Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Swaps Data with (and Maybe Pays) Nielsen, Which Compares Microsoft to Rivals

Nielsen and Microsoft



Summary: Conflict of interests found inside Nielsen, which is yet another company that promises to deliver objective assessments

Microsoft loves contracting the very same firms that compare Microsoft to other companies. We previously named Netcraft as an example [1, 2, 3] and also comScore as a more relevant example, which we wrote about in:





We mentioned comScore and Nielsen in the following post, which continues to speak about how Microsoft uses partners or even its former employees to assist with lies (selective, incomplete analyses) about competitors like Google. This seems like a standard procedure as we will show in just a moment. Net Applications, for example, has former Microsoft staff and Microsoft is also their paying customer [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], so their belittling of GNU/Linux is unsurprising. Conflict of interests? Of course. Money on the table? That's a fact.

“As long as money flows towards an examiner's pocket, the results are suspect and the methods for measuring some given unit are designed to bring about the desired conclusion.”There are other meters just like that, which can be biased and deceitful. As long as money flows towards an examiner's pocket, the results are suspect and the methods for measuring some given unit/s are designed to bring about the desired conclusion. That's their business model; those who pay will receive pleasing results. They can sell bias, just as others are selling fear. Let's not forget NPD [1, 2, 3], which is doing exactly that.

With a bit of background out of the way, we now present the news about Nielsen, which turns out to have signed a "partnership" with Microsoft. It seems like the type of deal that will involve Microsoft paying Nielsen, not the other way around.

On Thursday, the company announced a partnership with Nielsen that brings TV ratings to Xbox Live's "1 vs. 100" online trivia game show.

[...]

Microsoft and Nielsen also plan to collect data across the entire Xbox Live network. While this is not the first time Nielsen has measured videogame metrics, it is the first time it will measure content across a game console network--Xbox Live--and be able to get very "granular" information, says Gerardo Guzman, director of Nielsen Games.

[...]

This latest partnership with Nielsen gives a boost to Microsoft's aspirations to be more than just a platform for traditional videogames.


If Microsoft is hiring Nielsen, i.e. paying them, then Nielsen is not an impartial, independent party. Microsoft does not to bribe them but give them contracts instead. This is clearly part of Microsoft's tactics as it put them down in paper [PDF]. We have seen examples before and here is another new example where a Web site delivers a message without exactly saying that corporations are behind this message. It relates to a recent Microsoft-sponsored IDC study which was produced for lobbying purposes [1, 2]. Now, how about this one?

Among workers, two out of five had trouble staying motivated at work in the last year and a quarter do not feel loyal to their employer, according to the survey of employers and workers for CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site.

[...]

CareerBuilder is owned by Gannett Co. Inc, the Tribune Co., The McClatchy Co. and Microsoft Corp.


So these statistics can be warped to reflect and project Microsoft's agenda, without appearing as though they came from Microsoft. With Microsoft's long track record of push-polling, everything is possible to show, along with supportive data. The task of conducting studies with questionnaires is just externalised to other agencies.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Comparing U.E.F.I. to B.I.O.S. (Bloat and Insecurity to K.I.S.S.)
By Sami Tikkanen
New 'Slides' From Stallman Support (stallmansupport.org) Site
"In celebration of RMS's birthday, we've been playing a bit. We extracted some quotes from the various articles, comments, letters, writings, etc. and put them in the form of a slideshow in the home page."
Thailand: GNU/Linux Up to 6% of Desktops/Laptops, According to statCounter
Desktop Operating System Market Share Thailand
António Campinos is Still 'The Fucking President' (in His Own Words) After a Fake 'Election' in 2022 (He Bribed All the Voters to Keep His Seat)
António Campinos and the Administrative Council, whose delegates he clearly bribed with EPO budget in exchange for votes
Adrian von Bidder, homeworking & Debian unexplained deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Sainsbury’s Epic Downtime Seems to be Microsoft's Fault and Might Even Constitute a Data Breach (Legal Liability)
one of Britain's largest groceries (and beyond) chains
 
People Don't Just Kill Themselves (Same for Other Animals)
And recent reports about Boeing whistleblower John Barnett
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 18, 2024
IRC logs for Monday, March 18, 2024
Suicide Cluster Cover-up tactics & Debian exposed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/03/2024: A Society That Lost Focus and Abandoning Social Control Media
Links for the day
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE: Plagiarism & Child labour in YH4F
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Linux Foundation Boasting About Being Connected to Bill Gates
Examples of boasting about the association
Alexandre Oliva's Article on Monstering Cults
"I'm told an earlier draft version of this post got published elsewhere. Please consider this IMHO improved version instead."
[Meme] 'Russian' Elections in Munich (Bavaria, Germany)
fake elections
Sainsbury's to Techrights: Yes, Our Web Site Broke Down, But We Cannot Say Which Part or Why
Windows TCO?
Plagiarism: Axel Beckert (ETH Zurich) & Debian Developer list hacking
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 18/03/2024: Putin Cements Power
Links for the day
Flashback 2003: Debian has always had a toxic culture
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
[Meme] You Know You're Winning the Argument When...
EPO management starts cursing at everybody (which is what's happening)
Catspaw With Attitude
The posts "they" complain about merely point out the facts about this harassment and doxing
'Clown Computing' Businesses Are Waning and the Same Will Happen to 'G.A.I.' Businesses (the 'Hey Hi' Fame)
decrease in "HEY HI" (AI) hype
Free Software Needs Watchdogs, Too
Gentle lapdogs prevent self-regulation and transparency
Matthias Kirschner, FSFE analogous to identity fraud
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 18/03/2024: LLM Inference and Can We Survive Technology?
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 17, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, March 17, 2024
Links 17/03/2024: Microsoft Windows Shoves Ads Into Third-Party Software, More Countries Explore TikTok Ban
Links for the day
Molly Russell suicide & Debian Frans Pop, Lucy Wayland, social media deaths
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Our Plans for Spring
Later this year we turn 18 and a few months from now our IRC community turns 16
Open Invention Network (OIN) Fails to Explain If Linux is Safe From Microsoft's Software Patent Royalties (Charges)
Keith Bergelt has not replied to queries on this very important matter
RedHat.com, Brought to You by Microsoft Staff
This is totally normal, right?
USPTO Corruption: People Who Don't Use Microsoft Will Be Penalised ~$400 for Each Patent Filing
Not joking!
The Hobbyists of Mozilla, Where the CEO is a Bigger Liability Than All Liabilities Combined
the hobbyist in chief earns much more than colleagues, to say the least; the number quadrupled in a matter of years
Jim Zemlin Says Linux Foundation Should Combat Fraud Together With the Gates Foundation. Maybe They Should Start With Jim's Wife.
There's a class action lawsuit for securities fraud
Not About Linux at All!
nobody bothers with the site anymore; it's marketing, and now even Linux
Links 17/03/2024: Abuses Against Human Rights, Tesla Settlement (and Crash)
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 16, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, March 16, 2024
Under Taliban, GNU/Linux Share Nearly Doubled in Afghanistan, Windows Sank From About 90% to 68.5%
Suffice to say, we're not meaning to imply Taliban is "good"
Debian aggression: woman asked about her profession
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 17/03/2024: Winter Can't Hurt Us Anymore and Playstation Plus
Links for the day