Is a Web GRP the Answer?

Is a Web GRP the Answer?: The Web ad world is like a rebellious teen pulled in two directions. It wants to be itself, but it wants to fit in. The thinking goes that for digital advertising to really take off it needs to make itself seem more like traditional media buying. But then it’s entire appeal — targeting, measurement, two-way communication — is how it’s different from traditional media. Nielsen has partnered with Facebook to roll out a Web version of the GRP. The bet is this will unlock brand budgets.GRPs are a mysterious beast. They make sense in the TV world, but when you get to the Web things get way more sticky. Nielsen thinks it can pull off GRP measurement, which could theoretically allow it to make the argument that  the Web should be treated by brands like a network TV buy, considering the time and attention it commands. But then is that all there is? The whole promise of the Web, at least on the ad front, is that it would be different. Mark Zuckerberg himself stood up at the reveal of its first stab at social advertising, which included the ill-fated Beacon program, and declared Facebook was going to change advertising. Guess not. There’s no doubt the Web has to make things easier for brands. But there’s also little doubt that brands need to do more to fit into the Web.