With all the noise out there for the demand for measurement, it’s interesting and a little discouraging to see online STILL struggling with this … and that industry’s got at least 7-8 years on us.
From a piece the other day in MediaPost:
A PANEL OF ONLINE AUDIENCE research specialists grappled Thursday with issues ranging from simplifying Web metrics to reconciling server and panel-based data to how many Web metrics firms the market will support.
The panelists–featuring top executives from Nielsen Online, comScore, Hitwise and Microsoft, among others–were convened for the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s first Audience Measurement Leadership Forum.
There’s a lot of good to and fro in the piece, and while it is about a different medium, there are many similarities in its struggles.
The conference was aimed at demystifying Web metrics at a time when marketers and agencies have more ways of measuring online audiences than ever. The downside is that there’s more confusion than ever because of the abundance of information available to media buyers from multiple sources that don’t always agree.
Panelists underscored the need for greater simplicity and clarity in Web metrics to help draw ad dollars away from traditional media. That means trying to find the Internet equivalent of gross rating points to help transition from TV advertising to emerging media.