These two make somewhat of an incongruous couple…. according to the NY Times, Nielsen and Google are partnering on TV ad effectiveness data gleaned from set-top boxes. This amidst questions about whether we even need Nielsen’s data anymore (37000 households by 2011, not as many now) when players like Tivo are providing a lot more data more rapidly to the marketplace. Online measurement is in a better state with multiple competitors and better data quality, but still a very clouded landscape with continuing complaints from advertisers and publishers about the accuracy and reliability of data from the likes of comScore, Nielsen NetRatings, Compete, Quantcast and others.