Nielsen, about Those Web Traffic Data
November 9, 2010
One, two, three, four… The Nielsen Co. seems to have a problem with their counting skills. In “Nielsen Admits Undercounting Web Traffic” The Nielsen Co. recently found that they have erred in their counting of web traffic due to a glitch in how many characters their counting software is able to read. The miscount seems to have sent the illusion that web traffic is down nearly 22% in the past several months when in fact, this may not be the case at all. The article said:
Media owners have long complained that data from their internal logs was often leagues different than the data they got from Nielsen.
To most people this might not seem like a big deal, but it is. Because Nielson has a corner on the market, this error is going to be felt by many online media and advertising outlets. The numbers that Nielsen puts up affects how these companies allocate their funds. If the numbers aren’t high enough, the companies won’t put money into the website. And then:
We need to do a better job keeping pace with the rapid evolution of the internet.
It should be noted that Nielsen is doing everything they can to remedy the problem. Every part of their Internet measurement methods are under investigation. So, about those traffic stats, Mr. Nielsen?
Leslie Radcliff, November 9, 2010
Freebie
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
