Facebook to form alliance with Nielsen

Facebook on Tuesday said it would form a partnership with Nielsen, the market research company, in an effort further to legitimize itself as a mainstream advertising platform. The partnership will enable Facebook to offer advertisers more information about how users are responding to ads on the largest social network in the world, with 300 million users. The companies' first joint product will be a tool called BrandLift, which will offer Facebook users the chance to respond to short polls to gauge consumer attitude and purchase intent in response to the display ads. With BrandLift, Facebook users will see surveys in the same spaces where they see advertisements. Facebook, which has faced a backlash from users over privacy concerns and the use of their content, has promised that the queries will be optional and that the frequency of surveys will be controlled.