Tracking system for website visitors will be unique to NZ

By IRENE CHAPPLE

New Zealand internet users are to be the first in the world to experience a new website ratings system.

Internet measurement firm RedSheriff, which previously had a low profile in New Zealand, was endorsed this week by an online media industry group* as the preferred supplier of internet tracking.

RedSheriff, working with local firm Phoenix Research, was selected after a call for ideas by the online media group. Its winning tender incorporates technology used extensively overseas, but never before in combination.

The Australian-owned firm - prominent overseas but just a one-man operation in New Zealand - reports on internet traffic through adding Java script software to a client's website.

The script follows visitors' movements, collecting statistics on the users and use of the site, with no personal identification.

This will continue under the new system, but the browser information will be matched to demographics collected during surveys.

Internet users will be asked to complete pop-up online surveys, which will appear randomly and offer rewards to those who fill in the questions.

That will give RedSheriff details on the user's age, gender, location and interests, but is likely to skew the data in favour of survey-friendly internet surfers.

RedSheriff's Marcus Lloyd says any skewing will be righted by telephone surveys, to be conducted by Phoenix Research.

Information from the surveys and browser details will then be collated and bought by clients of the new venture.

The industry group - which includes all major internet publishers - has said it will buy the service, thus offering advertisers comparative data. The publishers and internet service providers also contributed to the set-up costs.

Clout from that endorsement is likely to attract smaller operators to the service.

The industry group, which also includes the Communications Agencies Association, was formed to combat a dismal lack of information about online habits - vital information for advertisers.

In September, the online publishers rankings will be available through RedSheriff's website.

Rankings will then be available monthly. Information on general web trends is likely to be free.

Access to the more detailed demographic information may be available only to RedSheriff clients, although Lloyd says what information will be available to the public has yet to be decided.

This week's decision should be a relief in a market that has lacked an industry standard since research group ACNielsen's eRatings.com closed its New Zealand office last year.

The eRatings.com system was regarded as the most useful tool for online media buyers, as it tracked a random 3300-strong panel of New Zealanders. The panel was left to trickle away through natural attrition after the office's closure.

The internet monitor's departure left two firms - RedSheriff and Hitwise - to track surfers' habits, but their different techniques produced wildly different results.

eRating.com's withdrawal from New Zealand was blamed on the bad numbers - overheads were high, and it never broke even, despite clients paying up to $115,000 annually. By the time eRatings.com departed, client numbers had dropped from a high of 30 to 22.

RedSheriff's system will have staggered costs, depending on what information the client buys. Costs have not yet been confirmed, but Lloyd says it will be far cheaper than eRatings.com.

"The methodology is a lot more cost effective. We can customise what people have access to and charge according to that."

He says the industry's co-operative approach is unique, and the new system is being closely watched abroad.

"We will be [looking to] promote it in other markets."

The industry group includes Wilson & Horton's nzherald.co.nz, INL's stuff.co.nz, TVNZ's nzoom.com, Telecom's xtramsn.co.nz, tech publishers IDG and Vodafone, the Internet Bureau ad agency and the Communications Agencies Association of New Zealand (CAANZ).