www.newmediahub.com/2009/10/02/belden-interactive-media -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 1/1/2009
Last Visited: 11/29/2009
Greg Harmon, CEO of Belden Interactive, says conversion to paid models is a strategy many of his clients are considering and that means publishers are coming face-to-face with the inconvenient truth.
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More importantly, 50% of visitors to newspaper sites accessed the sites from different computers during the day (a number that recent surveys show trending even higher, Harmon says) also fooling tools that track computers as visitors.
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One reason "no one wants to hear it," Harmon says, is the "Nielsen factor.
Nielsen knew its reports were off but "we're all wrong equally" so they argued it didn't really matter.
Since all sites probably have the same error no one type of site (say, television, newspaper or pure play) is better off.
But ultimately, the truth will out and for Harmon, the sooner the better.
Harmon, whose marquee client today is American Press Institute, is convinced newspapers actually gain short term from a corrected number since theyare still by far the strongest offline media in terms of audience size.
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Harmon also points out that the demise of the banner ad, or at least banner ad rates, may be a product of over-stating visitors.