Online Measurement Distorts Campaign Effectiveness

Online advertisers could be overestimating the effectiveness of their campaigns due to flawed internet measurement techniques, according to new research from web analytics group, RedEye.

The study shows that an IP-based approach to online audience measurement overestimates visitors to websites by up to 7.6 times, while a cookie-based approach overestimates users by up to 2.3 times.

The research analysed data from two of the UK’s busiest ecommerce websites, William Hill and Asda, and recorded page impressions from logged in users to compare results. It also studied specific user behaviour from NOP, which revealed that 71% of web users are aware of cookies and a further 55% are deleting them on a regular basis.

The report concluded that cookie-based tracking, combined with appropriate ratings is the only way to ensure that online audience data is accurate enough for online media planners to base strategic decisions on.

Commenting on the findings, Jum Sterne, author of Web Metrics, said: “Web Analytics reports have always been somewhat erratic. Different measurement methods show more visits or lower conversion rates than others, now we are closer to knowing how far to bend the lens to bring the picture into focus.”

Earlier this week research from technology group, CatchFIRE, found that nearly a quarter of all marketing departments have been let down by websites crashing half way through their advertising campaigns. It claims that various technical difficulties with websites often reduce marketing effectiveness and damage corporate reputations (see Website Problems Reduce Marketing Effectiveness).

Red Eye: 020 7627 9300 www.redeye.com

Recent New Media Stories from NewsLine IAB Launches First Ever Marketing Campaign Hitwise Launches New Lifestyle Tool DoubleClick Reveals Continued Growth In Rich Media Ads

Subscribers can access ten years of NewsLine articles by clicking the Search button to the left