SEL: Nielsen's New Metrics Means a Shake-up at the Top

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Search marketing in the new media era.

July 11, 2007

Nielsen's New Metrics Means a Shake-up at the Top

If you buy online media, you are probably already aware that Nielson will rank sites based on time spent versus page views.

Is this a good idea? Well, sort of.

Pros:

It eliminates problems with fraudulent page refreshes
It measures interaction with individual pages, which has some baring on usability of the site
Sites with streaming media, Flash, Ajax, etc. will have more opportunities to show their value

Cons:

Sites that have focused on conversions by reducing time on site will drop in rank (i.e. Amazon, Google, etc.)
Data skewed by users who leave browser windows open, but who are not actually interacting with pages
Sites with chat software (i.e. AOL) will actually earn more weight as it reflects time on site.

Overall, as new Web 2.0 technology goes even more mainstream, Neilsen Net Ratings new format is a smart idea. It forces site stickiness, and forces online agencies to look past the normal metrics at the true value of the web property.

Jeremy | permalink | +marktd |

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