Report: Web Sites Favoring In-House Ad Measurement

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AdKnowledge Inc., a provider of Internet marketing solutions, said its Online Advertising Report (OAR) for February shows that more than 58% of Web sites still favor proprietary in-house traffic measurement systems.

The report from the Palo Alto, CA-based company also found that average CPM ad rates are remaining somewhat steady at $37.36 after dropping throughout 1997. Average CPM rates in April 1997 (the first month AdKnowledge began reporting them) were $39.34, a number which progressively declined to $37.21 by the end of the year.

AdKnowledge releases excerpts from its Online Advertising Report on a regular basis. The report is a compilation of Web advertising statistics gathered from MarketMatch, AdKnowledge's independent Web media planning and research tool, and SmartBanner, an independent campaign placement and performance analysis service for marketers and ad agencies.

"AdKnowledge tracks statistics across 1,056 ad-supported sites and serves ads for a broad range of advertisers across an unrestricted site selection, making the OAR statistics the most impartial Web advertising numbers available," said John Mracek, vice president of marketing for AdKnowledge. "In this month's numbers we discovered some hesitancy among sites to adopt independent third-party traffic measurement systems--likely reflecting a reluctance to being audited."

AdKnowledge, created as a result of the merger of ClickOver and Focalink Communications, develops and markets a suite of Web advertising management products and services for marketers, advertising agencies, and Web publishers. Products include: MarketMatch Pro, SmartBanner, and ClickWise.