Nielsen Tracks Product Placement

Even the Coke bottles on American Idol have their own Nielsen ratings now. TV ratings firm Nielsen Media Research has begun tracking product placements during prime-time shows on the major broadcast networks.
Nielsen has been recording product placement data since September. Working out of a Nielsen center in Shelton, Conn., more than 100 staffers have been watching tapes of television shows and recording instances of product placement. The Nielsen employees record the name of the product and time the interval of time in which the item appears. Nielsen intends to sell the data to advertisers and networks in February; the data will include an estimate of the number of television viewers who were watching when the toilet bowl cleaner or soda bottle appeared.
Nielsen plans to expand the service in the future, possibly including shows on cable networks and recording the amount paid for each placement.