Top of my emailbox this morning was this subject line: “The Death of the Page View.” Okay, I’ll bite.

The email led to this article over on iMedia Connection about how page views are no longer the metric of choice they once were, for a variety of reasons.

It’s a real problem. Advertisers and publishers both want metrics they can agree on to determine which Web sites claim the largest audiences. Nielsen/NetRatings is the best we have right now, but in an online world where accountability is purported to be the big advantage over other media, it still doesn’t feel like it’s good enough.

And here’s one word the iMedia article doesn’t include: conversion.

Ultimately, it’s the performance of advertising that makes a difference. What information would you rather have: that eHarmony or Match.com is the number-one dating site? Or that advertising on one site typically gets triple the clickthrough of the other?

Every industry seems to have its insider tip sheet. You know the kind: They aggregate and print rumors and leaks and unverifiable information. Everyone in the industry hates them and curses them, but everyone reads them, everyone leaks to them and nine times out of 10 they’re right on the money.

I’d love to see a Web site that aggregates actual online ad campaign performance information. It’s actually sort of amazing that it hasn’t happened up to now (or maybe it has and I haven’t seen it). I want to go to a site and be able to see, for example, that for an independent film, second-tier sites A, B, C and D performed exceptionally well, while well-known sites W, X, Y and Z tanked in performance.

Even if it’s all leaks and rumors and only 80 percent reliable, isn’t a site like that something you would want to have in your online advertising toolbox?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 9:00 am and is filed under Internet Stuff, Marketing Stuff.