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ComScore rolls out Pay-Per-Click Search Ad Metrics

Oct 30, 2008 ComScore

It might be old news by now, but I haven’t seen much search industry reflection on ComScore’s attempt to enter the search measurement business.  Competing against established companies such as Hitwise, Compete.com, and research firms such as Nielson has got to be tough.  Does ComScore have what it takes to break into this market and make their mark?

Personally, I doubt it.

Sure, ComScore has what might be considered a substantial panel-based sample size that may assist in measuring both natural and paid search marketing reach, but little to no exposure to a number of different industries.  In addition, the panel-based opt-in sample may be going the way of the dinosaur, if it hasn’t already.

Look at a company like Hitwise, that has established industry partnerships on the network-layer with ISPs across the United States and UK.  They’ve got the right idea because they can actually track raw, unbiased search behavior across multiple audiences, such as home users, at work browsers, and institutions.  Their sample size is significant, and with features such as paid versus organic search segmentation already at least three months old, they’ve got a substantial lead.  Hitwise is an enterprise-level commitment that can easily give ComScore a run for their money, but you don’t have to shell out corporate budget for reliable market insight.

Enter Compete.com.  The folks over at Compete.com are similar to Hitwise, but offer pay-per-report downloading starting from 5 free reports to start.   If you know what you need and which competitors to watch out for, you can get exactly what you need for free today.

Free tools being what they are, you might as well stop by Alexa.com once in a while as well.  Their data collection is similar to ComScore’s model, where users either install a toolbar with opt-in monitoring or perhaps free software such as a widget or system tray icon.

Heck, even Google Analytics includes their new benchmarking feature on a tit-for-tat information sharing scheme.  You share your metrics with Google Analytics (as if you don’t by default), specify your industry, and they send you average site metrics based on other websites in your industry that are comparable in size.

So, unless ComScore breaks character and offers their “superior” brand of measurement with respect to online search for free to start, my guess is most everyone outside of the advertising industry or media world will be uninterested in what they have to offer.

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Tags: ComScore, industry insight, ppc metrics, search marketing