New York - Ratings provider The Nielsen Company announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with digital watermarking developer Digimarc (NASD: DMRC), to launch a new service that will track online video distributed by media companies, social networks, peer-to-peer services and user-generated content sites.

Nielsen said it already uses digital watermarking to encode 95% of national TV programming for its ratings service, and that the new service will initially focus on the online distribution of TV content in the U.S.

The companies said their Nielsen Digital Media Manager, set to launch by mid-2008, will aid in preventing unauthorized distribution of video content online, as well as help content owners track and monetize their intellectual property.

"We believe these services will stimulate the growth of online video distribution, to the benefit of consumers, content providers and distributors," said Nielsen chairman and CEO David Calhoun.

"Until now, the lack of an independent, industry-accepted identification and tracking service has limited the transactions that allow the delivery of media content over the Internet."

Nielsen and Digimarc also plan eventually to jointly offer digital watermarking services for DVDs, movies, music, video games and other content.

Related Links:
http://www.nielsen.com/media/2007/pr_071205.html

http://snipurl.com/1ut79 (AdWeek)

http://www.nielsen.com

http://www.digimarc.com