Soon to be harder data on web usage
Two nearly identical online panels are vying for the attention of media planners
Two almost identical Internet panels vie for the favor of media plannersBy Markus KnöpfliAt the beginning of March, MMXI Switzerland publishes panel data on the private surfing behavior of Swiss Internet users for the first time. ACNielsen (Switzerland) followed suit in mid-April with a second panel. However, the panels hardly differ in terms of content.
On March 5, the public will find out for the first time in explosive detail which websites were most frequently visited by the approximately 2.2 million Swiss Internet users from their home PCs in January 2001, where the users then surfed to or how long and how often they were online. The eagerly awaited data will be published by the company MMXI Switzerland, which collects it using its Internet panel of the same name (formerly Internet Research CH). From now on, MMXI Switzerland will publish and sell its Internet usage data on a monthly basis.
The fact that MMXI Switzerland is the first Swiss Internet panel operator to be able to offer such data is also being savored in terms of marketing. The SRG subsidiary Publica Data will be presenting the first tidbits of data at the Internet Expo (from February 7 to 9). And on March 2, the SRG research service will present the first highlights at a press conference. The MMXI joint venture partners SRG, IP Multimedia, IHA GfM, Banner.ch, Berner Tagblatt Medien and Yellowworld (see WW 34/00) will receive the detailed data on February 27, MMXI customers on February 28.
Data on mobile Internet use still lacking
However, MMXI will not be able to maintain its data lead for long. Market researcher ACNielsen is setting up a similar Swiss Internet panel called ACNielsen/NetRatings and plans to publish its data on Internet behavior, which was first collected in March, in mid-April. If this is successful, ACNielsen will be able to publish its monthly data around a week before MMXI thanks to the shorter evaluation time.
However, it is still questionable whether and to whom this race will be of any use, as there will then be two internet currencies. Ideally, however, both panels will deliver identical Swiss results, as they are almost like two peas in a pod. Both currently only survey Internet usage from a PC at home. So-called work panels are still being set up and mobile use cannot yet be measured.
In both cases - for the mobile and stationary work panels - software is installed on the PCs of at least 3,500 Internet users throughout Switzerland, which sends the data to the respective center in real time (ACNielsen) or in phases (MMXI), but in any case independently and online. Thanks to international networking, both companies link the Swiss data with that of other countries and then report the results according to target groups from two years onwards. This international link is also most likely to lead to differences in results: ACNielsen measures Internet use in 18 countries, MMXI in 14. ACNielsen also provides additional data on behavior towards banners (so-called banner tracking), whereas MMXI does not yet offer this service.
On March 5, the public will find out for the first time in explosive detail which websites were most frequently visited by the approximately 2.2 million Swiss Internet users from their home PCs in January 2001, where the users then surfed to or how long and how often they were online. The eagerly awaited data will be published by the company MMXI Switzerland, which collects it using its Internet panel of the same name (formerly Internet Research CH). From now on, MMXI Switzerland will publish and sell its Internet usage data on a monthly basis.
The fact that MMXI Switzerland is the first Swiss Internet panel operator to be able to offer such data is also being savored in terms of marketing. The SRG subsidiary Publica Data will be presenting the first tidbits of data at the Internet Expo (from February 7 to 9). And on March 2, the SRG research service will present the first highlights at a press conference. The MMXI joint venture partners SRG, IP Multimedia, IHA GfM, Banner.ch, Berner Tagblatt Medien and Yellowworld (see WW 34/00) will receive the detailed data on February 27, MMXI customers on February 28.
Data on mobile Internet use still lacking
However, MMXI will not be able to maintain its data lead for long. Market researcher ACNielsen is setting up a similar Swiss Internet panel called ACNielsen/NetRatings and plans to publish its data on Internet behavior, which was first collected in March, in mid-April. If this is successful, ACNielsen will be able to publish its monthly data around a week before MMXI thanks to the shorter evaluation time.
However, it is still questionable whether and to whom this race will be of any use, as there will then be two internet currencies. Ideally, however, both panels will deliver identical Swiss results, as they are almost like two peas in a pod. Both currently only survey Internet usage from a PC at home. So-called work panels are still being set up and mobile use cannot yet be measured.
In both cases - for the mobile and stationary work panels - software is installed on the PCs of at least 3,500 Internet users throughout Switzerland, which sends the data to the respective center in real time (ACNielsen) or in phases (MMXI), but in any case independently and online. Thanks to international networking, both companies link the Swiss data with that of other countries and then report the results according to target groups from two years onwards. This international link is also most likely to lead to differences in results: ACNielsen measures Internet use in 18 countries, MMXI in 14. ACNielsen also provides additional data on behavior towards banners (so-called banner tracking), whereas MMXI does not yet offer this service.
