Nielsen working with Media Rating Council on review after erroneous data report

Research, ratings and data provider The Nielsen Company said November 5 that it is working with the nonprofit Media Rating Council to review its processes after it erroneously reported a 22% year-over-year decline in consumers' time spent on some websites.

The Media Rating Council is a nonprofit that ensures audience measurement standards are reliable.

The company sent a letter to customers November 4 saying it is “actively investigating an erroneous decline in Internet use data.” Matt Anchin, SVP of global communications at Nielsen, confirmed the letter and that long URLs caused a problem with Nielsen's system that resulted in the incorrect data.

“Updates will be made on a bi-weekly basis, and we are working with the Media Ratings Council to review the company's processes,” said Anchin.

He confirmed that the problem should be resolved in Nielsen's December 2010 data, which Nielsen will provide to customers in January 2011.