iWorld
Counting eyes, not just screens: Nielsen’s new pitch
MUMBAI: When it comes to audience measurement, India might finally be ready to stop playing hide and seek. At the 9th edition of Vidnet 2025, Hemant Kewalya, India lead for audience measurement at Nielsen, made a spirited case for a tech-driven, unified system that can track today’s endlessly distracted viewers without missing a beat.
Kewalya opened with a reminder of how far the media has travelled. From newspapers to radio, television to mobile, and now a frenzy of OTT, digital and connected TV, the country’s content diet has exploded. Audiences hop from platform to platform faster than a thumb scroll, and Kewalya noted that while media has evolved, measurement has not kept pace. Instead, it has splintered into siloed systems that fail to tell a complete story.
He pointed out that traditional surveys, TV panels and digital analytics each work in isolation. Mobile data, connected TV signals and digital metrics still refuse to sit together at the same table, resulting in what he called an incomplete view of reach. Brands, therefore, rely on fragmented data while trying to optimise campaigns worth millions.
Kewalya outlined Nielsen’s approach to unifying this scattered information. The company now combines basic demographics, reach, frequency and impressions across devices and publishers in a single view. Marketers can also track brand lift, sales impact and creative attention to understand not just how many people were exposed to a campaign but whether it worked.
Future plans include a larger panel base, more app level detail and stronger links between different devices. Kewalya noted that privacy, data access and industry cooperation remain challenges, but said a unified system is essential as consumers rapidly shift between screens.
He closed by saying that while India has plenty of data, the real task is connecting it so that the industry can make clearer decisions.
iWorld
Meta launches AI connectors for ads in open beta
Tools enable campaign creation, reporting and insights via AI platforms.
MUMBAI: If ads were once about gut feel, Meta now wants them run on autopilot with AI riding shotgun. The company has unveiled its Meta ads AI connectors in open beta, a move aimed at embedding campaign creation, management and analysis directly into the AI tools advertisers already use. The push reflects a broader shift in digital advertising: from platform-led workflows to AI-assisted, cross-tool execution.
At the heart of the rollout are Meta’s ads model context protocol (MCP) server and a command line interface (CLI), which together allow advertisers to securely link their ad accounts to AI agents. The promise is straightforward real campaign data, not generic prompts, powering decisions across workflows.
The connectors are designed to streamline multiple layers of campaign management. Advertisers can generate detailed performance reports, create and edit campaigns using natural language, manage product catalogues, and diagnose signal quality, all without leaving their preferred AI environment.
Meta is also leaning into ease of adoption. For MCP, the company says setup requires no coding, developer credentials or API integrations, positioning the tools as accessible for businesses of varying sizes and technical maturity.
The launch complements Meta’s existing AI business assistant within Ads Manager, which focuses on recommendations and troubleshooting inside the platform. The connectors, by contrast, extend that intelligence outward into third-party AI tools that marketers increasingly rely on for cross-channel planning and automation.
The underlying strategy is clear: instead of forcing advertisers deeper into its ecosystem, Meta is meeting them where they already work while still keeping its data and ad infrastructure at the core of decision-making.
As AI continues to reshape how campaigns are conceived and executed, Meta’s latest move signals a future where managing ads may feel less like operating software and more like having a conversation.
