube performance against other channels within a unified attribution framework; U.S. Bank participated in an early pilot involving more than 15 customers across several industries.
TransUnion and Google have reached an agreement that will allow advertisers to measure YouTube campaigns within TransUnion’s multi-touch attribution platform, the companies announced on Wednesday.
The deal aims to give marketers a better way to evaluate the performance of advertising run against YouTube content alongside other media channels where their campaigns are active.
The integration is the first of its kind and will allow advertisers to connect YouTube ad exposure to measurable business outcomes through TransUnion’s Multi-Touch Attribution, or MTA, product, Google and TransUnion said in a press release. The capability is intended to help brands determine how YouTube contributes to conversions and other business results when compared with the rest of their advertising mix.
TransUnion said the new capability comes as video accounts for a larger share of marketing budgets, while measurement remains fragmented across different platforms and channels. By bringing YouTube into a unified attribution framework, the companies said advertisers will be able to see how the platform performs across the full customer journey, rather than relying on narrower reporting metrics.
“Marketers are increasingly focused on understanding how every channel contributes to business outcomes,” Brian Silver, the Executive Vice President of Marketing Solutions at TransUnion, said in a statement on Wednesday. “By enabling YouTube measurement within our Multi-Touch Attribution solution, we’re helping marketers move beyond clicks reporting and gain a clearer, cross-channel view of performance.”
The integration will allow marketers to measure the incremental impact of YouTube across the path to conversion, compare performance across more complex customer interactions, identify previously hidden drivers of marketing results and use return-on-ad-spend insights to guide future media investment.
TransUnion said it is the only multi-touch attribution provider currently available to marketers on YouTube. The company said the integration combines YouTube’s reach with TransUnion’s identity-driven measurement technology, which is designed to connect advertising exposure with downstream consumer behavior.
The capability uses TransUnion’s identity graph to resolve fragmented media signals across devices, households and channels. That, in turn, is intended to help advertisers understand how exposure to video campaigns contributes to business engagement and other outcomes in a privacy-conscious way.
The companies said they recently tested the integration through a pilot program involving more than 15 customers across several sectors, including automotive, retail, financial services, insurance, media and entertainment. Early participants used the program to evaluate YouTube alongside other advertising channels within TransUnion’s attribution platform.
U.S. Bank was among the companies that participated in the pilot.
“Data-driven marketers start their channel selection with measurement in mind,” said U.S. Bank Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing for Payments, Consumer and Small Business Melissa Stewart. “Having a cross-channel view of performance that includes YouTube helps us better understand how video contributes alongside the rest of our media investments. That visibility is critical for evaluating where to invest and how to optimize our media strategy.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The arrangement comes as Google prioritizes ways to generate more revenue from YouTube, which already accounts for around 10 percent of the company’s quarterly income. During its most-recent financial quarter, YouTube brought in $9.9 billion in revenue to Google and parent company Alphabet, nearly all of which came from advertising. (YouTube also generates revenue from subscriptions and commissions, which are a smaller part of its business.)
