Nielson Buys R.R. Bowker's Business Intelligence and Commerce Solutions

Posted on August 22, 2013

Global information and measurement company Nielson announced today that it is purchasing R.R. Bowker's Business Intelligence and Commerce Solutions products. The acquisition will beef up Nielson's sales measurement and analysis abilities. Bowker's products will be integrated into Nielson's existing systems.

Nielson explained in a release that after the acquisition, it will be able to "measure the impact of eBook sales in the U.S. and UK and provide insights and trends around the volume and value of books sales by various demographic criteria." It will also begin offering a new service to retailers whereby they can source and order books from anywhere in the English-language market.

Jonathan Nowell, President,Books, Nielsen had this to say about the deal: "We are committed to elevating the global book industry's understanding of print and digital book measurement and discovery within an evolving media landscape." He went on to note that Nielson "is excited to welcome Bowker's team to Nielsen," and that they "will work together to provide our clients with the measurement, tools, insights and linked commerce solutions needed to exceed their current and future expectations."

With this latest acquisition, Nielson will now be able to track pretty much everything consumers do: it can track music sales, ebook sales and book sales. It also knows what TV programs people like to watch and what videogames they like to play.