Marketers identify other reasons to do Internet marketing in the chart at right. By one measure, says WebTrends, predictable metrics based on the anticipated value of "cookies," are more and more suspect because of blocking by third parties, security software, browsers, and Intranet restrictions. And more than half of the respondents are only looking at click-through rates or nothing at all, while 20 percent track unique visitors.
But these may not be the optimum business performance indicators in today's market. In fact, online marketers today are employing many more sophisticated performance measures, including search engine click stream data, indirect response/view-throughs, and rich media interactions, according to DoubleClick. Their "Decade in Online Advertising" reports that online advertisers are coming to recognize that Internet measurement extends far beyond click and conversion tracking. And, as integrated campaigns provide advertisers more leverage, measurement strategies will differ by medium.
The trick now, though, is knowing what to measure and when. However, no less a sage than Albert Einstein concludes:"Not everything that can be counted, counts. And not everything that counts can be counted."