News to celebrate (even from here in the Antipodes)! The decision by ABC Electronic (ABCe) to change the way it measures web traffic is a big step in the right direction. By replacing page impressions with unique users as the principle online measurement will provide a much better picture of the true reach of our websites.
It has taken longer to achieve than was probably necessary, and it has not been reached without some disputes. The official ABCe announcement reveals as much when it says: "This decision comes after much debate in the industry... It has not been a simple process to get to this point." So there were arguments along the way, but no matter. The greater transparency that this change will provide is worth all the effort.
The change has been welcomed by all the sensible movers and shakers among Britain's newspaper online executives and by the IPA, the industry body for the main advertising, media and marketing communications agencies. So both sides - newspapers and advertisers - are happy with the new rules. "Understandably," concedes ABCe, "there will be many questions following this ruling."
If there are questions (a euphemism for complaints, of course), then let's hear who is making them and why. I seem to have been banging on for ages about the need for a simple, straightforward method of comparing websites' performance. Now we have it let's ensure that the results are published regularly so that we can know exactly how competing news outlets are doing, just as we've done with newsprint circulation figures down the years.
What we need to achieve, as soon as possible, is the capability to provide a monthly table showing the audiences for both print and online versions of newspapers. Only then will everyone - rival owners and editors, ad agencies, journalists and the public - be able make comparisons. It will also allow us to track the movement from print to screen, and therefore - in theory, if not yet in practice - enable advertisers to follow the eyeballs by delivering more online ads as they turn their backs on print.
