Instead of looking at groups that were and weren’t exposed to a campaign, the firm’s new Smart Control methodology varies the frequency of exposure among different viewers, tracks responses and uses this to estimate the responses of those who weren’t exposed at all.

The firm said the new methodology allows campaigns “to achieve statistical significance with substantially smaller sample sizes than traditional test-and-control designs”.

“It can provide more accurate and granular measurement for a wider range of ad campaigns, with less operational complexity based on the way that digital advertising is being bought and sold today,” said Harvir Bansal, SVP of research at ComScore and inventor of the Smart Control methodology.