Pubescent

Guest commentary Stop arguing and make things cheaper, demands Claudio Dionisio The internet has become the fourth big
media genre - alongside print, TV and radio - and has established itself as a
in the last few years to become an interactive and powerful
advertising medium. But not everyone is aware of this. The fact that online advertising in
is still a niche market in Switzerland is due to the fierce competition
pubescent Internet research.

With the increasing importance of the Internet as an advertising medium, the
the need for reliable access and user data. The
Site operators have hardly any problems with their own sites: About log files,
cookies and real-time web analytics tools, they know pretty much exactly who
and what the visitors are up to.

The situation is somewhat different for advertising clients: They want the
Net reach of individual offers and the number of 'Unique
We have identified the 'users' of individual websites as precisely as possible.
This requires the fusion of different data sets. And this
is damn time-consuming.

Around a year ago, the SRG Research Service and Wemf
decided to start work in the area of Internet research with the development of
to cooperate with Net-Metrix. In addition, one of marketers,
User Commisssion' formed by site operators and online advertising customers
proposals for a standardized research concept. This
The sponsorship and financing model is very similar to the large solution,
as SRG/Wemf have in mind. We now know: This has so
does not work.
 
In my view, Net-Metrix is not making real progress for the following reasons:

a) The modular structure of Net-Metrix requires a complex process.
 
b) The sticking point of Net-Metrix is the financing. The planned 4.5
million francs is an almost insurmountable chunk for many
Site operators. These are often high-reach sites, which can be targeted with high
research costs are taken off the bread.

c) Above all, the competition between marketers has contributed to this,
that the 'User Commission' did not agree on important points.
The internet activity of the SRG, which is financed by licence fees, is also
A thorn in the side of publishers because it competes with private providers.

What can be done? Make expensive media research cheaper. The
Researchers' business models must change. This also applies to the
Wemf. Only a neutral organization without economic interests
can help to create credible and broadly supported
to be able to offer range data. This and the standardization of the
Internet research in Switzerland are the reasons that the simsa*
last November as a neutral partner of Net-Metrix.
signaled. Competence criteria, not lengthy consultations
and wing battles are to be decisive in determining who will lead Internet research in
Switzerland forward.

Claudio Dionisio is President of simsa (*swiss interactive media and software association).