The Nielsen Company this month launched DemoWatch, a new feature of its web-based commercial tracking service KeepingTrac that will allow advertisers to monitor demographic composition of their advertising audiences.

How it works: DemoWatch links the demographic information obtained from Nielsen's overnight television ratings with KeepTrac's commercial monitoring ability to help advertisers and agencies ensure their television commercials are reaching their desired audiences. DemoWatch is also designed to help Nielsen clients adhere to advertising guidelines for children, which would affect primarily advertisers of food, alcohol, prescription drugs and R-rated movies. This way, if they violate the guidelines, they know quickly and can correct the situation.

The commercial tracking system captures commercials that have been encoded with a digital watermark, enabling real-time performance evaluation, which is also valuable for advertisers affected by the childrens' guidelines. DemoWatch actually automates this process.

Advertisers and their agencies already rely on Nielsen for a variety of services that help them accomplish their everyday tasks. Add DemoWatch, and KeepingTrac for that matter, to that list of valuable services. In a world where metrics and accountability are crucial to the success of organizations, these new complementary offerings have launched at the right time--it was very smart for Nielsen to combine the strengths of DemoWatch and KeepingTrac. Nielsen's clients will be able to more easily gauge the potential success of their campaigns while also ensuring they don't break any rules in the process. The immediate accessibility of this information is vital for advertisers and Nielsen has created a service that addresses the time-sensitive needs of its clients. Both DemoWatch and KeepingTrac will likely interest many Nielsen clients and could possibly attract new customers seeking such a solution.