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The Web Measurement Debate Rages On

As it turns out, comScore was wrong about Google's paid click growth: instead of being flat, the traffic measurement firm predicted, the search giant reported paid click growth of 20%. The discrepancy between comScore's figures and the actual figures reported by Google will come as no surprise to Madison Avenue, which, unfortunately, has grown used to the idea that Web traffic measurement is a far from perfect science.

Indeed, digital ad execs say they take numbers from comScore and its rival, Nielson Online, with a grain of salt. "We have not expected the numbers to be 100% accurate," says Sarah Fay, chief executive of both Carat and Isobar US, ad companies owned by Aegis Group. "I think that comScore has been as good as anything we've had previously."

It seems like an awfully poor system when you consider that marketers buy advertising based on those numbers. But it has to be that way, as marketers need to compare a Web publisher's traffic data to that of a neutral third-party. Of course, the third-party data is based on panels, which means the results are estimates. To increase the accuracy of their data, which sometimes report conflicting results, Nielson and comScore are investing in increasing the size and depth of their panels; Nielson is also trying to combine its Web research with that of other media.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

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