Comments on: Is there room for two in Seattle? http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/01/is-there-room-for-two-in-seattle/ A collaborative effort to figure out the future of journalism. A project of Harvard University. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:39:00 -0500 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Top 15 newspaper sites of 2008 » Nieman Journalism Lab » Pushing to the Future of Journalism http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/01/is-there-room-for-two-in-seattle/comment-page-1/#comment-7959 Top 15 newspaper sites of 2008 » Nieman Journalism Lab » Pushing to the Future of Journalism Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:40:17 +0000 http://www.niemanlab.org/?p=816#comment-7959 [...] is in session. Also keep in mind that Nielsen’s web stats, like its television ratings, are frequently disputed estimates that may be more valid in relative terms such as comparing a site’s traffic to [...] [...] is in session. Also keep in mind that Nielsen’s web stats, like its television ratings, are frequently disputed estimates that may be more valid in relative terms such as comparing a site’s traffic to [...]

]]> By: Zach Seward http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/01/is-there-room-for-two-in-seattle/comment-page-1/#comment-1661 Zach Seward Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:48:57 +0000 http://www.niemanlab.org/?p=816#comment-1661 Thanks for the comment, David. I should treat the Nielsen numbers more skeptically. They (and Quantcast and Compete) are often our only windows into the web traffic of news sites, cloudy as those windows may be. In any event, your point about local audience mattering most is well taken, and those numbers are helpful. Thanks for the comment, David. I should treat the Nielsen numbers more skeptically. They (and Quantcast and Compete) are often our only windows into the web traffic of news sites, cloudy as those windows may be. In any event, your point about local audience mattering most is well taken, and those numbers are helpful.

]]> By: David Boardman, Executive Editor, The Seattle Times and Seattletimes.com http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/01/is-there-room-for-two-in-seattle/comment-page-1/#comment-1654 David Boardman, Executive Editor, The Seattle Times and Seattletimes.com Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:15:36 +0000 http://www.niemanlab.org/?p=816#comment-1654 Regardless of the validity of the other arguments for the potential success of an online-only presence for the Seattle P-I, the one based on the wild swings in the number of unique visitors to p-i.com and seattletimes.com shouldn't be used. The data isn't reliable, especially for the local audience most advertisers seek. Nielsen's methodology simply does not work when the numbers are reported for smaller sites month by month. When measuring local sites such as p-i.com and seattletimes.com, the number of Internet users that Nielsen samples is far too small to give a meaningful number for such a short time frame. Compounding that, most companies do not allow the installation of Nielsen's software on work computers, so very little data is collected during the work day, the time of day that produces by far the greatest number of visits to news Web sites. Because we administer the servers for both sites, we measure the actual traffic to both and know what the numbers are. While there are some month-to-month changes, they show nothing like the variation that Nielsen reports. A more thorough measurement of the audience based on data from Scarborough, Nielsen and our own Omniture numbers tells a different story. For December 2008 in our Designated Market Area -- the local audience most watched by advertisers -- p-i.com had an audience of 347,000 and seattletimes.com had 592,400. Those audiences have been consistent and have steadily grown since the launch of both sites. Regardless of the validity of the other arguments for the potential success of an online-only presence for the Seattle P-I, the one based on the wild swings in the number of unique visitors to p-i.com and seattletimes.com shouldn’t be used. The data isn’t reliable, especially for the local audience most advertisers seek.

Nielsen’s methodology simply does not work when the numbers are reported for smaller sites month by month. When measuring local sites such as p-i.com and seattletimes.com, the number of Internet users that Nielsen samples is far too small to give a meaningful number for such a short time frame. Compounding that, most companies do not allow the installation of Nielsen’s software on work computers, so very little data is collected during the work day, the time of day that produces by far the greatest number of visits to news Web sites.

Because we administer the servers for both sites, we measure the actual traffic to both and know what the numbers are. While there are some month-to-month changes, they show nothing like the variation that Nielsen reports. A more thorough measurement of the audience based on data from Scarborough, Nielsen and our own Omniture numbers tells a different story. For December 2008 in our Designated Market Area — the local audience most watched by advertisers — p-i.com had an audience of 347,000 and seattletimes.com had 592,400. Those audiences have been consistent and have steadily grown since the launch of both sites.

]]>