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Audit is not a word that makes me feel relaxed. It conjures up all sorts of nasty images of tax, accountancy, book-keeping, endlessly counting things... I have always wondered how a pet shop counts those very tiny fish in tanks, after all they don't exactly line up in twos - but that's another issue...But now we have that dreaded word 'audit' facing us every day on the web.
It's all about the visitor figures and page impressions web sites claim to deliver, which in turn affects their advertising revenue. ABC Electronic and the Internet Advertising Bureau, two industry bodies that audit web statistics are now calling for stricter auditing to crack down on bogus numbers (see story further on). Realistically, it's hardly likely to happen in this climate, when a revise downwards would spell panic to investors. This has all come to the fore because recently E-district.net, an AIM listed web site, fired its chief executive for ALLEGEDLY inflating web site numbers. Oh dear, it reminds of those fish again. Why? Simply because each site counts its statistics in a different way. Some software counts part-loaded pages, some include software robots that automatically push page numbers up and even employees can skew page impression numbers simply by showing the site to customers. And some are just downright better and more painstakingly accurate than others.
At XXIST we saw all this many years ago. In fact, it was a lot worse in 'the good old days' when sites had no statistics software at all. The only way to safeguard our clients' money was to serve the banners, text links and buttons ourselves and count them from this end. We didn't care how many page impressions a web site claimed - if they did not deliver the banners we bought, they did not get paid. What we do now to overcome bogus visitor claims is to test sites first. If the click-through rate is very low on our test campaign we will not book any real spend with them. Simple. What all this points to is that there are way too many people out there trying to buy media who have not got the technology infrastructure themselves to counter those very fishy sites that have a vivid imagination. Make sure your agency does.
Annie Millar.
Managing director, XXIST.com
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In just two months there has been a massive 20 per cent growth in Internet traffic according to LINX, the London Internet Exchange, a non-profit-making group of ISPs. They report that the peak flow of Internet traffic rose to six giga-bytes per second, the equivalent of 360,000 e-mails every second. As these figures were released, there was also news that the UK's e-mail marketers are planning to cut links with the traditional marketing industry. But they want to see legislation framed around an opt-in approach, rather than the opt-out approach favoured by the DMA. Many in the industry believe the medium will be open to abuse, not only affecting public attitudes towards advertisers but eventually leading to draconian legislation, unless an opt-in scheme carries the force of legislation.
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As mentioned in the editorial above, there has been much publicity recently about companies' interpretations - to put it politely - of web site visitor figures. The SAS Institute, for example, the world's largest privately-owned software company, in concert with Site Intelligence, a UK start-up claim that the figures were regularly inflated by counting software. Site Intelligence believes the counting of non-real customers is widespread. It estimates that on a sample of web sites belonging to its customers, up to 30 per cent of "visitors" were not potential customers at all.
ABC Electronic and the Internet Advertising Bureau (run by PwC), two of the industry-funded bodies which audit web statistics, are calling for a crack down on false statistics. A consultant at PwC commented that the Americans dealt with the problem at the height of the boom. "But in the UK it wasn't and now that the market looks to be softening, there is less incentive to do so."
Meanwhile, the industry itself is planning action. A group of media firms, led by Chrysalis and Emap, is trying to set up an industrywide body whose role will be to improve standards of measuring web site user numbers. The idea is that the new body will be similar to the Radio Advertising Bureau which has managed to increase radio's share of overall advertising threefold in the last few years.
One option under consideration is to strengthen the Internet Advertising Bureau. Another is to set up a brand new body to monitor standards. Whichever idea is adopted, a major aim is to try to reposition advertising on the Internet. The industry would like to see a change of focus from simple measurements of whether users respond to adverts and connect to web sites, to promoting the value of using the medium to build brand awareness..
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| SOFTWARE PATENTS - UK DEMANDS CLARITY |
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The UK government has called on the European Commission to clarify the law on software patents as a matter of urgency. This comes amid reports that the Commission is deeply divided on this vital issue. All the while no action is being taken, companies are pre-empting the regulators by filing patent applications for both software and business methods with the European Patent Office. American companies in particular are not slow to exploit the potential loophole and some experts are warning that UK firms are losing out because they do not understand the need to file patents in such areas.
The European system technically bans patents for software, but the patent office will grant this monopoly right to inventions containing software that performs a new task. One government minister said there was "damaging confusion" about what software can be patented and called on the EC for an early directive to clarify the matter. Patricia Hewitt, e-commerce minister, said the government's overriding principle was that patents should be for technological innovations.
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| AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS |
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Not everyone is dropping out of the technology sector. Just to prove there are some people left with vision, iGabriel, the investing network, reports that in the past six months, funds available have doubled to over seven million pounds. Its membership of high profile private investors has gone up too, by almost 70 per cent to 30. Might sound like small beer now, but it's a step in the right direction.
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The US_based e-marketing site Iconocast.com wants Internet users to fight back and combat the "viral lack of confidence" that it says has pushed the Internet economy into recession. The campaign calls for netizens to boycott high street shops for one day; to buy at least one item online; and to buy 10 shares in an Internet company they admire. Building up to the big day, web lovers should forward the message to 10 other users. The date picked for this e-demonstration is perilously close to April Fool's Day - April 3.
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| FAMILIARITY BREEDS ONLINE ACCEPTANCE |
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The average Internet user is spending more than 20 per cent longer on the web per month than they did a year ago, according to the Internet monitor BMRB. The company puts this down to the fact that the average user has become more experienced online and also because new web services have developed. The average user now spends 17 hours each month online, compared to 14 hours a year ago. But as users become more experienced, their Internet use increases.
Men still make up the biggest group of experienced users, though there is now a bigger increase among women falling into that category than men.
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| PERSUADING CUSTOMERS TO BUY |
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Detailed product images are one of the most effective tools in convincing online consumers to place an order. According to recent research from PwC, not all online features are effective. Close-up product images came out top in the research, with product availability and comparison guides also popular. Consumers liked a search function and a freephone number to contact customer service representatives, but they were less keen on product reviews and catalogue quick order systems.
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| ONLINE SHOPPERS GETTING A RAW DEAL |
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More than half of UK consumer web sites visited during a 'mystery surf' by the Office of Fair Trading failed to give any information on refund or exchange policies. The OFT's director of consumer affairs, Caroline Banks, is concerned because she says many shoppers did not seem to realise that laws which apply to other forms of retailing also apply to the Internet. The findings have prompted the OFT to launch a consumer awareness campaign to advise shoppers about safeguarding their rights. The home shopping market, which includes online shopping, mail order and interactive TV has doubled over the past five years and is expected to grow by 10 billion pounds by 2004.
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Nine Leeds teenagers are planning to tap into the lucrative teenage Internet market with a new web site Dubit.co.uk. The youngest joint managing directors in the UK - ages range from 11 to 17 - got backing from e-commerce minister Patricia Hewitt, who launched the site. Dubit is a virtual 3-D city where teenagers can navigate for shopping, entertainment and information. The company is already in negotiation with a major high street bank to develop a new credit card for teenagers to buy products over the Internet safely and securely. The teenage Internet market is reckoned to be worth around 20 billion pounds.
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.. a web site featuring a very chatty parrot called Hercules has attracted over 3,000 visitors since it was launched four years ago. The parrot now gets fan mail from all over the world...
.. the National Lottery operator Camelot is planning to introduce "no e-mail Fridays" in a bid to improve productivity among staff. The idea is to force them to communicate face-to-face...
.. David beats Goliath - a 15-year old Harry Potter fan from Yorkshire has beaten giants Warner Bros in a legal battle over domain names. Warner Bros had ordered the fan to hand over the domain name on her web site, but has now dropped its claim...
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