• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, April 13, 2005

Adware serving company Claria will today announce it has created an analytics platform to complement its soon-to-launch behavioral targeting network, "Behavior Link." The analytics service, like Claria's behavioral targeting program, will rely on data gleaned from tracking the 40 million people who have downloaded Claria's ad-serving software. Both programs will officially launch at the end of the month.

The analytics program, dubbed the "Web Intelligence Center," will provide information about consumer activity to publishers and marketers--both the 200 advertisers who have signed up with Behavior Link and the adware advertisers, said Scott Eagle, Claria's chief marketing officer.

Reports can include details such as how many pages consumers viewed before making a purchase and the length of sessions, and can even reveal whether consumers are likely to make repeat purchases from the same marketer or tend to comparison shop for the best deals. Claria can also offer publishers information about visitors--such as, for example, what percentage of their visitors--and their competitors' visitors--appear to be shopping for a new car, or are new parents.

Claria also intends to report on information such as the precise Web sites customers visited before making decisions. For example, Claria has the ability to tell marketers what percentage of visitors to its site also visited specific competitors' sites. While Claria traditionally offered similar reports to its adware clients, this initiative marks the first time the company will also provide such information to publishers. Eagle said the company has had discussions with interested publishers, but declined to state which might use the service.