NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Reporting robot activity in web statistics
ONLINE-ADS>> Reporting robot activity in web statistics
Mark J. Welch, Esq. (markwelch_at_ca-probate.com)
Fri, 27 Jun 1997 10:27:07 -0700
I discovered the following tidbits of information in the "Media
Professional" newsletter (Published the first of each month by
the Young Media Professionals Committee of the Audit Bureau
of Circulations; Subscribe/Unsubscribe: mailto:MediaProfl_at_aol.com).
> "What Insights Does ABC Interactive Have After 250 Web
> Audits? * * *
>
> 2) Activity from commercial robots is not considered
> qualified and is excluded by the auditor. ABC Interactive has identified
> 33 of these robots active at present. On the average Web site, commercial
> robots currently account for approximately 5% of the reported activity.
>
> 3) Activity generated by personal robots, which is growing rapidly in
> volume, is currently considered valid. Personal robots or spiders are
> search agents programmed by individual users to locate links to sites which
> contain specific topics they've indicated an interest in. ABC Interactive
> maintains a list of known personal agents, numbering almost 200 at present.
My thought: shouldn't ALL ad tracking software provide a mechanism to
separate out "commercial robots" and "personal robots" for reporting of
ad activity? I expect that over time, these will become increasingly
important to advertisers, and that any site that excludes this data from
reports will be penalized by advertisers (who will reasonably conclude
that the site likely has AT LEAST the industry average robot activity,
and perhaps they will assume MORE robot activity due to the site's
failure to report on this information).
-- Mark J. Welch (510) 462-8483 http://www.ca-probate.com/
-- Web Site Banner Ads (Networks, Brokers, Exchanges, Software, PSAs):
-- http://www.ca-probate.com/comm_net.htm
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