Rating Discrepencies in Interactive Media
The methods of data-gathering being used in online advertising by Nielsen//NetRatings and comScore are being heavily criticized by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. Measurements in question include web sites’ monthly unique users and page views. Randall Rothenberg, President of the IAB, points out that interactive is currently the only advertising medium that doe not receive audited numbers from its measurement suppliers. The main audience measurement companies still rely on panels to measure interactive media, which is a media-measurement technique invented for the radio industry seventy years ago. The methods being used are said to be outdated despite promises of change in the past. The two firms are being urged to take immediate action by undergoing Media Ratings Council audits and voluntary participation in a measurement summit to be held soon. There are great disparities when it comes to the traffic numbers tracked by major websites and data from both companies, which track and report data much differently. Rothenburg says that “Discrepancies as wide as the ones we are seeing are unacceptable.”
It is interesting to see that ratings and media measurements are not quite keeping up with the availability of interactive advertising techniques. This issue, if not resolved soon and effectively, may keep media planners from choosing interactive advertising for their media mix. Also, if a more effective measurement technique can be developed, it may cause interactive advertising to increase or decrease in price because of more accurate measurements with actual numbers. Although there is no way to accurately compute reach and frequency for this medium, according to Rothenburg, measurement companies are not using the means available to get the most accurate results possible for advertisers.
posted by kim macaulay @ 4:01 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
I think online measurement while although experiencing many discrepancies, has time to increase their data-gathering. It's imperative to the current times that measurement companies do find a way to accurately measure online advertising because it is the fastest growing media source right now and it still has much more potential to develop and evolve. With online advertising, you can reach a much larger population with no geographical boundaries nationally as well as internationally. It's enabling companies to expand globally.
The internet is still new and research on effective advertising on the internet is gradually progressing, so I feel measuring this advertising will slowly progress as well. As companies figure out more ways to advertise through the internet, measuring the advertising will become more developed. The only concern that may develop over time that will negatively impact the current advantages of internet advertising, is an increase in the cost to advertise in via internet. If online advertising becomes more developed, then more and more companies may begin to utilize the medium and as a result, costs could increase.
I suspect that online advertising has only just begun and that we will see much more to come in the future.
I also believe that online and interactive advertising will decline with the difficulties and problems in place, but will then soon rise again. Online advertising is still in its first stages of trial. Advertising online and interactive advertising has not been around for a long time and does have many issues to deal with. Even though interactive advertising has not been around for so long the progress made has been astronomical and will continue to grow for years to come. With the growth of internet advertising there will be new and better ways implimented to measure data-gathering, reach, and frequency, it will simply take time and patience. The internet is a global medium and is difficult to track every single hit to a web site or advertisement. With internet being a global media, it is difficult for companies not to advertise over the web. Even though it is hard to measure the success of their advertisements, it is known that millions of individuals are exposed to the ads around the world. Internet advertising is still a new and exciting media for the advertising world which I believe will continue to grow and better itself.
On the theme of online advertising, everyday there are new possibilities for companies to reach their target markets. Looking for females 15-24, but uninterested in Greys Anatomy’s dropping ratings? Go online and sponsor an episode. Then your ads run exclusively throughout the show several times, where they can’t continue until seeing 30 seconds of the ad. A great way to direct them to your website while on the computer, too. However, this blog brings up the subject ties into my subject for the blog – with TV ratings lower, how are shows still going to exist with advertisers pulling out? Everyone knows the headline story from a few weeks ago when Don Imus called the Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy headed hoes.” WNBC and WFAN were not planning on pulling the show right away. They knew ratings would skyrocket after such a controversial topic. However, advertisers began to pull from their spots and they were forced to cancel him early. Though TV and radio shows may draw in certain audiences, they are also much more explicit and controversial than they were years ago. Advertisers need to start picking and choosing with their company’s image and morals in mind. They turn to other resources, such as the internet, who have just as much reach, if not more, and can safely help them reach their targets.
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