What’s this? Nielsen F-d up again?

The agency charged with determining who watches/listens/sees what – and thus responsible for determining where billions of dollars in ad buys get spent – has a history of not being able to get the job done. And now, more evidence: After years and millions of dollars spent to create a “single-source measurement venture,” Nielsen is throwing in the towel.

Since 2005, Nielsen has been working with radio audience analyst Arbitron on “Project Apollo,” which aimed to be a one-stop service to measure exactly which media and advertising messages reached consumers, and then learn how those messages influenced which goods and services they bought. If you haven’t been keeping track, a former owner of Nielsen, Dun & Bradstreet, tried this before. And failed. In the 1980s, so did Arbitron, dumping $100 million into ScanAmerica before admitting defeat.

On its part, Nielsen won’t blame its faulty methods on the project’s end, but rather its inability to sign enough high-paying customers for its tony, though flawed, research.

So congratulations, Nielsen, on once again over-promising and under-delivering.