ComScore Expands Local Internet Traffic Measurement

Internet measurement specialist comScore Media Metrix has announced a major expansion of Local Market Reporting, its system for measuring Internet usage at the local market level. The expansion takes the number of markets covered to more than 100, representing more than 90 percent of all US Internet activity.

The system tracks Internet use across home, work and university locations, in contrast to other services that track home usage only, and uses random digit dial (RDD) sampling methodologies.

An example of the system in action can be seen from looking at local variations in the use of directory search sites, reflecting the relationships that specific yellow pages directories have with consumers through local telephone companies. For example, Internet users in Austin, Houston and Green Bay are disproportionately likely to visit SmartPages.com, which is owned by SBC, a major provider of local telephone services in those markets - Internet users in Austin are 67 percent more likely to visit SmartPages.com than the average Internet user. Verizon shows a similar disproportionate reach in Boston, Ft. Wayne, Seattle and Tampa, via its SuperPages Network.

In other markets, measurement of penetration at a local level may actually be of greater interest to sites than national or international. An example is visits to the online offerings of regional or local newspapers. Publications may be interested in overall visits to their site, but in some cases their primary concern could well be the audience share they are getting within their (offline) catchment area, and in many they will seek to analyse share at the local level even outside it. As an example, 18% of Washingtonians visited the Washington Post's Web site, whilst the rival New York Times also has a powerful reach in its home market (10.6%) as well as the total Internet population. In a number of major markets, The New York Times reaches nearly as many visitors as the local newspaper's site.

'Localized, interactive marketing continues to represent a large and fast-growing opportunity' explains the company's President, Peter Daboll. 'To capitalize on this opportunity, marketers need to deeply understand consumer behavior within markets, across online resources such as search engines and yellow pages, real estate and automotive research sites, newspapers and countless other publications'.

comScore Media Metrix Local Market Reporting is fully integrated with comScore Media Metrix 2.0 and available through the MyMetrix(tm) Web interface for easier analysis. It tracks sites across 90+ categories and sub-categories using the company's Client Focus Dictionary, and allows local reporting of comScore's groundbreaking Buying Power Index (BPI), which values audiences based on actual online dollar spending.

More information is available from mmxinfo@comscore.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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