Nielsen admits to flawed internet use data
The Nielsen company has admitted to under-counting web traffic data due to a flaw in its system.
Nielsen’s system has failed to recognise long internet address, underestimating time spent online, particularly on social media sites, according to AdAge.com.
In a letter to clients, Nielsen said: “We are actively investigating an erroneous decline in our internet use data. Our investigation has identified the major root cause of the decline in the US and several contributing factors. The primary cause is an increasing incidence of websites using very long URLs that are not properly recognised by our systems.
“We are currently conducting a similar analysis in the other countries where we make these services available. Until our analysis is complete and the primary cause of the decline is fixed, we suggest limited use of data from the online audience measurement products.”
The products mentioned include Nielsen’s NetView service, as well as VideoCensus, MegaView Retail, MegaView Search, AdRelevance, WebRF services.
The letter continued: “This investigation, covering every element of our Internet measurement methodology, including the panel, collection capabilities, and processes, and nature of the root cause indicates that we need to do a better job keeping pace with the rapid evolution of the Internet.”
Nielsen has promised to provide bi-weekly progress reports going forward to let clients know of any developments. “The extraordinary changes and complexity of how the Internet is used warrants our increased attention to help the entire industry mature with a trusted source of data. We sincerely apologise for these data issues and will work closely with you to rectify the situation.”
As a result of the issue with Nielsen’s data, UKOM has been forced to postpone the planned release of its October data. “The UKOM Board would like to express its concern at the news that an issue with Nielsen’s global online audience measurement system has affected UKOM APS data,” a UKOM statement said.
“UKOM was first informed by Nielsen of a UK data problem on 1st November, and the UKOM Board decided on 2nd November that the planned release of October data on November 10th should be postponed.
“The primary cause relates to intermittent performance of the Nielsen system in processing URLs exceeding some 2,000 characters in length. Nielsen have found that any online session from a panellist that includes such a URL may be excluded from results.
“UKOM APS data appear to have been depressed by this fault, and Nielsen have informed us that Page Views and Time Spent metrics are likely to have been effected. The UKOM Board is pressing Nielsen urgently for further information on the impact of this fault.”
UKOM plans to review the “evidence and impact” with the IPA and ISBA on 9 November. UKOM said “at this stage UKOM Ltd is entirely focused on gaining greater clarity on the impact of the problem, and pursuing a rapid, effective and permanent resolution”.