NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings , a global leader in Internet media and market research, today announced the first industry solution of Data Integration for Internet audience data and measurement, drawn from a melding of consumer panel data and site centric measurement technology. This research, pioneered by Nielsen//NetRatings using data from the Italian market, brings together the best of the two different approaches commonly used to measure online audiences, and combines them to report an Integrated Audience metric for Websites and powerful user demographics.
Addressing the long-standing industry debate on the discrepancy between panel and census-based information, Nielsen//NetRatings is uniquely poised and first in the industry to provide this integrated solution as part of its leading measurement solutions to publishers, advertisers, marketers and agencies. The solution combines a media quality online consumer research panel, NetView, and a strong ASP based Web analytics platform, SiteCensus-reconciling two, often disparate, sources of information.
Both NetView and SiteCensus are powerful research tools, offering the industry high quality research information. The media quality panel, NetView, provides detailed consumer demographics and behavior along with comparable market data for 11 countries based on Internet surfing from home and work. The Web analytics approach, SiteCensus, offers Website owners a detailed insight into their own audience -- irrespective of location of access.
Nielsen//NetRatings' Data Integration methodology addresses the issues created by the increased instances of cookie deletion that leads to an overestimation in unique browser statistics. Since unique browser statistics collected using cookies are often used to estimate unique visitors, the overestimation of unique browsers results in an overestimation of the unique audience. This also results in an underestimation of visitor frequency metrics, since repeat visitors are often recognized as first-time visitors. By linking the panel with its site centric solution, Nielsen//NetRatings can translate the Unique Browser number to an Integrated Audience number.
Cookie deletion factors vary by site and industry. Nielsen//NetRatings data shows that disregarding the impact of cookie deletion and cookie blocking activities in one month could mean that Website operators are overestimating their audience by as much as 46 percent in the case of the Search Engine/Portal category, 43 percent in the Telecom/Internet services category, and 23 percent in the News & Information category (see Table 1).
"This integrated solution is the successful culmination of work we undertook in response to resolving the panel vs. site-centric methodology debate, which often showed data discrepancies," said Manish Bhatia, senior vice president of product development and measurement science, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Our Data Integration methodology takes the best of both methods to create a comprehensive data set that delivers detailed reach and frequency metrics, audience demographic profiles and other for pre-and post-campaign analysis tools. While this analysis has been available to all other forms of media for some time, this is the first time it has been produced for the Internet medium," Bhatia continued.
Table 1. Nielsen//NetRatings Cookie Deletion Analysis, Italy, July 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category % browsers % browsers % by which 'Unique
Deleting Blocking Browser' overestimates
Cookies Cookies 'Unique Audience'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Search Engines
/Portals
& Communities 47.4% 4.0% 46%
Telecom -
Internet Services 41.6% 3.4% 43%
News & Information 31.1% 4.1% 32%
Entertainment 29.4% 3.6% 28%
Finance Insurance
Investment 7.1% 2.7% 9%
Travel 8.0% 2.5% 9%
Other* 27.4% 2.9% 27%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, Italy, September 2005
Note: Data in the table above represents the period of one month only, July 2005, in Italy. Cookie deletion rates could change based on the period under study.
*Note: Other Categories include Multi-category Commerce; Home & Fashion; Education & Careers; Family & Lifestyles; Automotive; Computers & Consumer Electronics.
Availability of Data Integration Solution
Following on the success of the trials in Italy, Nielsen//NetRatings plans to deploy the solution into the Australian marketplace in early 2006. Clients in the U.S. are currently testing the approach.
The Integrated Audience metrics using the Data Integration methodology will be made available within the Nielsen//NetRatings Market Intelligence product. Market Intelligence is used in many markets as the standard to benchmark online performance across industries by offering an independent census-based measurement of audited Websites within specific industries.
ESOMAR Best International Paper Finalist
For its innovative Data Integration methodology, Nielsen//NetRatings was nominated for ESOMAR's annual "Best International Research Paper" at the recent ESOMAR/ARF Worldwide Audience Measurement Conference in Montreal.
Nielsen//NetRatings' white paper is titled Advanced Techniques in Panel and Server Data Integration and was authored by Richard Goosey, vice president of research and development, Nielsen//NetRatings.
About Nielsen//NetRatings
NetRatings, Inc. delivers leading Internet media and market research solutions, marketed globally under the Nielsen//NetRatings brand. With high quality, technology-driven products and services, Nielsen//NetRatings is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and premier source for online advertising intelligence, enabling clients to make informed business decisions regarding their Internet and digital strategies. The Nielsen//NetRatings portfolio includes panel-based and site-centric Internet audience measurement services, online advertising intelligence, user lifestyle and demographic data, e-commerce and transaction metrics, and custom data, research and analysis. For more information, please visit http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/.
NetRatings, Inc.
Jennifer Fan
(408) 941-2951
