• Advertising Age, Monday, June 23, 2008 11:30 AM

Web publishers have complained for years about the inaccurate representation of their audiences by comScore and Nielsen, the industry's dominant traffic measurement firms. A new startup will this week begin offering people-based traffic counts on several Web sites, presenting a hybrid of panel and cookie-based data.

By contrast, comScore and Nielsen rely on panel data only to compile their traffic and demographic figures. ComScore and Nielsen have long argued that panel data provides far clearer demographic information, which is necessary for media planners and buyers. However, as the Web becomes more fragmented, critics argue that panels cannot be considered reliable for counting the traffic on small and medium sized sites.

Quantcast claims its hybrid approach will prove more accurate for publishers. "On the face the claim sounds good ... but show me that you can actually get into the market space with a lot of established players," said Vipin Mayar, global exec VP-data and analytics at MRM Worldwide.

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