March 2008

Sean Carlos

Well-run companies typically benchmark their business performance in different areas against aggregate data for their industry. The Internet is no exception.

Yet a recent spate of Wall Street analyst coverage of Google highlighted a chronic problem afflicting web statistics: the lack of reliable data. Companies supplying Internet usage data seem to put more effort into crafting their press releases than documenting their methodology. Without proper transparency, companies act on web data at their own peril.

In a Slate¹ magazine article yesterday, Chris Wilson covered the issue in depth: Have People Stopped Clicking on Google Ads? Or did a Web-traffic firm get the numbers wrong?.

This issue is finally getting the attention it deserves. I'm pleased Chris took it on and that he cited my web statistics for internet market research guide as a good background primer (available in Italian as Statistiche web per le ricerche di mercato in Internet).

¹Washington Post / Newsweek Group

Keywords: Google, Sean Carlos, Slate, Web Statistics, comScore, Chris Wilson