Accurate measurement has long been a celebrated advantage of online advertising, ostensibly offering the most infallible and granular metrics of any marketing touchpoint.  Thus, it is particularly ironic that (when it comes to video advertising) the Internet is quickly becoming one of the least targetable/accountable forms of marketing.

Measurement failure is the result of cookie blocking and cookie deletion on a massive scale.  Websites rely on cookies to count unique visitors, identify repeat visitors over multiple sessions, control the reach & frequency of ads, track usage pathways, measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and personalize the consumer experience.  For example, cookie deletion artificially inflates the number of unique visitors since consumers who delete their cookies are incorrectly counted as an additional unique user every time they visit a given website.

Cookie deletion and cookie blocking not only prevent accurate measurements, they also eliminate reach and frequency control.  Let’s say you have paid to target 1 million unique users (reach) with 3 views each (frequency) for a total media buy of 3 million views.  Without cookies, those 3 million views could be spread over only a few hundred thousand unique users (who see your ad dozens of times), or could just as easily be spread over 2 to 3 million unique users (who see your ad only once or twice).

Like big tobacco companies trying to cover up nicotine toxicity reports, major web portals routinely play down or flat out deny the fact that consumers are now blocking and/or deleting cookies in massive numbers.  Yet every study by every reputable metrics company has shown otherwise – as far back as 2005.

Comparative Estimates: US Internet users who delete cookies (at least once per month) or block them entirely.

Recent comprehensive research conducted by comScore (results released in June 2007) showed that cookie blocking and deletion rates had skyrocketed to such levels that websites are now vulnerable to overstating unique visitors by 150% percent – on average.  This is just one of many serious problems facing ad-supported websites thanks to consumer rejection of both first-party and third-party cookies; download the white paper from the comScore study.

Because DeskSite channels are opt-in software programs, there is no need for cookies or spyware to track consumer behavior within the program.  In fact, DeskSite software is capable of recording, reporting and targeting based upon the most granular information imaginable.  For example, since we have the exact age and gender of each user, our technology will let you query how many 18 year-old females saw your ad between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm last Thursday.  Want to eliminate all males from seeing your ad?  No problem.

A web-based console let’s you conveniently track your media buy in real-time.

Contact us to learn more about our personalization, tracking and targeting solutions, and we’ll give you a real world demonstration.