2. Who IS the Audience?
• How do you go about knowing your audience?
• What you need to know and why about who
they are and how they “consume” online
news?
• How do you serve and grow your audience?
3. How do you go about knowing your
audience?
• Tools
• Techniques
• Data Analysis
• Other Strategies
4. Techniques
• Fielding
– Panel
• Random Digit Dial (RDD)
• Online
– Server
– Random
• Collection
– Meter
– Survey
5. Tools
• Volumetric Measures
• Market Research
• Ad Planning
• Qualitative Measures
• Site Centric (Web) Analytics
6. Volumetric Measures
• Data Providers
– Nielsen//NetRatings
– Hitwise
• Complementary Service
• Search!!
• Data is purchased from ISPs
– ComScore
• Direct competitor
• Market Research
• Most media clients use it for panel size and local
reporting
7. Why it is used…
• Ad Sales
– The biggest number!!!
• Competitive Benchmarking
– Less important
• Strategic Research
– Least important
8. Market Research
• Custom
– Forrester, etc
• Strategic
– Everything is a tool, they just sit on top of it
– Answers “The Big Questions”
– Highest $$ per project
• Survey Research
– Harris, Greenfield, FGI, SSI, Etc
• Models
– DIY (client builds it then turns it over)
– Consultative (spec, serve, analyze)
9. Ad Planning Tools
• Syndicated Studies
– MRI (magazine)
– @Plan (internet)
– Scarborough (newspapers)
• Ad Tracking
– AdRelevence (internet)
• Advertising Effectiveness
– Ad Servers
– View through/click trough
– Dynamic Logic Style
– Test and control methodology
– Normative Database
11. Site Centric Analytics
• Server Side Measurement
– “Tagging” or “Cookies”
– Measurement
• Audience: # of browsers by way of cookie
• Pages: # of requests
– Providers
• Omniture
• SiteCensus (N//NR)
12. Research Methods
• Regression
– Why Things Happen
• Relationship between multiple independent variables
and a dependent variable
• Segmentation
– Who People Are
• Understanding the differences in the audience leads to
better user experience
13. What you need to know and why,
about who they are and how they
“consume” online news?
• Who they are…
• What they do…
• How’s it changing…
14. Current Events & Global News
Top-line Audience Metrics
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service, September 2006
15. Current Events & Global News
Index Against Total Online
Population
160
143
140
120
120 114 111
104 105
100 97
93
86
80 73
Unique Audience
Page Views
60
40
20
0
Men Women 18-34 25-54 55+
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service, September 2006
16. Current Events & Global News
Unique Audience (000) Trend
92,000
90,000
88,000
86,000
84,000
82,000
80,000
78,000
76,000
74,000
6
6
5
06
06
06
6
5
6
06
05
5
06
-0
-0
-0
l-0
-0
r-0
-0
n-
n-
g-
b-
p-
p-
ay
ar
ov
ct
ec
Ju
Ap
Ja
Ju
Au
Fe
Se
Se
O
M
M
N
D
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service
17. Current Events & Global News
Page Views (000) Trend
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
6
6
5
06
06
06
6
5
6
06
05
5
06
-0
-0
-0
l-0
-0
r-0
-0
n-
n-
g-
b-
p-
p-
ay
ar
ov
ct
ec
Ju
Ap
Ja
Ju
Au
Fe
Se
Se
O
M
M
N
D
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service
18. Current Events & Global News
Time-per-person Trend
1:55:12
1:40:48
1:26:24
1:12:00
0:57:36
0:43:12
0:28:48
0:14:24
0:00:00
6
6
5
06
06
06
6
5
6
06
05
5
06
-0
-0
-0
l-0
-0
r-0
-0
n-
n-
g-
b-
p-
p-
ay
ar
ov
ct
ec
Ju
Ap
Ja
Ju
Au
Fe
Se
Se
O
M
M
N
D
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service
19. Loyalty Indicators
Site Share of Active Days % Retention Rate %
AP 14 49
CNN 25 58
LA Times 10 37
MSNBC 21 58
NPR 10 27
USA Today 14 46
WSJ Online 12 31
Yahoo! News 25 66
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings NetView Service. Work, September 2006
21. Visitors To General News Sites
Frequently Provide Advice On…
135 134
130 128
126
125
120
Index
116
115
110
105
Politics / Current Online Shopping Internet Content & Financial
Events Services Information
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Service, Fall 2006
22. Visitors To General News Sites
Enjoy The Finer Things…
140
140
135
130
128
125 125 125
125
123 Index
120
115
110
Political/Community Museum/Art Gallery Gourmet food - Wine Cultural/Historic Sites Independent
Event (last 30 days) (last 30 days) Heavy Spending Collecting/Tasting (vacation last 2 (movies/rented/last
(p/online/6mo.) years) 30 days)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Service, Fall 2006
23. Visitors to General News Sites
Just Can’t Get Enough News…
160 154
140
140
130
122 124
120
100
80
Index
60
40
20
0
Any New s Weeklies Political (TV programs, last National New s - Cable (TV E-mail New sletter - ConsumerReports.org
(magazine, last 7 days) 7 days) programs, last 7 days) Read/Signed up (Last 30 (paid subscription)
days)
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings @Plan Service, Fall 2006
27. Emergence of “My.Internet” or
“Web2.0”
• “My.Internet” are websites that put the control of the content, either user
generated or not, in the hands of the consumers. These sites allow
consumers to define their own online experience through technology such
as RSS or content genres such as blogs and social networking.
28. Key Questions
• “Who the heck are these kids?”
• “What are they really looking for in a
website?”
• “Oh man, does this mean I have to advertise
to them differently?”
• “Do I have to worry about how they feel about
my site? Please say no...”
29. So Who Are These People?
• Clicked on an online advertisement
• Downloaded a full length video, such as a TV show or movie
• Downloaded a podcast
• Downloaded a video clip
• Listened to streaming audio
• Made a podcast
• Participated in an online community, such as MySpace,
Friendster, LinkedIn or Facebook
• Posted a blog
• Read a blog
• Read an RSS feed
• Watched streaming video
30. What Are They Saying?
Now that’s what I call new
media
Dude, I was doing that in
2003
You are so, like, 2000
I'll Do Nothing
My.Internet: Old, New Media:
And Like It:
16% 37%
47%
31. How Are They Consuming Media
Online?
Metric: Index against overall respondent average
471
My.Internet
Old, New Media
I'll Do Nothing And Like It 402
355
248
216
200 199
166 171
160
137
97 Average
64
50
15 13 12 13 21
0 10
Downloaded a full Downloaded a Downloaded a Listened to Made a podcast Read an RSS feed Watched
length video podcast video clip streaming audio streaming video
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Consumer Survey (6/06) n = 1,300
32. For The Most Part My.Internet
Likes The Same Sites As Everyone
Else
Q: What is your favorite news and information website? (Open ended)
My.Internet Old, New Media I'll Do Nothing And Like It
MSNBC 24% MSNBC 30% MSNBC 21%
Other News 19% Other News 18% Other News 22%
Yahoo! 16% Yahoo! 14% Yahoo! 15%
CNN 16% CNN 13% CNN 10%
Fox News 6% Fox News 6% Fox News 10%
Google News 5% Google News 2% Google News 3%
AOL News 5% AOL News 3% AOL News 4%
ESPN 2% ESPN 0% ESPN 0%
WPNI 1% WPNI 0% WPNI 0%
USA Today 1% USA Today 1% USA Today 2%
CBS News 1% CBS News 1% CBS News 4%
Ask.com 1% Ask.com 1% Ask.com 1%
ABC News 1% ABC News 4% ABC News 2%
WebMD 1% WebMD 1% WebMD 1%
Drudge 1% Drudge 1% Drudge 0%
Comcast 1% Comcast 3% Comcast 2%
BBC News 1% BBC News 0% BBC News 1%
Other ISP 0% Other ISP 1% Other ISP 1%
NYTimes 0% NYTimes 2% NYTimes 1%
Excite 0% Excite 1% Excite 0%
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Consumer Survey (6/06) n = 1,300
33. Loyalty, However, Is Not Their
Strong Suit
Metric: Number of News and information sites visited by visitor to “Brand A”
Del.icio.us 63.9
Flickr 31.2
Digg.com 30.0
YouTube 25.4
Topix.net 24.5
Facebook 22.0
Frappr! 21.8
MySpace 19.1
General News/Information Category 17.3
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Netview Service. Work, April 2006
36. Key Finding: Be Not Afraid
• There is a new class of Internet users, but it turns out that
they are pretty much the same as the old ones.
• They…
– Are younger and more internet media centric
– Are more engaged
– Less loyal than average
– Seem to like the same sites as everyone else
• For Publishers: The winners will let them be in control of both
content and their advertising experience.
37. The Effects Of RSS On News Sites
• What The Heck Is RSS Doing To My Site?
“I used RSS as a novelty at first, now find the data aggregation it
provides time saving. I have a couple of sites I trust, but I’ve
been expanding.”
38. Key Finding
• While RSS has different affects depending on
specific site strategy, there appear to be two
constants in the way RSS use changes the ways
consumers interact with media properties online.
1. At least in the initial period of use, RSS seems to increase overall
media engagement. This includes with familiar sites, as well as
broadening site use to sites outside of the top 20 media
properties.
2. Although the reason is unclear, those consumers who use RSS
seem to have less overall satisfaction with the media sites that
they do visit.
39. RSS Users Aggressively Use Current
Events and Global News
Information
Metric: Minutes per month
Current Events & Global News 178
58
Special Interest News 36
22
Directories/Local Guides 21
19 RSS
22 Control
Weather
14
Research Tools 14
10
Multi-category News & Information 8
7
40. RSS Users Tend To Visit 3 Times As
Many News Sites As Non-Users
Metric: Average number of Current Events and Global News sites visited in a month
10.6
3.4
RSS Control
41. While They Still Read The Top
Media Sites, RSS Users Expand
Outside Of The Top 20
Metric: Visits per person per month
35 60%
32 Top 20 News/Information Sites
30 51% All Other News/Information Sites 50%
"Other" as a percentage of "Top 20"
25
40%
20 36%
16 30%
15
11
20%
10
4 10%
5
0 0%
RSS Control
42. Most RSS Users Do Not Even Know
They Are Using RSS
Metric: Percent of behavioral RSS users who answer that they use RSS
17%
Aware RSS User
Unaware RSS User
83%
43. RSS Awareness is Reflected in
Length Of Online Tenure and
Gender
Uses RSS
Yes No
78% Male
48% Online before ’94
46% College Grad+
25% $100k +
Aware Of RSS Use
17% Uses Gecko Engine Web Browsers
Yes
(FireFox, Netscape etc)
17% 18 to 34 Years Old
54% Male 46% Male
36% Online before ’94 34% Online before ’94
53% College Grad+ 43% College Grad+
No 27% $100k + 22% $100k +
15% Uses Gecko Engine Web Browsers 5% Uses Gecko Engine Web Browsers
(FireFox, Netscape etc) (FireFox, Netscape etc)
25% 18 to 34 Years Old 16% 18 to 34 Years Old
44. Unaware Users Frequently View RSS As Going to
The Source Itself
Q: When you read news online, which of the following sources do you use to read a news story most often?
(please select one)
Unaware RSS
Aware RSS User User Not A RSS User
The source itself 24% 32% 35%
A site that brings together a
18% 30% 31%
number of news sources
A site that allows me to
17% 21% 16%
personalize the news sources I see
A RSS reader either built into your
28% 0% 0%
browser or as an application
A search engine 6% 9% 9%
Email newsletters 4% 5% 6%
Other 4% 4% 3%
45. Even Those Who Are Unaware of Use Are
Influencers
Q: To what degree do each of the following statements apply to you? Please rate each on a scale from 1 to 10 [Top
3 Box]
Unaware RSS
Aware RSS User User Not A RSS User
I am more comfortable with technology than 41% 34%
most of the people I know
59%
I frequently send links to new interesting 29% 22%
websites to friends and family
38%
I frequently send links to news stories to 28% 20%
friends and family
34%
I typically buy new technology before
39% 21% 18%
friends and family
I typically sign up for or download new
38% 24% 16%
Internet services before friends and family
I frequently send links to interesting new
33% 19% 20%
products to friends and family
People come to me to find out about new
websites 28% 17% 14%
I frequently access the Internet from devices
other than a laptop or desktop computer 11% 9% 7%
46. All RSS Users Are “Newsies”
Q: When you go online for news and information, which of the following types of information do you typically
read? (please select all that apply)
90%
80%
Aware RSS User
70%
Unaware RSS User
60% Not A RSS User
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Blogs Editorial International Business Politics Technology National “Front Breaking
and Science Page” news news
47. Availability Is Key, However Aware
Users Look To Search, While
Unaware Users Look For Timeliness
Q: Why do you use the Internet for news and information (please select all that apply)
90%
80%
Aware RSS User
70% Unaware RSS User
Not A RSS User
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Available 24 Easy to Most up to Wide variety Amount of Can be Entertaining Like certain
hours a day search date news of sites / information personalized sections /
sources available columnists
48. The Role Of Greater Awareness In
The RSS User Experience
RSS Efficiency
Awareness
Develops
Content
Saturation
Reached
Levels of Engagement
Content
Equilibrium
Reached
Content Added Aggressively
RSS Reader Use
My Yahoo! Use
No Awareness Moderate Awareness Full Understanding
49. Take Aways…
• Relationship
– RSS undeniably changes the ways consumers interact with a
media property. While some sites have seen great benefits
from RSS functionality, others are clearly being hurt. Perhaps
the greatest beneficiaries of RSS may be sites outside of the
Top 20 properties, which should continue to see increased
usage from RSS traffic.
• The Future
– Current evidence suggests that near-term effects may not last.
As consumers become more comfortable with RSS they seem
to be using it to streamline their online experience, rather than
broadening it.
