Part 2: IMRB Introduces Display Advertising Metrics: Exposure & WRPs; Pricing; TAM Friendly.

India, Nov. 3 -- In part one of this two part interview with Balendu Shrivastava, Group Business Director, IMRB, told us about how their new Web Audience Measurement system tracks user information, and how they've selected the panel. In part two, he talks new metrics being introduced into the mix, specifically looking to address the needs of Display Advertising:

MediaNama: Which instant messengers are you tracking, and are you able to track usage on multi-IM software like Pidgin?

Shrivastava: That we don't do. We typically track only the original versions of MSN, GTalk and Yahoo messenger.

MediaNama: How do you track IM communications within GMail or Yahoo Mail?

Shrivastava: That is captured as a part of the website usage.

MediaNama: Are you also tracking any tag based data from websites? (ED: incorporating analytics from sites themselves)

Shrivastava: It will be coming in pretty soon.

MediaNama: Which metrics are you tracking?

Shrivastava: We're tracking the traditional Internet metrics like page-views and time on site. I'm also introducing new metrics like Exposures. Lets take Television as an example. If I'm on STAR, and I move to Zee, and come back to STAR, my (TAM) meter captures two exposures to audiences.

In case of Internet, (let's say) I am on Rediff and I minimize the page, and go to Yahoo and come back to Rediff, without refreshing the page. Till I refresh or close the page, the page-view is not taken as a delivered one. But in our case, we capture user behavior. Exposure is controlled by the audience. Also, the audience will be looking at giving multiple exposures. There are pages with AJAX, and the page doesn't refresh. There are instances of no data going to the server, but the user keeps minimising and maximising the window when using. We're capturing that as well. It cannot be tampered by servers, and we can avoid server side refreshes put in for increasing pageviews. Secondly, the exposures, the way they're happening, in parallel to TV, are also being captured.

Second metric we've introduced is WRP (Web Rating Points), calculated the same way that TRP (Television Rating Points) are calculated. The only difference is that TRPs are calculated for a 30 minute program, and on a minute level. In case of the Internet, we've seen that on an average, the number of exposures per minute is 10. So our data is calculated at a seconds level, because the Internet is a faster and non-linear medium. Otherwise, the ratings mean the same, they indicate the same, and are comparable. This is time weighted viewership. There are other metrics which we are testing at our end as well.

MediaNama: How are you differentiating yourself from Comscore?

Shrivastava: Comscore doesn't give you city-wise data. It does not give reach-frequency-buildups.

MediaNama: What are reach frequency buildups?

Shrivastava: Reach frequency buildups are when, typically, Levers (Unilever) is running a campaign, they'll expect a reach of 30% of the universe, and each of them being exposed to the system at least 10 time. The metrics we're able to generate is - how many people have been exposed (i.e. shown the advertisement): 1+ times, 2+ times, 3+ times. We can go on till 100 times. That's one big differentiator.

Secondly, the platform that we've designed is on the TAM software. It's the same software engine on the back-end. The analysis that we're generating, the WRPs, have been modified for the Internet industry. But the mechanism, the formulas, are the same as for TRPs.

MediaNama: Are you at looking at an integration of WAM with TAM, for media planners who are making a plan for TV and Internet? Will you give a bundled offering?

Shrivastava: A possibility around that cannot be denied.

MediaNama: How are you pricing this product for agencies? Vizisense is priced at Rs. 2 lakhs for a basic license.

Shrivastava: We're keeping it at a low cost per unit, unlike TAM. We understand that TAM is for television, and here it will need to be lower, at Rs. 5 lakhs. Our product is better - Vizisense cannot tell you about usage for a Cricket match today between 4pm to 8pm. I can actually give you the WRP for that particular duration for that particular site for that particular date. The date-wise data and day-parts data is not available Vizisense. What they're giving is something that is monthly data. People run campaigns on certain dates and certain time slots, not at peak time for Internet, whether 12-1 pm, 1-2 pm, 2-4 pm.

We'll be able to identify which is the day of the week when Internet audiences are maximum, when a publisher can charge a premium for an ad, or an advertiser can expect more hits. We'll be the first company to talk about it.

For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com

Copyright Medianama brought to you by HT Media Ltd.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company