comScore | Internet Marketing Blog

Flash and rich media a substantial portion of US ad impressions

display ad creative formats Flash may not be Steve Jobs' favorite ad technology, but it, together with other rich media applications, accounts for a hefty 40 percent of online display advertising impressions.

The finding was released by comScore in study of the sizes, formats, and types of display ads used by advertisers on publisher sites.

In April of this year, nearly 60 percent of US display ad impressions standard GIF or JPEG. The latter accounted for 42.4 percent of ad impressions.

by Rebecca Lieb 29 June 2010 17:00pm 0 comments

Online news commands highest CPM

new york times Online news sites may get fewer impressions, but they command the highest online advertising CPM, according to data just released by comScore's Ad Metrix. The average online newspaper site CPM was $7 in April, higher than each of the other top site categories and nearly three times the $2.52 average CPM for the total U.S. internet.

These hard numbers underscore more concretly findings released simultaneously by the Online Publishers Association. In a report entitled "A Sense of Place: Why Environments Matter," the OPA, in conjunction with Harris Interactive, finds higher consumer trust and loyalty to content sites as compared to portals and social media sites.

by Rebecca Lieb 16 June 2010 19:43pm 0 comments

comScore: Flash buying sites are making people spend more money online

Group buying sites are growing like weeds in the digital commerce space. Every day it seems there's a new one offering discounts to expensive restaurants or a new approach to the flash sale. That's because the category is bringing in revenue hand over fist.

Just yesterday, I wrote about how these sites are using gaming tactics to separate shoppers from their money. And today comScore released some numbers that help explain the growing popularity of these sites. In addition to the great revenue they bring in, they're actually getting people to spend considerably more money online.

by Meghan Keane 27 May 2010 22:53pm 0 comments

ComScore tries to befriend small publishers, startups

When major advertisers and agencies are looking to buy media online, they typically turn to companies like comScore and Nielsen for audience measurement data. That makes these companies extremely important to publishers.

Unfortunately, smaller publishers and startups in most cases simply can't afford to jump in bed with the comScores and Nielsens of the world. That has created opportunity for upstart competitors like Quantcast and Compete, which are aiming to away at their positions in the market.

by Patricio Robles 27 May 2010 11:30am 1 comment

Mobile: Less phone, more data

mobile data Two recent studies this week underscore a trend obvious not only to smartphone owners (a segment rapidly achieving dominance in the mobile phone market), but also to those early adopters of Kindles, iPads and the like. What matters in mobile is the data, not the vox.

by Rebecca Lieb 06 April 2010 20:10pm 2 comments

Is comScore extorting publishers? Not quite

How much traffic does your website get? On the surface, it seems like it should be an easy question to answer. But unfortunately, it isn't so cut-and-dry. Companies like comScore are in the business of helping publishers and advertisers find the answer, but according to Jason Calacanis, comScore is running an "extortion ring".

In a fiery post this weekend, he rails against comScore, calling it the "technology industry’s biggest bully" and even suggesting that traders short the company's stock.

by Patricio Robles 25 January 2010 09:32am 6 comments

Coupons and discounts sustain etailers

The economy has been making some hints at ressurgance in the past few months, but it's nowhere near a complete rebound, and according to ComScore today, most of the bright spots in third quarter are only relative to the dismal results that occured last year. During its quarterly report "State of the US Online Retail Economy," ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni characterized a generally dismal third quarter for retailers.

However, it's not all bad. Amid struggling revenues and rising unemployment, some retailers are increasing conversion rates and site visitations. What's their secret? Low prices and reliable online experiences. And there is promise in the fact that young, upper income earners are opening up their wallets again.

by Meghan Keane 13 November 2009 00:04am 5 comments

16% of web users click on banner ads. Are display ads dead?

Display ad purveyors have desperately been trying to climb out from under the thumb of click-through rates, and a new study from comScore shows that they better do so quickly. The number of people who have clicked on display ads has dropped 50% in the last year. Even worse, only 8% of people online accounted for 85% of the display ad clicks.

by Meghan Keane 01 October 2009 22:54pm 9 comments

Omniture's acquisition by Adobe has people saying "Huh?"

On the heels of Adobe's quarterly earning call, where they announced the grim news about software sales, they also announced the acquisition of Omniture. Is this a play to be a player in the analytics market, to have a strong presence in the SAAS space, to take advantage of Omniture's recurring revenue model, or something else?

by Bryan Eisenberg 22 September 2009 14:16pm 7 comments

Nielsen's online television meter won't be useful until 2011

This week, Nielsen announced its new "Internet Meter" will be available by the end of the year. But it won't actually be useful until 2011. And the cable companies' plans for TV Everywhere are likely to be put off until 2014. While television companies are talking a lot about putting their premium content online, it could be awhile before this becomes serious business.