The only way to effectively measure listening is by switching to two way communication methods. This is why OTT media (both viewing and listening) is the future. The device the person uses can report back what the person is listening/viewing, for how long, the exact location, the device/vehicle being used, and so much more. The user is even able to interact with the content and advertisements. And best of all, advertisers can target a very specific group of people instead of just dumping money and hoping to catch their target audience.
The PPM is an extremely effective way to measure audience of any medium with audio. Combined with strong supervision, incentives and recruiting procedures, it is a very good system.
Still, it is extremely hard to get a representative sample for even the PPM which is just a passive "listen and record which station" system. In an interactive, if even a smaller number of people objected to having their location, actions and such recorded, you no longer have a random probability sample and the survey becomes a measure of "people who are willing to have their entire life measured, all day and every day".
Start with people who visit X-rated websites but don't want it known. That eliminates tens of millions of people, and invalidates the entire project. People will be afraid that their argument with their partner or they "making up session" will be recorded. Or the trip to the bank without another family member knowing. Or taking free pens from the supply room. Or drinking one too many at the sports bar and then driving.... and so on.
No way, for other reasons, I'd even consider it. I'd be worried that my insurance agent would find some excuse to raise my rates or something else menial but intrusive. I have learned to hate traffic cams, so I am not going to carry the equivalent with me 24/7.
At present, advertisers can target based on ZIP Code clusters and other geographic measurements, by age, household income, education, gender, ethnicity, language preference and a bunch of other measurements (called "stratification variables"). And the sample is very close to being a perfect representation of the consumer universe.
But, as to location, the PPM only measures "at home" and "away from home" based on the reception or not of the PPM device's base station signal. There is no tracking outside the home.
But, even now with a totally passive device, there are concerns that there are groups of people, such as undocumented immigrants and conspiracy theorists who will not accept it. And, of course, most people above a certain income level won't bother just to get some meager incentives... but these are not mass media advertiser targets to begin with.
And, most important, advertisers have not expressed any interest in this sort of data. They have everything they need now, and more. In fact, I've never seen this even written about in "Advertising Age", which is one of the few industry publications I still follow.
In other words, a very specific group of people can be targeted today. As the PPM becomes used for all media with audio, it is apparently going to be the standard for this kind of advertiser-targeted measurement. OTOH, anything that is invasive will have a high rejection level and will not be a representative sample.
